Dave Weston Junior has paid credit to the Ramsport team for their outstanding efforts on this weekend’s Jim Clark International Rally, changing a gearbox, driveshaft and diff during a short service to ensure he finished the event.
After initial problems with braking during the event, Dave was lying fifth overall with eight stages completed when mechanical gremlins struck.
“You couldn’t make it up,” said Dave. “We had been into service and left really happy that we had cleared up the braking problems I’d been having earlier in the day. Then the rear driveshaft went on the start line of stage nine, and half way through the stage the gearbox went too. We lost about four and a half minutes through the two stages and dropped from having set some second and third fastest stage times, down to 20th and 24th through those two. That also meant we dropped down to 12th overall.”
While Dave and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas headed back through the service area, the Ramsport team were getting prepared for the job ahead while a crowd gathered to watch the team in action.
“When we got back to the Ramsport area the team were lined up ready for action,” said Dave. “We only had a 20 minute service and changing a gearbox can take that long by itself. My engineer Alistair Gibson had instructed each member of the team what to do to ensure everyone moved as quickly as possible when we arrived, and it worked perfectly. They changed the gearbox, driveshaft and diff – and we still had time to spare to get out of service without picking up any time penalties. I can’t thank them all enough.”
With his Subaru Impreza N2010 back in full working order, the Team UK driver was fifth fastest through the next stage and continued to push his way back up the results through the final three stages to finish eighth overall.
“I wouldn’t usually be happy with eighth, but when we were in stage nine with so many problems, I wasn’t sure I’d leave Scotland with many points at all,” said Dave. “Eighth earned us 11 points which moves us up to seventh overall at the half way point of the British Rally Championship.”
Dave is now preparing for his next event, the first of his four planned Intercontinental Rally Challenge outings, the Geko Ypres Rally. The event takes place on 24th to 26th June and will see Dave line up alongside world class drivers including British IRC champion Kris Meeke.