The University’s Wessex Motor Club has had a busy – yet highly successful – summer.

Having won the National Student Motorsport Championship in March for the second successive year, we then ran the Funky Elephant Road Rally in April.

Crews from across the south of England came to compete, though it was a local team that eventually won. Southampton graduate Toby Jeffries and undergraduate Nick Clarke finished a very credible second in their Vauxhall Nova.

Next up was an event of an altogether different nature – the Miglia Quadrato. This notoriously difficult event takes place every year in London’s Square Mile between midnight and 5.00am, and involves searching all over with a torch to find miniscule answers to clues.

A crew including Wessex members Andy Garrett and Olly Smith did very well to finish second, while Jerry Organ, David Coles, Phil Kendall, Marianne Broughall and Lizzie Pope were the second placed Wessex team in sixth.

Come June it was time for the Wessex Road Rally run by the Newbury-based Dolphin Motor Club. Olly Smith and David Coles were the best-placed Southampton crew on the night – finishing third overall in their Peugeot 309 Gti – while James Firth and Gareth Lewis collected silverware for finishing as first novices.

Later that month some club members saw some stage rallying close up as they helped marshal the Anniversary Stages at the Longcross Test Track in Surrey.

July started with a trip to marshal the Essex Charity Stages, before heading to Devon the following weekend for the popular Barbara Carter Memorial Rally.

After a fast night on some twisty lanes, the top Wessex Motor Club crew were Olly Smith & David Coles in 10th, with other club members Bob Wisniewski & Paul Lettington finishing in 16th, Toby Jeffries & Lizzie Pope 18th and Andy Garrett & Ed Butler in 20th place.

After a break during August it was back into competition mode in September. First on the calendar was a Production Car Trial run by the local Southsea Motor Club. This event requires gentle footwork and a well-engaged brain, and it was our very own Toby Jeffries who emerged the outright winner in his diesel Vauxhall Astra. Fellow club member Chris Knott managed fourth place in his Peugeot 106 XSi.

The same day, a number of club members went back to the Longcross Test Track to marshal another stage rally – the Spotted Dick and Custard Stages.

The Oxford-based Bullnose Road Rally took place the following weekend, and Wessex Motor Club members Phil Kendall and David Coles headed the results table with a well-earned victory.

Bob Wisniewski and Paul Lettington weren’t far behind in fourth, with Carl Gibbs and Lizzie Pope second in the Semi-Expert class. Ed Butler and Toby Jeffries ending the rally second novices.

September was also the month when the World Rally Championship made its annual visit to the UK, so a group of members trekked to Wales to see the world’s best rally drivers in action.

We spent three days marshalling six stages and watching the likes of Carlos Sainz and Petter Solberg speed past, while Marcus Gronholm made an error and was forced to fix his car in front of us.

To top it off we were allowed to drive along the stages, which was easily the highlight of the trip.

Now into October we’ve already had the Powerush Road Rally in Kent – one of the more challenging events of the year. Phil Kendall and David Coles managed back-to-back victories, beating local crew Andy Coshan and John Stringer into second.

The victory meant that – going into the last events of the 2004 season – Wessex Motor Club have a good chance of coming away with four of the six titles in the regional championship.

With more road rallies, stage rallies, the Inter-University Karting Championship and our own Club Championship kicking off in a few weeks time, there’s a lot to look forward to with Wessex Motor Club.

If you like the sound of what we get up to and want to find out more, visit our website: www.wessexmotorclub.co.uk

With introductory talks and beginner-level rallies there’s no better time to get involved!

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