For those of you not on our mailing list the February's Newsletter is now published on the newsletter bar. Geoff Mayes has managed to sort out a nice issue from a somewhat dis-jointed January.
If you want to join the mailing list just drop an email & we will be sure to add you.
Easter in Africa Anybody
Plans are underway to ship one of our MGZR's out to Kenya for this years Safari Rally, not the Classic, but the ex WRC event.
With an entry & accomodation deal from the organisers we are expecting to be able to offer a package for not a lot more that a home international.
Interested then email or phone.
New for Ti
We have a Stock Hatch Saxo for rent
e-mail for spec & deals
Oli Wakeman becomes the first to sign up for the 2010 season
From Pedal Power to Peugeot Power.
Oli Wakeman will start his rally career as many others have before in a Peugeot 205.
Oli's CV can be found on the Peugeot bar.
With an ambitious program ahead we will follow his progress with great interest
Belated picture of Gogi & Denis in action photo by Geoff Mayes Media
Ian Duncan's Mustang takes the honours in this years East African Safari Rally after a classic battle with Bjorn Waldegard.
Our crew faired less well, electrical gremlins wrecking our event. All the horrid details on the safari bar.
Its been 2 years in the making & now all the planning & preparation by organisers,preparation companies & competitors alike is over & it's time to get down to the serious business of rallying in Kenya. Hopefully there will be daily updates on the Safari Bar
The 2009 East African Safari Rally will get underway this weekend.
We hope to be able to bring you daily updates and while we will be concentrating on our own team we will try to bring snippets from the rest of the competitors.
Gogi is already in Kenya & will be joined tomorrow by Monsieur Giraudet, Andy & myself leave Heathrow tomorrow evening & will be in Mombasa on Thursday morning.
Let the adventure begin
Safari co-driver Denis Giraudet on his way to victory. Following the disappointment on Wales Rally GB, Denis partnered by Jean-Francois Mourgues stormed to victory in the Peugeot 307WRC on the penultimate round of the French Championship. Next outing will be in Kenya
Congratulations are in order for James Shallcross who managed a Gold Medal on the recent Edinburgh Trial. This for cleaning all the hills on the trial. James finished 2nd in class once again losing out in the timed tests.
Commiserations to our Safari co-driver, Denis Giraudet who was out in the works Skoda S2000 with Edvind Brynildsen on the Cambrian Rally as a shakedown for Wales Rally GB. Rear wishbone failure on the final stage when lying 3rd overall was a bit gutting.
Ti would like to welcome Quattro Project Solutionsas the first of the Team Ti sponsors. The company logos will now feature on all our cars and they are helping in our Safari preparations. The company will be profiled in our first newsletter. Company principal Tim Warburton has been known to have the odd outing in a rally car and will use the Ti MG ZR for selected events next year.
WRC co-driver Denis Giraudet will join the team for this years Safari Rally.
Denis has done the event 5 times before when it was part of the World Rally Championship, finishing 2nd in 1999 with Didier Auriol in the works Toyota Corolla.
There is a link to his profile [which is MEGA] on the Safari bar.
These pictures by Sunil Tohaniwere taken at Gogi's local Ford dealership prior to shipping for Mombasa.
We are currently still looking for a suitable co-driver but otherwise the team is now complete
*************************************
This weekend sees the start of the Trials season & James Shallcross will be making his way down to Exeter for the Torbay Trial to give his new engine its first competitive outing.
The closed season has given us a chance to tidy up a few areas that needed attention but the basic set up has remained very similar to that used at the end of last season
Bank holiday entertainment & something a little different to rallies & racing, The British Championship meeting at Langrish. This Latvian pair were absolute stars.
Richard Phillipson & Stefan Arndt give our Peugeot 504 Coupe a shakedown on the recent Neath Valley Stages Rally. Water ingress brought things to a premature end on stage 4 of 6.
The car is now available for hire for UK events.
Picture by Geoff Mayes
Our Safari Escort starts to take shape
The build has now started & you can follow its progress on the Safari Bar
With no rallies until September Chris Hellings is obviously looking for something to do and has sent me this.
I'm trying something a bit different this weekend - some friends at work
compete in the Club100 Karting Champs and are a man short so I've
offered to fill in:
Club 100
It's a 2hr 15min Enduro race in 115cc Karts with scheduled pitting
slots, refuel zones, driver hand overs etc - could get quite tactical
but will be interesting to see how the work I've been doing on my
Rallying converts to Karts. We're in the Novice category (1-2 yrs
experience) but we race with the Inters so will let you know how the
times shape up :-)
CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS
Co-Driver Stefan Arndt & Denise tied the knot at Eastbourne Registry Office on Saturday. We wish them all the very best & thank them for letting us share their day.
Rob Brookes claims his first class win taking Gp N3 in a nail biting finish on the Quinton Rally.
With the problems caused by the training accident the previous weekend still raising a problem on Friday evening, the whole team were a little keyed up before the start in Llandovery on Saturday morning.
After 8 stages Rob was tied with newcomer Tom Haines also MG mounted on 54.05 secs and based on a faster first stage time took his maiden victory.
Roger Mustoe and Alison Perkins also under the Ti banner for the day took the honours in class 1.4L
Justin Dale, former British Rally champion was on hand at Phil Prices test venue to help with some tuition and set up input for Chris Hellings' MG prior to this weekends Quinton Rally.
The pair worked throughout the day changing both damper settings and ride height before declaring themselves satisfied. They also worked on Chris' predefined problem areas. The resulting time gains on the stage were dramatic and we just hope that they will be translated into the real thing on Saturday.
A very big thanks to Justin for the help and we are looking forward to the next time.
