With the teams efforts at Colerne a fading memory, Mark II Motorsport were in action last weekend, competing in the SM Stages Rally at Oakington, near Cambridge.

Having left Colerne with a creditable result and a list of improvements required on the new Bluecol/Get Zet Go/Springwood Aviation sponsored Cosworth (nicknamed "Yellow Peril"), Dennis Osborne and the lads at DOME set about improving things. The main change was the front brakes - the smaller units replaced by massive works 355 items. The remainder of the changes included the intercooler, front suspension settings, seats and a general tidy-up.

When the car arrived at Oakington, it looked fantastic! Liveried up (thanks to Mark Sims and Lawrence of FUSE) to incorporate new sponsors, Get Zet Go and Get Rallying, Yellow Peril indeed looked ready for business.

The event offered 8 stages at the old airbase. Very challenging high-speed sections combined with shorter technical challenges around the old mess buildings. Mark would be co-driven by Mclaren's Mark Norris, joint team founder of Mark II.

Seeded at car 4, driver Mark Welch assessed the team's chances. "The changes in the car should reap immediate benefits, but this is arguably a better field than Colerne". However, environmental problems with noise meant that 3 Metro 6R4s would not make the start. Neither would no. 1 seed ex-Mintex champion Roger Duckworth whose wife was just about to deliver!

The main competition would be from Steve Scott in his impressive (and expensive) Escort WRC, and Eian Pritchard in his equally impressive and expensive Subaru Impreza. With eleven other Imprezas, Evo 6s, Escort and Sapphire Cosworths, not to mention a Darrian and several fast kit cars, Mark II were hoping for a top 6 finish.

The 9 mile SS1 kicked off in torrential rain, and highlighted immediately an annoying problem with the car: the heated front screen was not fully operational giving Welch a real headache -"I couldn't see bugger all!" Possibly the worst stage for the team, still netted an encouraging 5th fastest time. Fastest was Scott from Pritchard. However, Pritchard had already grabbed the attention of the officials for using his "anti-lag" system.

This limits turbo lag but generates a lot of noise - something the venue could not afford. Pritchard switched it off - for now.

SS2 saw Mark II move up to 4th after a clearer run. "The brakes are fantastic," said co-driver Mark Norris (or Boris, as he's better known as). "Trouble is, Mark's still getting used to them"!

The yellow peril flew around SS3 moving the team up into third place. The battle at the front between Scott and Pritchard was hotting up. Pritchard switched the anti-lag back on in his efforts to stay with Scott but again incurred the wrath of the organisers. The penalty for reusing his anti-lag would now mean exclusion from the event.

The difference anti-lag (or ALS) makes was highlighted on SS4 when Mark 2 equalled Pritchard with an 8:33 against Scotts 8:21.

Another 2 stages saw the venue drying out and times tumbling. Mark II were firmly established in 3rd with nearly 40 seconds on the next competitor. Pritchard held second, some 30 seconds up with Scott disappearing into the distance, a further 45 seconds up on Pritchard.

However, after SS7, amazingly Pritchard was disqualified for a further noise infringement. Furthermore, the final stage had to be cancelled on safety grounds leaving Mark II and their Yellow Peril in a fine second place!

Boris summed up: "It was a pity about SS8 - we had completed it and taken the fastest time beating a slowing Scott by 10 seconds. However, the organisers made the absolute correct decision and the outcome of the event was not altered - we're chuffed. The boys in the service crew (Martin Bradley and Bruce Taylor) earned their beer today, keeping us going in atrocious conditions".

So, Mark II makes good progress. Further investment is required in what is already proving to be a sound car, and hopefully for the next event, the transmission will be "beefed" up.

The next event is planned to be a return to Oakington on 9th September (an additional event to the calendar). Can they go one better? Watch this space.

Mark II Motorsport have asked us to thank the following for their support:
Bluecol Brands, Get Zet Go, Springwood Aviation, RallyGallery and FUSE.