Hill Stage Race Day
The test was run in the order the teams left the build. Maximus were off first, just 50 seconds ahead of the Rally Dragons, who were 31 minutes ahead of the Staffordshire Bulls, who were 20 minutes ahead of the Chainsaw Clan.
Maximus and the Rally Dragons made easy work of the first test, with both vehicles handling the steel boulder hill climb with ease. However, the Dragons' Capri was slightly quicker over the ground, so heading towards the dip carrying test, the gap between the two had closed from 50 to 25 seconds.
With the dip carrying part of the course too narrow to allow more than one vehicle at a time, the Rally Dragons were put in a holding bay, with their clock stopped, while Maximus hit the test. 'Hit' being the accurate word.
The snowplough on Maximus' camper van had very little clearance and they kept grounding the front of their vehicle as they drove over the bumpy course. Worse still, as they approached the sheep trough with their first load of dip Dennis hit a large boulder, jolting the van heavily, spilling dip all over captain Paul, and leaving the van with a puncture.
To the joy of the watching Rally Dragons, Maximus had to replace their front wheel before they could continue. And Maximus’ problems weren’t over. They had insufficient dip to fill the trough on the first run, and on the second run their grounding problems got worse. While racing over the bumpy gravel course, their snowplough blade dug into part of an uphill slope, and further runs at the slope only dug them in more. Drastic action was needed and the team called for cutting tools to hack down the offending blade.
Catch up
By now the Bulls had joined the chase. The steel boulder made a bit of a mess of their roller, but the extra gears let them make short work of pushing it uphill. They too joined the Dragons in the holding bay, while Maximus struggled to cut down their plough.
Even the Clan were in with a chance of catching Maximus, as their lorry also made short work of the boulder push.
Maximus finally cut enough off their snowplough to get back on the road. Their second run proved enough to fill the trough, but they finished the stage aware that their problems had thrown the race wide open. Now all the other teams were in with a chance of beating Maximus’ time.
The team with the best chance were the Rally Dragons and captain Nikki raced the Capri round the sheep dip course, determined to make the most of their opportunity. But with no damping on their dip carrier, the team slopped all over the place before losing their dip bucket completely as the hook suspending the container from their framework gave way. Undeterred, the team swiftly rigged up a replacement using a G clamp they had kicking around in the car.
If their second run was successful the Dragon's could still win the stage. With everything at stake Nikki drove more sedately and they retained enough dip in the container to claim first place and their first stage win.
The Bulls set off knowing that they were too far behind to challenge the Dragons for first place, but that they had a great chance of stealing second place from Maximus and eating into their overall lead. And with their extra gearbox giving the pick-up lots of low-range power they crawled sedately round the course, spilling very little and finished second.
Starting so far behind their opponents, the Clan knew they couldn’t challenge for the lead on this stage, but Maximus’ disastrous run meant they at least had a chance of avoiding the wooden spoon. So it was pedal to the metal as they raced around the dip carrying course.
The chains on their rear wheels gave the Clan plenty of drive over the course, but the rush to finish their dip carrier was to cost them dear. As they raced towards the sheep trough, their dip container came loose and fell out of the spring-loaded cage, spilling their dip completely. Their chance of pipping Maximus to third place had gone, and further similar mishaps on the subsequent three runs they needed to fill their container left the Clan looking sheepish.
Winners of the Hill Stage - Rally Dragons
Hill Stage results
05:03:49 Rally Dragons
05:31:05 Staffordshire Bulls
05:33:44 Maximus
06:39:10 Chainsaw Clan
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