Round 2 – Defender Rally Series

Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages

Based at Builth Wells, Royal Welsh Showground, Round 2 of the Defender Rally Series saw us take part in the first real world event. Unlike round 1, Rallynuts had other cars, classes and competitors all using the same 7 stages as the Defenders.

With 2024 marking the 50th anniversary of the Midland Manor Motor Club event, the event was set to be a baptism of fire for the Assetti drivers. With around 180 cars signed up for the event and a completely different format to the ‘Safari Rally’ at round 1 our drivers had to contend with extensive stage driving, road liaisons, pace notes & precise timings to ensure they got through all 7 special stages for the day.

This two day event consisted of scrutineering and setup on Friday and race day on Saturday. Upon arrival at The Royal Welsh Showground, the bowler Team already had their extensive service setup along with a full team of technicians and support. Their first job was to go through each of the 8 cars with their extensive pre-flight checks to ensure the cars were ready for scrutineering in the afternoon.

With a clean bill of health for both cars, the relevant event stickers and all our team on site we headed down for scrutineering. This important stage of any event ensures all of the cars are complying with both event rules and safety regulations. Thankfully as the Defenders are all built to the same specification by Bowler, along with brand new safety equipment including roll cage, bucket seats, harnesses & fire suppression, all cars sailed through scrutineering.

The rest of the day was about preparing for the stages on the following day. Alongside Bowlers extensive technical support, they also had Bowler Works Driver Dave Hooper on hand as an experienced driver to run through any questions about the event format, timings, techniques and general planning.

To get the event kicked off, there was a ceremonial start held at the rally start in Builth Wells at the Metropole hotel. This iconic event played host to some big names in Rally like Chris Ingram & Jos Verstappen who were all present at the ceremonial start, along with our very own Shane Lynch in his Defender. This small selection of chosen cars represented a diverse grid of all classes of car with a few of the Bowler Defenders chosen to take part.

This was a fantastic opportunity to soak in the rally atmosphere with plenty of fans present, other competitors, media & even the local mayor. This was a great chance to show rally fans around the Defenders, meet some old faces from Shanes previous racing days and get excited for the day ahead.

Day 2 was race day! An early arrival at service with 7 special stages planned for the day which consisted of 62 miles with 167 of liaison on the road. Quite the test for our drivers after a Safari Rally at Round 1. Armed with a roadbook, co-driver & stopwatch, both our drivers headed out from service to the rally start in Builth Wells. From here they would head following the roadbook to set check ins with a specific time to reach each checkpoint. Arrive early and you are penalised, arrive late and you are penalised. The balance of planning and pace pays dividends when competing in this format.

The Severn Valley Rally Stages played host to some iconic stages in the rally world such as SS4 & SS7 at Sweet Lamb, famous for it’s water splash and jump. With a fine balance of tight forest fire tracks, fast sweeping downhill sections with technical hairpins and all out flat stages everyone was encouraged to drive a 6/10 by Dave Marsh, Head of motorsport for Bowler, as of course to finish first, first you must finish!

By the time our drivers reached SS4 at the iconic sweet lamb, the weather had completely turned. After all we’re in the welsh mountains, the added rain, fog and mud did not deter the Defenders which all sailed through without issue taking on the water splash and iconic jump, which in over 2 tonne of Defender is no joke! With times across the class looking very close it was clear to see the cars were taking everything in their stride and the grid of fairly green drivers were adapting to this new format of rally with ease.

With 4 stages complete for the morning it was time to head back to service for a short window to get the cars checked over & give the drivers and co-drivers a well earned break out the cars.

The Bowler team jumped into action, with each technician catching up with their allocated driver to ensure the cars were performing as expected, inspecting all cars thoroughly during the service window to ensure smooth running for the final 3 stages. Of the 8 cars, there were no mechanical issues to report after 3 gruelling stages which speaks volumes about the Defender and the quality of the product Bowler has produced.

Well into the format of the day, both drivers header on their liaison routes from service to SS5 ready to get back out. With a tight schedule to follow due to the vast number of cars in the rally, we were set to be some of the last cars sent out to the last 3 stages.

After flying through SS5 and heading back onto the road for liaison to SS6, unfortunately there began to be delays across the afternoon stages due to incidents with earlier cars. Along with fading day light, the decision was taken to cancel SS6 & SS7 for the majority of the later running cars which put an end to our day. Despite this, we managed 5 stages with both our drivers bringing the cars back into service at the end of the event with no issues.

With all the competing Defenders at the finish line, there was a great sense of achievement from all competitors to have finished their first real world event, a challenge of endurance, confidence and concentration. With another 5 rounds to come for the 2024 season, it’s safe to say that we are all just getting started in our rallying journey but enjoying every second of every event.

A special thanks to the entire Bowler team for their knowledge, support & encouragement during the weekend as well as the rally organisers and of course the marshals who make all of this possible!