Round 4 – Defender Rally Series

The most recent round of the Defender Rally Series took place back in wales, where we have become quite accustomed to racing thanks to 3 of the 4 events so far this year taking place there. Round 4 took place at the Nicky Grist Stages, which has a rich history dating back to 1980, when the event ran in the Welsh forests for the first time. Since then, it has recorded many significant milestones – like in 1985, when Malcolm Wilson gave the Metro 6R4 its first rally win – and is proud to have won the prestigious BTRDA Gold Star ‘Rally of the Year’ award five times.

As the name suggests, Nicky Grist himself is heavily involved in the event. Former co-driver to rally royalty, Colin McRae and owner of Nicky Grist Motorsports. Much like our last visit to Builth Wells for Rallynuts earlier in the year, this event was a full starting grid of everything from full blown R5 rally cars to home build heroes and everything in between.

Arriving on day 1 for the usual scrutineering which we have become accustomed to and a perfect chance to catch up with the Bowler team and other competitors to understand what challenges lay ahead for the event. The Nicky Grist stages are fast, flowy gravel roads mostly with some forest sections thrown in which for our drivers was a welcome change of pace off the back of the Scottish Hill Rally which was a punishing event both for drivers and the car.

With both cars and drivers passed through scrutineering with no issues it was time to focus attention to altering the setup of the cars. The previous event was very technical and fairly low speed being a hill rally. The event ahead was fast and flowy, with various advice from the Bowler team including their dedicated motorsport advisors, who know the Defender inside out. We decided to make suspension changes to both cars to try and find some confidence at high speed.

This was the first event that some real thought went into the setup of the cars based off driver feedback as it’s taken a few events to get into the swing of learning the formats and the cars themselves. With many miles under their belts the drivers are now very confident with the ability and characteristics of the Bowler Defender and were ready to start looking for that next step honing the suspension setup to suit their individual driving style.

Bright and early the next morning it was time to get settled into the cars for the day ahead. With the usual drivers briefing and technical chats from the Bowler team to again remind all drivers of the challenges ahead both for the drivers and navigators, we were ready to see the cars off from service to head to the first of 4 stages for the morning loops. With a fair amount of road mileage in-between stages our drivers were in for a long day of fun!

Our drivers battled through the early stages with caution, feeling out the setup changes made to both cars for the terrain ahead. It always takes some time to get back into the saddle with long breaks between rounds but after the initial stage both drivers were flying along with the rest of the Defender series competitors with no incidents across the first stage.

However, as we are quickly learning with rally events it can all change very quickly! With our second car piloted by Paul McCallum and navigator Peter King suffering a mechanical issue part way through stage 2 putting an end to their day due to the difficult nature of getting the car off the stage and back to service in time to continue. Of course, these cars are pushed to and beyond the limit across these events and sometimes there’s issues that no one can foresee. The important thing was that it wasn’t an incident and despite the abrupt end to their day, spirits were high and they had front row seats to some amazing cars competing throughout the day.

Shane powered through with navigator Harry for the morning 4 stages across the forest tracks and hills of Builth Wells without incident. With a short service window after stage 4 it was time for Shane to catch up with his dedicated Bowler technicians about the changes to the car and any feedback or changes he required.

With tyre pressures checked and adjusted and a big thumbs up from Shane for the setup changes, it was time to repeat the same 4 stages now with a fair idea of the terrain and caution that laid in wait across some sections. Our one remaining car headed out to tackle the afternoon full of zest after a successful morning.

When people hear we are rallying the Bowler Defender, they often question if it’s a capable car. Of course, it’s built for rugged terrain and can probably cope across rocky, muddy terrain but how does it handle jumps? As demonstrated by Shane below, the 2.3 tonne Defender is more than comfortable lifting all four of the ground and thanks to the Fox racing suspension soaking up the landing, it’s a very capable rally beast.

With the confidence now behind him, Shane blasted through the last 4 stages of the event having previously driven all stages in the morning loop. The car behaving exceptionally well both in drivability and reliability, allowing him to bring home a finish for the event. With each stage and terrain giving him valuable feedback on how he can push the car and the setup to get the most out of his drives.

As our second gravel rally event came to a close, the champagne and trophies were given by Nicky Grist to the top 3 Defender competitors, which unfortunately Shane missed out on by a small margin but he won the day for the fun that was had in this event. A completely different drive to the Scottish Hill Rally and perhaps where Shane felt more at home coming from a background of high speed car control. A fantastic event had by all involved and a real success.

As always our thanks go out to the event organisers, marshals, volunteers and the entire Bowler works team. Days out like this are not possible without these people who allow us to go racing in a safe and organised manor and we are thoroughly looking forward to continuing the season with the Yorkshire Hill Rally, Clare Forest Rally and finally the Scottish Borders Hill Rally.