GwynneSpeed Rallying, a rally company based in Staverton, Gloucestershire is delighted to be working with PIAA UK, High Performance Lighting Systems. Andy Gwynne, company proprietor has just finished building a Super1600 Citroen Saxo kit car which is also being supported by PIAA and will be competing in the 2008 MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship.

GwynneSpeed Rallying provides all manner of rallying services ranging from Junior Rally experience for 10-16 year olds, co-driver tuition, car set up advice right up to advanced one to one tuition for competitors. Fully equipped workshops in centrally located Staverton enable the company to offer rally car preparation and build services. The company's authentic rally venue between Swindon and Cirencester offer an ideal location for testing and tuition.

Please visit www.rallydrivingschool.co.uk for further details!

 

PRESS RELEASE: 17. September 2008

GwynneSpeed Rallying take class honours on charity rally.

Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson have been awarded with another very convincing class win on the Richard Burns Memorial Rally at Marham Airfield on 13th & 14th September. The GwynneSpeed Rallying team won the class by 5 minutes 13 seconds and finished an impressive 7th overall and 1st 2 Wheel Drive Car in their 1600cc Saxo kit car.

The rally did not run easily for the team due to a poor seeding position. The crew started in 51st position and, over the course of Day 1 of the rally, they caught and passed approximately 24 cars on the stages. This inconvenience, coupled with braking problems, cost the pair a significant amount of time on Day 1 but re-seeding for Day 2 meant that the crew re-started at car 6 on the road and enabled them to have a trouble free run with no hold ups!

However, disaster nearly struck on the last stage when a suspension mounting broke 1 mile from the end of the stage which forced the crew to crawl to the stage finish. Luckily, the team had built up enough of a class lead that it did not jeopardise the class award although they dropped a place overall from 6th to 7th.

The rally was organised and promoted by King’s Lynn & District Motor Club and was in aid of the Richard Burns Foundation (incorporating the Michael Park Fund) and the RAF Benevolent Fund. The rally saw a return to competitive rallying for Markko Martin and Robert Reid who competed together in the new Subaru World Rally Team’s Impreza and won the rally overall.

Perhaps the most evocative entry was that of Gordon Jarvis and Richard’s father, Alex Burns. They were competing in a Talbot Sunbeam which had originally been built alongside Richard’s Sunbeam. This was the first time that Alex had actually competed despite attending hundreds of rallies with Richard. GwynneSpeed Rallying’s driver Andy Gwynne has close connections with this charity and describes his feelings about the rally:

“I competed with Richard in the original Peugeot challenge and we had a strong friendship; I am very pleased that we’ve been able to support the charity. Michael Park, who was tragically killed in a freak accident co-driving for Markko Martin on Wales Rally GB 2005, did his first season co-driving with me and we were also very close and so this rally was special to me. I would like to thank the organisers for the massive effort that they put into organising and running this fantastic event which I thoroughly enjoyed and I’m sure that everyone else did.”

GwynneSpeed Rallying would like to take this opportunity to thank Warners Peugeot, Gloucester Motaquip, Holly’s older brother Tom, her God Mother Leslie and her parents Binna and Tim for their generous support.

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd – www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIAA UK High Performance Lighting Systems – www.piaa.co.uk
Silkolene Motorsport Oils – www.silkoleneoil.com

 

PRESS RELEASE: 6 August 2008

GwynneSpeed Rallying return to Epynt to settle the score!

Following months of further development and testing of their Super1600 Citroen Saxo kit car, Gloucestershire based rally team Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson returned to the Epynt military ranges to contest the S&G Printing Harry Flatters Rally on 2nd and 3rd August and came away with a very convincing class win and an impressive 12th overall position.

The rally, organised and promoted by Brecon Motor Club, was based in Brecon and consisted of 85 competitive stage miles across the notoriously tricky tarmac roads which Epynt is renowned for. The last time that Gwynne and Robinson tackled Epynt, they came away with some significant battle scars after an altercation with a substantial chicane. The crew was extensively more prepared for this rally having carried out further engine testing and having made several alterations to the engine cooling system. The car also ran a revised suspension set up and performed superbly on a set of new AST dampers.

The event held 2 stages on Saturday afternoon and then a further 8 stages throughout Sunday ranging in length from 2.5 miles to nearly 13 miles. The event started well with Gwynne setting the fastest class stage time on Stage 1 despite being help up for nearly 4 miles and he dominated the class from the start. The crew finished leg 1 feeling extremely positive and codriver, Robinson comments on the first 2 stages:

“Stages 1 & 2 were re-runs of the same stage and were challenging. They really tested the changes that had been made to the car, in particular to the suspension as the stages utilised some massive jumps and some of the very technical tight and twisty roads. The car ran faultlessly which gave Andy and real confidence boost in preparation for a maximum attack on Sunday!”

The crew continued to dominate the class throughout Sunday and eventually won the class by 2 minutes and 16 seconds. The last stage of the day saw Gwynne find new limits with the car and saw him set 8th overall fastest stage time despite having had a fright on the previous stage with a soft brake pedal! He describes his event:

“I’m absolutely delighted with our result this weekend; it has really shown what the car is capable of. The car ran very well although I feel that there are still some improvements that I can make but I feel that we now have a strong basis to work from.”

The car is clearly generating massive interest amongst spectators as the following clips show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21iPe0P11bo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Ug8fsm8LU&feature=related

Thanks to all at Hankook Motorsports, AST Suspension & 710 Motorsport for their continued support. All photos are courtesy of EDP Photo News www.edpphoto.com

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd – www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIAA UK High Performance Lighting Systems – www.piaa.co.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE: 12 April 2008

Hard work finally pays off for GwynneSpeed Rallying!

Months of development and testing have finally paid dividends for Staverton based rally team, Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson. On Saturday 12th April, the crew took part in the Get It Sideways rally based at their rally school venue, Down Ampney airfield and they went away with their first overall rally win.

The weeks running up to the rally were somewhat fraught as they worked frantically to repair the damage caused to their Super1600 Saxo kit car in the crash on the Tour of Epynt.

Gwynne started the rally well and took the overall lead from Stage I and then continued to win all of the following stages up to stage 9 of 10. Stage 10 nearly brought disaster as one of the competition engine mountings broke and forced the crew to have to drive very slowly around the last stage. However, despite one minor incident with a pothole damaging the bottom arm on stage 5, the team had had a faultless run and had built up enough of a lead overall that meant that they could afford to lose 30 seconds.

Gwynne has lead this rally several times over the last few years but has never been awarded with a win due to mechanical problems and so this win is particularly special. He comments on the rally:

"Firstly, I would like to thank Cheltenham Motor Club and all of the marshals for organising the rally which ran very well with no delays and provided really fun stages! Thanks to the service crew who kept us going through some minor bottom arm problems and thanks to Holly for keeping me on the straight and narrow (!). I am delighted that the car has started to work properly and this result has really boosted my confidence for our next rally, the Isle of Man in a few weeks."

The team plan to make some further adjustments to the suspension on the car prior to the Manx. They will also be reviewing the rose joints which they have used in the bottom arms and the engine mountings as this rally has highlighted that they are clearly not strong enough.

GwynneSpeed Rallying also had several other cars competing on the rally, a 106 Rallye driven by Celestine Smith and co-driven by her Dad, Richard and a 306 GTi-6 driven by Roger Tillotson and co-driven by Steve Robertson. This was the first rally for both teams and they both finished well with no dramas so congratulations go out to them as well!

The next rally for the Andy and Holly is round 2 of the 2008 Richard Egger Insurance MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship, the Manx Rally on 9th and 1& May and the team are currently seeking sponsors for this rally. For more information, please visit www.asphaltrallying.com and www.manxrally.org

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd — www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIAA UK High Performance Lighting Systems — www.piaa.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE: 3 March 2008

Trials and tribulations for GwynneSpeed Rallying on Round 1!

Round 1 of the 2008 Richard Egger Insurance MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship brought a mixture of emotions for Gloucestershire rally team Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson.

The Tour of Epynt, based in Llandovery, uses some notoriously difficult roads across the military ranges surrounding Sennybridge. Stage 1 started well for the team with the recent suspension and steering modifications which Gwynne had made working well. However several miles into the stage, the car hit a pothole hard and caused the nearside front tyre to puncture and disintegrate. The crew were therefore forced to stop and change the wheel in order to prevent the flailing tyre from doing any damage to the suspension. Robinson estimates that they lost approximately 3.5 minutes on stage 1 putting them to the back of the class.

Stage 2 again started well but too much rear brake bias resulted in the car spinning spectacularly at a chicaned junction and the crew lost yet more time. However stage 3 was a complete contrast. The car ran without fault and the pacenotes which Gwynne and Robinson had spent making and preparing on Saturday worked perfectly. Stage 3 was 18 miles in length and they set 2nd fastest time in their class. Things were finally starting to look positive. The team continued their faultless runs into stage 6, having set fastest class stage times on stages 4 and 6 and 2nd fastest on stage 5. However, stage 7 brought an abrupt end to the event.

The stage started as planned with all aspects of the car working perfectly. The first part of the stage was uphill with very little need to use the brakes hard and this caused the front brake pads to cool down considerably. After the uphill section of the stage, there was a flat out 6th gear straight into a flat out crest and then a flat out approach into a very tight chicane which was made with 1 tonne, round bales of silage. As soon as Gwynne hit the brakes hard in anticipation for the chicane, the cool front brakes didn’t bite hard enough and caused the rear brakes to tie on and put the car into a massive spin at a speed close to 115mph. Gwynne had no option other than to let the car spin into the chicane. This caused a big impact onto the front and rear of the car as it bounced into the 1 tonne barricades. Driver Andy Gwynne comments on the accident:

“Firstly and most importantly, both Holly and I walked away from the crash without injury. The car however did not! We damaged the offside front suspension and will need to replace the bonnet, front bumper, offside wing and tailgate. Everything is repairable. I’ve never spun on a straight before but I know what changes to the braking system I need to make in order to prevent this type of accident from happening again! Fortunately, our non-finish on this round will not affect our championship standings as our main class competitor did not finish either.”

The next round of the 2008 Richard Egger Insurance MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship is in the Isle of Man on 9th and 10th May and the team are currently seeking sponsors for this rally. For more information, please visit www.asphaltrallying.com and www.manxrally.org

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd – www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIAA UK High Performance Lighting Systems – www.piaa.co.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE: 20 February 2008

GwynneSpeed Rallying gears up for 2008!

2003 National Super1600 Rally Champions, Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson are ready for a return to National rallying in their new Super1600 Citroen Saxo kit car. The Gloucestershire team will be contesting the 2008 Richard Egger Insurance MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship which includes rounds in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales and England.

Gwynne and Robinson have conducted several tests at The Brean Stages and the Wyedean Rally prior to the first round of the championship, the Tour of Epynt on 2nd March. Andy Gwynne, who designed and built the car himself, comments on recent aspects of development which the car has been through:

“Following the recent tests which we have carried out on the car, we have been very busy re-designing the suspension settings in order to improve the strut angles and therefore improve traction. I am now very happy with the car set-up and am really looking forward to the start of the championship.”

Since the Wyedean Rally on 9th February, Gwynne has had to redesign the fuel tank to incorporate an internal reservoir in order to prevent any mid-stage fuel surge problems. He has also modified the car’s steering rack to facilitate a quicker, more responsive steering action which will be crucial on the technical, twisty stages. Gwynne is planning a final engine mapping session with John Beattie of Race Engine Design before the rally on 2nd March.

The crew are aiming for a class win in order to start the championship off with maximum points although there are several strong competitors in their 1600cc class including last year’s 1600cc asphalt rally champion. Gwynne has had several outstanding results on Epynt which is renowned for being a particularly challenging rally venue. In 2006, he finished 4th overall in his 1600cc Vauxhall Corsa, just before he sold the car. By finishing 4th, he managed to beat several 2.0litre, turbo-charged, 4-wheel drive world rally cars and the infamously quick Metro 6R4s and Darrian T90s.

The Tour of Epynt, organised and promoted by Port Talbot Motor Club, consists of 75 stage miles on military tarmac roads in mid Wales. The rally is based in Llandovery and the 75 stage miles are broken up into 10 stages which represent all aspects of rally driving from flat-out jumps and straights to extremely technical, tight and twisty narrow roads.

For more details about the Tour of Epynt, visit www.ptmconline.com. For more information about the 2008 Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, visit www.asphaltrallying.com

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd – www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIAA UK High Performance Lighting Systems – www.piaa.co.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE: 27 November 2007

GwynneSpeed Rally Team Returns to Competition!

Staverton based rally team Andy Gwynne and Holly Robinson are looking forward to an eagerly awaited return to rallying after a 2 year break.

The team sold their infamously awesome Vauxhall Corse kit car in 2005 and have since been developing and building their new car, a Super 1600 Citroen Saxo. This car incorporates some of the most modem technology currently available in rallying. Please refer to our previous press release for further information about the car.

The crew will be debuting the car at the Rockingham Stages on 8th/9th December 2007. The rally is based at the Rockingham Speedway, Northamptonshire and uses parts of the oval race track, the karting track, venue perimeter roads and the vast car parking area! The rally takes place over 2 days which is unusual for events which remain on one venue, known as single venue rallies. There will be 4 stages on Saturday, 2 of which will be in the dark and then a further 6 stages on Sunday. Each stage will be between 8 and 11 miles each.

The event is limited to a maximum of 100 competitors and has already received 60 entries. The GwynneSpeed Saxo will be competing in Class 2 which is dedicated to cars with an engine capacity of between 1401cc and 1600cc. There are already 14 competitors in this class and driver Andy Gwynne comments on the competition:

"We are thoroughly looking forward to the rally. Having built the car myself, I am eager to see how the car compares to the other 1600 cars in the class. I am confident that the car will work well although we plan to test several aspects of the car such as the gearbox ratios, the engine efficiency and the suspension set up comprehensively before the rally."

The rally venue, Rockingham Speedway offers some fantastic hospitality and viewing facilities. The Grandstand offers sheltered viewing of all the stages and, unlike most rallies, you will have the opportunity to watch the stages out of the weather, with restaurant facilities in walking distance! VIP hospitality boxes are available for hire.

The rally raises money for the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre for Cancer Support and Information at Mount Vernon Hospital. Results and further information about the rally can be found at www.rockinghamstages.co.uk.

CITROEN SAXO SUPER1600 RALLY CAR SPONSORS:
Race Engine Design Ltd — www.raceenginedesign.biz
PIRA UK High Performance Lighting Systems — www.piaa.co.uk

Photo from www.edpphoto.com

 

PRESS RELEASE: 1 October 2007

GwynneSpeed Rallying's Super1600 Rally Car Debut

Andy Gwynne, company proprietor of GwynneSpeed Rallying is delighted to announce that his newly designed and developed Group B10 Citroen Saxo 1600cc 16V Rally Car is nearing completion.

The car is a culmination of over 2 years of development. The car started as a bare, standard Citroen Saxo road car shell and has been designed and modified to accommodate the most modern technology currently available in rallying. Many of the crucial components of the car such as the suspension, engine/gearbox mounts, steering components and body panels have been designed and hand made by Andy Gwynne in order to maximise their efficiency and durability.

Andy Gwynne has worked closely with John Beattie and Mike Phelps of Race Engine Design Ltd. based in Much Wenlock, Shropshire to develop the Saxo's unique engine. Andy had an ex-works Peugeot 106 Maxi kit car engine which John has re-built to incorporate all of the most current technology. Race Engine Design used their expertise and specialist engine dyno facilities to design a special engine management system in order to increase the efficiency of the 1600cc engine. The engine produces just over 200bhp at the moment and the Evolution II engine is already in the development stages!

The gearbox has been designed to suit the Saxo's requirements. Steve Walby of SWR Motorsport based in Harlow is the UK distributor of Sadev gearboxes. Sadev, a French transmission specialist company, currently supply the gearboxes for many of the French Rally Teams including the Citroen Super1600 Works Team. Andy, Steve and the engineers in France worked together to decide on the unique settings of the ST75-14 which is a 6-speed sequential gearbox fitted with a flat change facility. This enables clutch-less gear changes to take just 6 milliseconds. The gearbox and engine are managed in harmony to enable the driver to change gear without using the clutch or lifting off the accelerator in order to minimise power loss.

All of the fabrication on the car has been designed from scratch by Andy Gwynne and Rory Frost from Frost Engineering based in Staverton, Gloucestershire. They have designed and manufactured all of the brackets and mountings for the engine and gearbox, rear beam, pedal box and power steering column as well as designing and building the bottom arms from a material which is twice as strong as steel but half the weight, T45.

The Saxo will be used on both gravel and tarmac National rallies. Originally, Andy was going to use Kevlar body panels in order to reduce the body shell weight However, after some research he decided that the Kevlar panels would quickly become damaged and potentially destroyed when rallying on gravel and so he decided to hand build the panels out of tin. The wings have had to be increased in width by 120mm in order to accommodate the wide track of the Saxo running gear. This has also been applied to the rear wheel arches. The weight of the bonnet has been reduced by 50%.

When the car is used on tarmac, it will run 17" wheels in order to allow large enough brake discs and water cooled, 4 pot brake calipers to be accommodated. In the early stages of the car's development, it was planned to use 4 stud hubs as the works Citroen Saxo kit cars did. However after some research, Andy decided to reduce the risk of shearing wheel bolts off under braking by using 5 stud hubs. This has also enabled him to use larger, stronger driveshafts as driveshaft breakage has always been a problem with Andy's previous, high-powered front wheel drive cars.

This car will be competing on the MSA National Tarmac Championship which includes rounds in Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It will be also be used on selected National gravel rallies.

Top of Page