Breslau Rallye 2013

Team Gigglepin have been at it again! This time they have been racing at Rallye Breslau, where they’ve won 6 out of the nine day stages, a stunning result, but ending in an overall 9th place. Team Gigglepin have Yellowstuff high friction brakes fitted on their hard working Land Rover that is equipped to deal with extreme terrain situations during all their incredible racing events. EBC manufacture 100% of their brakes in the UK that are renowned for their high quality and innovation such as the new premium street use Ultimax2™ range and the ever popular GD series off road slotted and dimpled sport discs.

Their latest challenge started at the Laustring race and speedway track where the Rallye was based for the next two days before moving to Poland. The site was packed with quality crews from all nations, was superbly organised and had vehicles of all types.

Saturday – Day 1

This part of the track consisted of 8 lots of 4 km laps and is based on a large motocross course that runs though woodland.

The UTV’s, bikes and quads started the race first that gave Team Gigglepin a chance to observe before their own start. During the first race the lads took it easy through the woods taking the jumps skilfully so as not to cause any terminal vehicle damage that would jeopardise the rest of the race days to come. Their careful but swift racing paid off when they were given the news that they had won the first race by a minute.

Sunday – Day 2

This time the Team Gigglepin lads encountered a quick 14km stage which they achieved with good time before setting off on another 400km journey to the next camp in Poland. With great road planning they arrived before the other teams to prepare well for the 65km night stage with the other 200 cars, lorries, motorbikes, quads and utv’s taking part. The race started at 10.30pm through very wet terrain including deep water holes that left the team soaking wet after only travelling part of the well lit course at high speed.

The race ended at a large water hole when the team had fun soaking onlooking spectators and also finishing in 2nd place behind the French V8 Nissan competition and with a happy result!

Monday – Day 3

Day 3 heralded the first of the extra tough mega stages through deep water holes that cover the Land Rover and then through a tricky piece of woodland. The race was going well with the lads managing to fight their way past the other two leaders, the French V8 team and the French flying Frog team.  Then during the 2nd wooded stage they encountered some problems when the wheel axle had snapped ending that stage of the race until replacement parts could be delivered from the UK and the vehicle repaired ready for the next round.

Tuesday – Day 4

The team started this round already with the news in mind that they had no chance of winning but determined to have fun with the remaining races anyway. The team made really good progress entertaining the crowds as they went through large muddy craters and managed to catch up the leaders racing at full speeds. Narrowly avoiding overheating through a muddy blocked radiator the lads finally finished in a time of 6hrs 35 mins gaining valuable time lost during the disastrous stage before. All in all a great day!

Wednesday – Day 5

During this round the team were unlucky enough to encounter the same problems as on day 3 with the driver’s side front stub axle  breaking. After a repair back at the camp the lads were 2 hours behind and had 100k left of the race. But after only 1 km the Land Rover got into more difficulty when a tree wedged itself into the A frame tearing off the fuel pump. After another repair of the fuel lines with the other friendly and helpful racers passing them by they finally reach the finish in 8th place with only an hour behind the lead car.

Thursday – Day 6

During this 160km stage Team Gigglepin encountered a vast bog and had to winch themselves out which they did with ease and years of practise. Then expert navigator Chris guided the team skilfully through the demanding tracks to the finish. Team Gigglepin were the first car across the line and the smiling lads won the stage by over 1hr 10 min.

Friday – Day 7
The Hannibal stage is without a doubt one of the highlights of Rallye Breslau. It’s 500km in length and is very tough. This stage was fast with winching across rivers and bogs. Others filled with huge water filled holes which we hit at full speed. Who says V8’s don’t like water…. The Land Rover also handled huge water filled holes with ease! The final 60k stage was very fast but tricky with some huge jumps involved. The river crossing at the end of the stage was dealt with equally as skilful again with Chris winching the vehicle from the halfway mark to the other side the on to the finish line with haste.

Saturday – Day 8

This stage started off with the great news that the team had in fact won the Hannibal stage by nearly 40 mins. At the start of the Rallye in Zagan the lads encountered initial problems losing the track but soon get back in to the swing of it trying to make up for the lost 4 mins of time. Then the team were onto the final push through a short fast  densely wooded section, through a meadow before passing the final finish post.
At the results party afterwards Team Gigglepin celebrated winning 6 out of 9 stages and proudly stood on the winner’s podium holding their trophy.

There is no rest as we are working to have the car ready for the next big event, King of the Valleys in Wales next week. This is going to be something very big and very special with over 20 international entries from as far as the USA!

Ben & Chris – Team Gigglepin

Visit their blog site to read the whole thrilling race report! http://www.gigglepin4x4.net/Blog/

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