Rally van Wervik 2024 Report Bill Paynter/Andy Hollingham

Last weekend Bill Paynter and Andy Hollingham took on the Rally van Wervik in their Subaru Impreza. Some stunning times were posted, but unfortunately the team had to retire half way through the event with mechanical issues.

The “12 hours of Wervik” consisted of 140 competitive kilometers over some classic Flemish stages. On Friday the team had a good recce with lots of changes made to the pacenotes, Bill and Andy were feeling ready to attack come Saturday morning. Heavy rain on Friday night meant that the crews would be greeted by damp but drying stages on Saturday, with muddy sections due to dirt being dragged out of the cuts. Bill and Andy opted for a safe tyre choice, selecting wet tyres for the morning loop of three stages.

The crew were lightning fast out of the blocks, having a really good run through the first stage Geluwe, with big commitment driving to the pacenotes on this first time through the stage. The pace was fantastic, causing a shock to be lying in 11th overall after the first stage, beating multiple modern Rally 2 cars, as well as Porsche GT3’s who were all expected to be faster than the older Subaru.

This rhythm was then carried into SS2, where conditions were extremely tricky, with a lot of mud covering sections of the stage. Slightly more caution was applied, to ensure they stayed on the road in a stage that would have been very easy to make a mistake. A clean trouble free run through the stage again saw the pair trading times with the latest Rally 2 machinery. Up to 10th overall.

Onto stage 3, Kruiseke, and the team again gave it a push in the extremely fast test. Reaching speeds of 126mph/202kmh, hitting the rev limiter in sixth gear on the narrow Belgian lanes. Another fantastic time set, bagging 12th fastest overall time and beating ex-WRC factory driver and Belgian legend Freddy Loix in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 car in the process.

It had been a very successful first loop, the crew sat in 11th position, leading the Flanders International Rally Challenge crews by over a minute with team mate Scott Barnes leading the rest of the pack in 2nd. A dream start to the day for Bill and Andy.

Back to service and despite drying conditions the team opted to take it safe and stick on the Pirelli wet tyres which worked well on the previous loop. Upon entering stage 4 the team knew that this was not the correct decision. With the sun now shining and the wind picked up, the stages had dried very quickly. Where there was previously moisture and mud, the team were now met with dry and dusty conditions. The wet weather tyres quickly overheated and the team went into conservation mode to try and limit the damage done to the very soft wet Pirelli rubber. Coming out of the stage, they knew that a lot of time had been lost, and it would be a frustrating loop of three stages having to try and be gentle on the tyres and knowingly giving away time.

On stage 5 there would be more of the same. With the car moving around a lot on the wet tyres the crew took it steady trying not to over drive. They also noticed a lack of power on the stage, with an on-going turbo actuator issue again rearing it’s head, meaning the car was down on boost. Despite these challenges, the team still sat in a very respectable 13th overall position after the 5th stage.

In stage 6 the team again did their best to manage the on-going issues, looking to get through and back to service ready to fully reset and go again. The Kruiseke stage contained a very bumpy gravel section. Knowing that this was an area where the tyre disadvantage would not apply, Bill tried to push here to make up some lost time, however, a big bump, just before their braking point bounced the car offline and onto a loose, slick mud surface. The team endured a big moment being in 6th gear and completely sideways for around 100 meters when they thankfully came to a stop before doing any major damage. They were very lucky to get away with the moment, fired the Subaru back up and continued to complete the stage, dropping only around 20 seconds. It was a real heart in mouth moment. Paynter and Hollingham had now dropped back to 16th place in the overall standings, still a strong positioning.

The team headed back to service where the turbo issue was temporarily fixed and medium compound tyres were bolted on to the car. On the road section after leaving service Bill could hear and feel a vibration coming from the rear brakes. Upon inspection in re-fuel the team found a very badly cracked rear brake disc. Unfortunately this was a safety issue and with no spare to try and change at this point the team made the difficult decision to retire the car. Given the speeds on the event and potentially catastrophic failure that could have occurred on stage, we were unfortunately given no option but to withdraw.

It was a case of what could have been, looking back at the fantastic speed on the first loop, there are plenty of positives to take away. The team will come back stronger, looking to resume that great pace on their next event, the Rally van Staden which takes place on the 11th August.

Bill would like to say a big thank you to his service crew for all of their help on the event, as well as to our partners who continue to support us-

JFDIT Solutions Ltd

TRS Motorsport

Alltec Seys Autosport Shop

Rally-Art Photography

Also a big congratulations to team mates Scott Barnes and Andy Hall, on finishing a brilliant 21st overall and 2nd in class in his Peugeot 106.

Keep an eye on the BP Rally Facebook page for more progress updates as we prepare for our next event.