Lawrence, George, Aron, Martin and Peter spent two days in Wales, marshaling SS4/6 (Rheola 1/2) and SS14 (Resolfen 2).

It took 15 minutes to get car 124 out of that ditch on SS4
 

Things were looking good for Aron at the T.A.L. Motorsport Stages at Hixon; Andrew was back on the maps and the Astra seemed to be rid of the gremlins that had plagued the team for the past few months.

A minor overheating on SS1 was easily overcome, likewise the apparently loose rear wheel bearing on SS2 (causing a straw bale incident). Unfortunately, a front suspension mounting broke on SS3 resulting in a stage max. Repairs in service took a little longer than hoped resulting in the crew missing their slot at the start of SS4 thus accumulating too much lateness for them to continue.

SS1 17/37 6/9 - SS2 27/33 7/8 - SS3 31/32 8/8

Both the team and Lawrence and George (who were providing the results service), were shocked to hear of Streetly Motor Club members' Ade and Erik's accident on SS5 (for which the stage was cancelled), but were relieved to hear they were both OK following a visit to the local hospital.
 

A big outing for the team coming up:

Aron and Andrew, with support from Jamie and Stu, have an entry on Cannock & District Car Club's T.A.L.Motorsport stages (previously known as the "Wheelspin Stages") at Hixon airfield, Staffordshire, on Saturday 13th September.

Lawrence and George will also be there; calculating the results for this event in the relative luxury of the control tower.
 

Its' been a long time coming, but it looks like Aron finally has the Astra back in a reliable form and can go the distance.

Aron reports that he and navigator Erik had a big spin on SS1 and a puncture on SS7, but were well pleased to finish the event.
 

Having missed the chance to do the Sutton Autofactors Dukeries Rally back on the 21st June (due to being 26th reserve), Aron took the time to sumit the Astra for its annual MOT - it failed.

After a bit of welding and a retest, Aron and Erik have a place on the forthcoming ATS Coracle Stages on the 6th July as car 43
 

Commiserations to Nikki/Cal who retired with a failed clutch on SS1

Thanks to Mark Weller for this "candid" picture

The team return from the Abingdon Carnival Rally Stages with smiles on their faces, after what was a challenging event in more ways than one:

George was a little nervous, having not driven the car in anger since last November, plus guest navigator Stu, although doing a courageous job on the maps, was plagued all day with motion sickness. The service crew of Lawrence, Andy and Aron strived in horrendous weather conditions to keep the 309 in top trim.
 

Sunday 25th May saw George and Lawrence present the 309 to the public, as guests of the Peugeot GTi Autosport Club at the French Car Show at Stamford Hall, Hinkly.

This years show was much larger than the one we attended two years ago, and we met a greater number of people who were interested in rallying, although the main theme of the show was the modding scene.
 

Aron and Andrew had taken Jamie, Stu, Cal, Martin and Spud to assist in their attempt of the Winter Rally Car Sales Somerset Stages Rally (the 4th round of the BTRDA series), but it was not to be, they never got to SS3 - the rough forest stages had caused damage to the Astra's fuel tank, causing it to leak fuel. Although the crew performed a temporary fix, the organisers would not allow the car to continue due to a potential fire hazard in the forests.

George and Lawrence assisted the organisers in marshalling this event. Posted at the above location, they had little to do but battle with the sunshine, wind and rain, oh, and one very heavy Landrover that spun, stalled and would not start.
 

Following all the electrical problems that Aron has been experiencing with the Astra GTE, Aron has employed a WRC mechanic (who just happened to be in the neibourhood) to sort out the wiring. Our (un-named) mechanic produced blood sweat an tears to get the car ready and in the process had to visit the local hospital to get his finger sewn back on. We wish "H" a speedy recovery.
 

Its been a little over a year since Nikki came along to Tomsport with a wish to become involved with rallying. Starting out as a mechanic, Nikki soon found himself reading the maps in either the 309 or the Astra. Now, Nikki has his own rally car to play in - a 1300cc Citroen AX GTi. Nikki's first event is expected to be the Abingdon Carnival stages on the 8th June.

Last Saturday, the team were busy assisting in the safe running of Cannock & District Car Clubs' Cannock Electrical Installations Stages rally, held at Hixon airfield near Stafford.

Lawrence and George were once again set up infront of the computers processing the results for the event, with Aron doing the the Club Steward duties and Cal was out with the stage turn around crews.

If we're not competing, we're organising
 

Heart of England Rally Championship awards presentation 2002

2nd in Class C
(up to 2 litre)
George Cooke

Championship sponsor Erik West presents George Cooke with the 2nd in Class C award

The tankard now gracing George's trophy cabinet

Last weekend was one of collecting awards for the 2002 season. Despite a difficult year financially for the 309 crew, the Team all went on Friday night to collect 2nd driver in the up to 2000ltr class for the Advanced Autosport Technologies Heart of England rally championship, and much fun was had by all ;-)

At a club level on Saturday 18th, George collected 3rd single venue driver award for his efforts.
 

Congratulations

Congratulations to Nikki and Alyson on the birth of their daughter Ella

Ella

Nikki

Born 13th January 2003 at 10:15, weighing 6ib 15oz
 

A finish at long last.

It's been a long time coming, but Aron and Cal have finally finished a rally - but not without incident. Electrical problems on the first stage were to hamper the teams efforts of a good result, but the crew valiantly overcame these issues to get the Astra GTE to the finish in Coniston.
 

Aron reports that the Astra GTE is just about ready. Last weekend, the Central Hydraulics 2000 workshops were utilised for the final fettling of the Astra, including the fitting of a new sump-guard.

Both Aron and Cal are hoping to get to the finish of this gruelling event - it would be nice to finish the year on a high (after so many lows)
 

Tomsport are off to the forests of south Wales for the next couple of days, marshalling on SS6 and SS9 of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain. Aron, George and Lawrence will meet up with Cal, Mick and Martin and assist with the marshalling of Rheola and Resolven.

Well, we can't afford to compete in this rally, so we might as well assist in its' safe running.
 

Yesterday, the reduced team of George, Michelle and Andy got the 309 to the finish on Streetly Motor Clubs' Tyre'd Goat Stages Rally at Three Sisters Raceway. The weather held out allowing George to push the 309 to a finish. Michelle, although very nervous at the start, got it together to assist Geroge in her personal victory - asked after the event if she would like an organisers signature on her license for an upgrade, Michelle stayed tight lipped and shook her head.

Andy spent a quiet time in the service area keeping the 309 in top fettle and on track for some Heart of England championship points.
 

George reports the 309 is "just about" ready for a trip up the M6 to Three Sisters Raceway for Streetly Motor Clubs' Tyre'd Goat Stages on Saturday 9th November.

We can surely understand that Navigator Michelle might be a little apprehensive about navigating again for George, as last time, George gave her a "crash course". Lets hope they can get it together for a finish and some championship points for this, the final round of the Heart of England championship

This event will see the welcome return of Andy, wielding the spanners in the service area for George, as Aron, Cal, Nikki, Alan and Lawrence have official duties to attend to in the organisation of this event.
 

Vini Vidi Vici

What a cracking weekend in the Roman town of Caerwent that turned out to be; good weather, digs, food, company and a new venue to boot. Apprehension was high for the first stage (with rumours of large kerbs and jumps), but soon turned to an enjoyable challenge as the day progressed.

The 309 ran well all day, until the end of SS5, when the power steering pump failed. Frantic work at service was to no avail, but determined as ever, George (with a snack of Popeye's spinach) went on to manhandle his chariot to the finish.
 

George is putting the team together for a trip down to south Wales for a single venue rally at Caerwent. We've not rallied there before, but we hear it is lined with kerbstones !!! Once again, Chris Rose will be accompanying the Team in the service area, with Alan getting another opportunity to hone his map reading skills.

Georges following event is expected to be at Three Sisters Raceway on the 9th November. This raises a slight issue of lack of manpower - the remainder of the team are expected to be involved with the organisation of that event, has it is hosted by Streetly Motor Club - I'm sure we'll work something out
 

Oh dear, our webmaster has been playing with JavaScript again, and come up with a little game to pass away a few minutes.

To see what Trugga has been up to, click on the image of the car to the right. (You will need at least IE5 with JavaScript enabled)
 

Aron's rally car has finally finished an event (the rally car being driven home after the church service).

Congratulations

Emma & Aron

who were married on a sunny afternoon at Four Oaks Methodist Church on Saturday 3rd August 2002

Aron was accompanied by Best Men George and Andrew, with Lawrence given the responsibility of chauffeuring the bridle party to the church.

Tomsport and Streetly Motor Club were well represented at the "evening do", with a motorsport theme accompanying the bride and groom as they left the hotel the following morning.
 

George and Alan are currently discussing the possibility of entering the "Famous Woodpecker Stages Rally". Following a busy few months, Alan is keen to get back into the navigators seat for this relatively local forest event.
 

What a weekend that turned out to be. We're all back safely, with the correct number of eyebrows. We're not going to do an event report, but here's an idea of what we got up to.
 

We're back from Abingdon with huge sighs of relief - we finished. There were a lot of nerves prior to the start, as the last two attempts at this event ended in disaster. A steady run throughout the day, often in appalling weather, got the 309 to the finish, with some useful championship points. Rally report now available.
 

We're back from the last event at Weston Park. Aron, with three non finishes for his last three events, needed a result to boost moral - it was not to be; SS4 saw the Astra GTE break a drive shaft at the exit of the notorious water splash. New navigator Nikki got to experience the highs and lows of motorsport in far too shorter time.

Better news of the 309. After a number of "grass tracking" experiences on the first two stages, a change to forest tyres at 2nd service gave the desired grip around this tarmac venue! George and Alan also had to contend with intercom problems, but managed to finish 32nd.

Service wise, Colin Scot made a welcome return trip to assist the team, also, Chris Rose joined us for the first time. Chris comes from the 4x4 echelons of the sport and made a good impact from the word go - A trials prepared Landrover was most useful when Lawrence got the Service barge stuck in the mud, and Aron was most grateful for the loan of a plumbed in fire extinguisher
 

Tomsport have their start numbers for this weekends event - refer to the next event page for more info. Tomsport will be assisting Dan² (Daniel Howell and Daniel Roach-Rooke) who will be attempting their first event at Weston Park in their Peugeot 205.
 

Aron and Erik have safely returned from the Winter Stages Rally in Mid Wales. The event was not without incident though - read all about it here.
 

Aron reports that the Astra is back into a road worthy condition, following the reworking of the front suspension/subframe. A road test proved favorable, although the tracking is in dire need of attention - this is scheduled for Thursday.

Aron, Cal and Andy will be traveling to Wales on the Friday night (to relax before the event!), whilst the remainder of the support crew will meet up at Sweet Lamb on the Saturday morning
 

The 309 is now going back together nicely. On Saturday, Lawrence assisted George in refitting the engine. With the engine eventually installed, the front suspension was bolted back together, likewise the steering. The pub was well deserved later that evening.
 

After the Astra's "meeting of walls" on Jersey last year, the chassis has now been welded and strengthened. Thanks to Pete Coley. Steering arms, bottom arms, drive shafts have all been replaced after many hours of searching the midlands for spares!

The Astra should very shortly be back in Forest spec, in readiness for the Winter Stages in middle of Feb. Time permitting the whole car will be fitted with a new wiring loom, after our electrical problems on Jersey.
 

With the assistance of Nikki and Lawrence, George has removed the engine from the 309. The diff will be off to Gripper Diffs for a service and a new solid center paddle clutch is to be manufactured by PTS. The gearbox will be given the once over and, with the engine on the bench, the precision instruments will be tasked to the timing. With the heart of the beast out of the way, the bulk head will receive some attention (with the welding equipment). Also, the fuel system has been sent off to be pressure tested.

Who said that the Christmas holidays are relaxing ?
 

Tomsport score a victory on the Streetly Motor Club treasure hunt.

Tomsport fielded 3 teams in Streetly Motor Club's treasure hunt, resulting in the top two places (and the last). George, partnered with Michelle and Alexander in the family 306, failed to make any significant impact on the final score board. Aron and Emma, in the company 406, managed a creditable 2nd overall, whilst Mark and Lawrence, in the luxury of the Scorpio, took the top place.

The last minute decision by Mark and Lawrence to join the competition was greeted with mixed feelings from the other crews. This team caused confusion throughout the lanes of the Derbyshire countryside, with the reverse driving antics of Mark and coupled with Lawrence's map reading skills, brought the crew to the finish a full half hour ahead of the rest of the field, finally clinching the win by one point.

Well done to Andy and Jamie for organising an entertaining afternoon in the countryside, and thanks for the bottles of wine.
 

The team met up last night (in a pub of course) to discuss the forthcoming Jersey rally. We'll be meeting up on Thursday morning at 02:00 to travel to the ferry at Weymouth over night!!!.

For this event, the team has had to split into two for Servicing arrangements:

Tomsport A:
No 55 - Vauxhall Astra GTE
Crew: Aron Brown / Cal McElhinney
Service Crew: Andrew Mitchell / Nick Brown

Tomsport B
No 59 - Peugeot 309 GTi 16v
Crew: George Cooke / Alan West
Service Crew: Lawrence Fowler / Nikki Breslin

Once again, our resident webmaster will try to update this web site during the event
 

At long last George has got to do his first rally of the year - not since the Manx last September has George been able to drive the car in anger. Once again Alan West was strapped into the passenger seat for the day as navigator, and appeared to settle in to things very well.

The car ran well in the early stages, but as the lunch time halt approached, mechanical gremlins had crept into the machinery. We'll ask Alan to put pen to paper, and have a rally report here shortly.

Tomsport wish to express a huge thank you to both Nikki and Colin, (who assisted Aron and Lawrence in the service area), as they performed with exceptional enthusiasm during the day, especially during the hectic lunch time service

Tomsport wish to express their commiserations to fellow Streetly Motor Club members Mark and Paul, with whom we were sharing a service pitch, as they were forced into retirement before the last stage of the day with a very ill sounding engine. Its been a long time since Mark has been in sight of the finish line, and being 5 seconds behind 3rd in class (and a trophy) at the end of SS6, shows the potential of the car
 

It is confirmed that both Aron and George have places on the forthcoming Jersey rally. When MIRA is out of the way, we'll post more details.
 

Aron has finally returned from his summer holiday and managed to pen a report of his thoughts of being Course Car and Chief Marshal on Streetly Motor Club's inaugral S.M.Roofing Stages Rally that was held on a very wet 12th August. Read all about it from the Rally Reports.

Following his recent house move, George is now turning his attention to preparing the Peugeot for the forthcoming event at MIRA. Two new service crew have confirmed their availability, and we look forward to meeting Colin and Nikki.

At last nights Streetly Motor Club's Video Night, Georges navigator for the MIRA event was shown the video of the aftermath of the Peugeots roll back in July 1998. Alan West (of Advanced Autosport Technologies Limited) seemed unshaken, and appears to be looking forward to another chance in which he will experience special stage rallying at first hand.
 

The Team has returned from the SMC/AAT S.M.Roofing Stages Rally.

Aron and Andy successfully completed their duties as Course Car (with only a few incidents) - perhaps we can persuade them to tell the stories.

Webmaster Lawrence produced the results with the able assistance of a number of women (all spoken for he is saddened to add). The results must have been OK as there were NO queries by the competitors.

George took on the role of a Sector Marshal for the day (covering for a colleague who broke down on the way there) and was key in the smooth running of this event (he had the biggest sector to marshal).
 

The Team have been busy over the last few months: Both Aron and George have moved house and Andy has almost completed on his move. The Team have also been busy in preparing for the S.M.Roofing stages rally on the 12th August; Aron and Andy will be running Course Car, whilst George and Lawrence will be lending their computer skills to producing the events results on the day.

Yesterday evening, both the Astra and the 309 were out at Streetly Motor Club's Private Practice Sprint, entertaining the crowds and giving rides to guests.
 

It appears that the Foot and Mouth out break in the UK is finally receding and that the rallying calendar is opening up.

The Team have been busy over the last month with their involvement in the S.M.Roofing Stages Rally, to be held on the 12th August 2001. The Team's Motor Club (Streetly Motor Club) are hosting the event, with Tomsport's Astra running as Course Car. Our webmaster will be computerising the event results and hopes to have a web camera running on the day. Further information at http://www.smroofingstagesrally.co.uk.

Tomsport are looking forward to a relaxing event on Sunday 3rd June, by "exhibiting" the Peugeot at the Peugeot GTi Autosports Clubs' National Day. We don't expect any prizes in the "show and shine" but look forward to promoting rallying as a motor sport - further details at http://www.peugeot-gti.co.uk

Competition wise, the Peugeot has a reserve place on the rescheduled MIRA event in September, while both cars are contemplating a trip to Jersey in October.
 

Tomsport wish to convey their congratulations to YSRT's Jamie Cook and his bride Lynette, who were married last week in Canada. Jamie, a long time friend of Tomsport and fellow member of Streetly Motor Club, invited the Team to their reception evening on the 6th April (which was a rather good night out).
 

Andrew flew home today with the posse that attended Jamie and Lynnette' wedding in Canada the previous week. It turns out that Andrew had a little accident on the ski slopes and seriously dislocated his shoulder. Looks like Andrew will be off work for a few weeks - fortunately his servicing skill will not be called upon until this foot and mouth disease clears up. We wish Andrew a speedy recovery.
 

Aron and Eric have completed The Advanced Windows Winter Stages at the Sweet Lamb forest complex. The event ran without major incident, with the exception of a last minute service panic and a problem on the journey home. Aron's rally report can be found here.
 

Final plans are being laid for this coming weekends event. Aron and Eric will be travelling to Wales on the Friday evening, with the support crew of Andrew, George and Lawrence following early on the Saturday morning.
 

Aron reports that the Astra is now repaired and ready for the next event. Andrew assisted Aron with the replacement of the front near-side suspension components, with a road test proving favourable. Andrew, George and Lawrence have confirmed that they'll assist Aron on the event, with Eric West confirmed as the navigator.
 

Aron has had his entry confirmed on the forthcoming Advanced Windows Winter Stages Rally. Work is still to be done on the Astra, as the damage from last December's Grizedale Stages has yet to be repaired. Aron is also advised that some of the Sweet Lamb stages will be run in the dark.
 

Tomsport is now available on your WAP enabled mobile phone. The site is in its infancy (and a bit rough around the edges), but now we have the technology, the site will grow to compliment the content of this site.

http://www.tagtag.com/tomsport - Your comments are welcome.
 

Aron Brown and Cal McElhinney conquer Grizzly Grizedale

Aron and Cal fought hard in the forests of the Lake District yesterday, but managed to bring the Tomsport Vauxhall Astra GTE to a satisfactory finish. The event was not without incident - rally report due soon.
 

Following a Team meeting last night (a few beers and a curry), the Team are looking forward to an end of year event in the Grizedale Forest. Aron reports the Astra is "almost ready" with just a few bits of tidying up left to do.

Our resident Webmaster has worked out how to change the graphics on a Nokia phone - check out the results on the Free Stuff page.

Work has been continuing over the last few weeks in an effort to prepare Aron's Vauxhall Astra GTE for the notorious Grizedale Stages Rally on the 2nd December 2000. The Service crew are concidering purchasing additional warm clothing - it snowed last year on this event.
 

Following the purchase of a full set of adjustable forest suspension for his Astra, Aron is preparing the car for an outing into the Grizedale forest. Although his navigator is yet to be announced, Aron is looking forward to attacking the rough stufff.
 

We are back in triumph from the Isle of Man. Our rally report for the Manx 2000 Trophy Rally is now complete. Click here to read our report.
 

A meeting was held last night to finalise those last minute things that always need to be sorted: A generator and lights have been arranged and Lawrence has the Service Pack so as to plot the service schedule. Work on the car will continue today (Saturday), with a view to us all having Sunday to ourselves. We'll meet up again on Tuesday afternoon to pack up the Transit Van. We leave for the ferry at 9:00am on Wednesday morning.

Tomsport wish to thank the guys at Mr Tyre for their assistance in fitting our Colway Tyres. Mr Tyre can be contacted on 0121 355 5823 and can be found at 448 Chester Road, Sutton Coldfield, B37 4RG
 

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, our development network server has been out of action - this has been rebuilt and we finally have access to the files we need to maintain this web site - thanks for bearing with us.

Work on the Peugeot 309 has continued over the last couple of weekends. George and Lawrence have changed the clutch in record time without a hitch. The new clutch has a solid centre and will hopefully withstand the punishment of the Manx tarmac.
 

After seven hours working on the Peugeot, we finally got it to a road worthy condition. George and Lawrence spent the day re-working the front wheel arch and doing a lot of welding to the front floor pan area. The wings, bumper and trim panels were all refitted and the vibration damaged dashboard also got repaired.

At 5:00pm the car was driven to Curborough Sprint Course near Lichfield, where Streetly Motor Club were holding their annual Closed To Club Private Practice Sprint. The session was hailed a success as the car ran faultlessly.

There's still a lot of work to be done in preparation for the Manx, including changing the clutch (this caused our demise on last years event).
 

Aron and Andrew finished their first forest event without any major incident. Andrew was probably the most nervous, having never done a multi-venue event before, although Aron tried to be considerate towards his tyres on the Welsh Forestry Commission tracks.

Work continues on the 309. Following the accident at Abbingdon, the entire front subframe has had to be replaced along with new bottom arms. There is still plenty to do before some tarmac testing at Curborough Sprint Course this Wednesday evening.
 

Aron reports that he has secured a place on the forthcomming Quinton Stages Rally in mid Wales and that Andy will be his navigator on this event. The Astra is up on stands at the moment having all the tarmac suspension replaced with forest spec items. Aron has also contacted Nocturnal Graphics with a view to having the car sign written with the Tomsport logos' - watch this space.
 

We're back from Abingdon, some of us with big grins on our faces, some of us with little grins. More details to follow...
 

Well, it's a week to go and both cars are ready for next weekends event. Both George and Aron appear to have done a minimum amount of work on their cars, but confidence is high. Arons Astra will be proudly displaying the scratches it received from a wire fence at last months private practice, but the mechanics are sound. Michelle is showing a few signs of nerves having never navigated a rally car before, but George is supportive of the fact all will be OK.

This is one of a few small events that allow spectators and details can be found on the next event page - come along and cheer us on.
 

Discussions within the Team have determined our next event - the Abingdon CAR-nival stages rally at Abingdon near Oxford on the 11th June 2000. Further details, as always, are available via the door square to the top-right. We are looking for volunteer service crew personal - if you're interested, give us a shout.
 

We're back and it is smiles all round - both cars fininshed the Horiba D'Isis Stages rally with barley a scratch. We'll be compiling a report over the week with a view to have it here next weekend.
 

Following the recent weather to pass over the Midlands, we wonder if we were right in fitting the slick tyres to the rims last weekend. If the snowy conditions continue, we'd be better off with the forest tyres! Check out the Next Event for our start numbers.
 

Following our recent adverts for Service Crew assistants, were pleased to confirm that Andrew Sharpe and Neale Musgrove will be joining us in the service area for the Horiba D'Isis Stages Rally - don't forget the waterproofs lads, just in case.
 

Last Sunday, the team were invited by Advanced Autosport Technologies Limited to a private test venue near Stafford. Advanced Autosport Technologies Limited had hired the venue for a photo shoot to promote their business. This was an excelent opportunity for Alan to have a test run with George in the Peugeot 309 GTi. Aron also made good use of the facility to test the Astra GTE to the limit on the wide tarmac expances. George experienced exhaust problems, but is confident all will be fixed for the D'Isis on the 8th of April.
 

Tomsport are pleased announce that Alan West, Director of Advanced Autosport Technologies Limited, will be navigating George in the Peugeot 309 GTi on the next event. Advanced Autosport Technologies are co-sponsors of the Heart of England Rally Championship, of which this is the second event in the championship calendar.
 

It was a busy day today as both cars got attention. George's Peugeot had a new imported exhaust fitted, whilst Aron and Andy were familiarising themselves with the Astra at nut & bold level.

Both cars are almost ready for the D'Isis Stages (mistakenly reported previously as the Quinton Stages)
 

A discussion within the team has discovered that the event at Caewent might be an ill choice for Aron's first event. It would appear that the venue is quite narrow, with a lot of kerbs, and the potential for damage is quite high.

So, following a browse through the rallying calendar, we came across the Quinton Stages to be hosted at the Mira test facility in Warwickshire on April 8th. Having done the event before, George believes this venue would be better suited due to its ample run-off areas. Does he mean for himself or Aron we wonder.
 

We went down to Abingdon to pick up Aron's new car today. The proceedings were uneventful and we managed to fit all the spares into the back of the Transit and the back of Andy's 406 estate. On the way back, however, we encountered a serious traffic jam on the A34 on the outskirts of Oxford - a boat had fallen of it's trailer and was resting on it's side on the hard shoulder.

We all made it back safely and unpacked all the kit into Aron's Fathers garage. Aron will now spend some time familiarising himself with the car, no doubt calling on George for assistance from time to time, although George is also trying to get his car ready.
 

Andy and Lawrence assisted George this Saturday with a gearbox change on the Peugeot. Regular visitors to our site will recall that the gearbox was suffering with an oil leak, which developed on the Manx. The oil leak was discovered to be caused by an ill fitting differential within its housing - the differential housing has now been re-machined and should solve the problem.

To assist in the box change, George has invested in clever device which supports the engine whilst the box is removed. With this bit of engineering, we got the box changed in a reasonable amount of time, which included a coffee break.
 

Tomsport have a second car. Following a trip to Abingdon, and careful deliberation, Aron has put down a deposit on a rally car, a Mk2 Vauxhall Astra GTE 16V. Aron is going to put his investment to the back of his mind for a couple of weeks whilst he attends to a busy business schedule, but aims to have the car ready for Caerwent.
 

News from within the team is that Aron is on the lookout for a rally car of his own. Aron intends to attempt a number of events as a driver, and at the wheel of his own car, will be able to "give it more commitment" without the worry of damaging a car belonging to someone else (namely George). Aron will still remain the primary navigator for George, and together will attempt a number of major events; the Manx and a trip to Belgium to name but two.

Having a second car in the Team will allow us to occasionally run two cars at some venues, adding an interesting element of competition. Another advantage is the opportunity for both Andrew and Lawrence to hone their navigator skills, as well as being able to accommodate a few "guest" navigators.

A number of people have responded to our "Service Crew Vacancy" and we look forward to their assistance in the coming months.
 

Have you got one of those fancy mobile phones that allow you to create your own tune? Check out our Free Stuff for the theme tune to The Italian Job.
 

The Team are in for a heavy couple of days this weekend - On the Friday we're off to "celebrate" George's' birthday, then on the Saturday we're off to the Streetly Motor Club Night at the Dogs - some time in between, some of us will be visiting the Autosport show in Birmingham. Busy weekend!
 

We have changed our name. Don't worry, the team hasn't changed, just the name. We still intend to share our rallying experiences with you.

We've also secured a new domain name - www.tomsport.co.uk - so it should be easier for you to find us.