GRP Engines win the Proline challenge with the prototype O'Donnell Buggy in second!

Report by Matt Alcock

The Proline challenge was the first big meeting I have attended in my year of rallycross racing, it was also my first time racing at slough, along with my first time out with the new XRAY 808 and GRP engine! Thanks to Kevin Brunsden, I had a good base set up to go out on, so just went out aiming to do my best.



It was a damp start so there was plenty of grip, my first run was a un-timed 7 minute practice and we spent this getting the new GRP Tuned 21 engine tuned to perfection. I wasn't pushing the car hard, more time was spent trying to see how the engine felt and to be honest it was awesome to drive.

The track dried extremely quickly so I went out trying to learn the track and its features and put in a steady time. We decided after the run that the cars were to spongy on the back and made some slight adjustments on the shocks, which made the car a lot easier to drive over the rough bumpy sections. The adjustments made, I went out for my second timed practice and found it a lot easier to drive allowing me to put in another steady 7 laps. During the first rounds I was struggling to consistently do all the jump sections and these jumps were the key to getting to the 8 lap mark!

The first two rounds of qualifying took place on the Saturday, the weather was good and they were ahead on the time schedule. No major setup adjustments were made during the 2 rounds of qualifying as the car felt very safe and steady to drive. I was still unable to do the doubles over the far side and I was held back from getting my 8 laps in, but got two steady consistent 7's.



Round 3 of qualifying took place on Sunday morning, yet again a damp start but the track dried out very quickly.
After watching some of the faster drivers in the higher heats in the on Saturday, I had some methods to try and get me doing the jumps. I went out in heat 2 with the track still fairly damp and practised some of the things I had seen.

I was feeling confident now with the jumps (most of the time!) and the car still performing perfectly I went out in round 4 and put in my quickest time of the weekend, an 8-5m31!
I was extremely pleased with this time and felt very pleased with the XRAY 808 and the GRP 21 engine!
The final round of qualifying and I had it all to play for. I went out knowing I had a quick time in the bag, so I tried to push and improve but soon saw this was not going to work so I went back to driving consistently and put in my second 8 lapper but in a slower time of 5m39. That was qualifying over, There was nothing else I could do, the wait began.

The overalls were put up after heat 9 and I had qualified 47th which put me 7th in the 1/8th A. I was very pleased, and that night striped and rebuilt the car, found no worn or broken parts so that was a bonus. As usual excellent XRAY quality!

My final was second on in the morning and my final started off a little rough around the edges but once the traffic had cleared I was able to claw my way back up into the bump ups. I was pushing for 10 minute fuel stops in the final and made my stop successfully and that was it until the end. I felt confident that nothing could go wrong!
I was coming out of the second to last bomb hole and the car started stuttering; my car cut out from 3rd spot. I thought it was all over. I looked at the screen to see how far down I would fall down the order and to my amazement I was 5th. I was in the Bump ups! I rushed back charged everything all up and prepared for my second final, I was in the quarters.



Competition was extremely tough in the quarters, I was racing with people I never thought I would be racing. I knew bumping up was going to be extremely hard, but I went out with high hopes anyway.
From the first lap I could see I needed a miracle to bump up again but kept on going. I drove my best but only managed 10th, I was still extremely pleased with my result.

Although my day didn't go any further, I was extremely pleased with everything, the car was unbelievable, engine was spot on all weekend, I found the track brilliant to drive and it gave a great thrill after a perfect run.

I would like to thank Kev Brunsden for all his help, also Steve Brunsden for all the pitting and marshaling, Ian Hanncock for pitting in my first final and finally to Richard Mckensie for giving me a lift to the meeting and back.



The Buggy "A" final made for a great race with Maifield opening up a lead from the start, Maifield then dropped two places to third, but both drivers that passed engines cut, leaving Alsop and Maifield to battle for the lead. Maifield then cut out as he was fuelling, giving Alsop a small leading gap. Graham kept the lead until the 41st minute. Maifield was on a charge closely followed by the O'Donnell of Tebo with both coming through on Graham it was Maifield under GRP power, who crossed the finish line in 1st!

Final Standings:

1 - Ryan Maifield - GRP Engine
2 - Jared Tebo - O'Donnell Buggy
3 - Graham Alsop - Nosram Rx Packs

Images courtesy of Neo-Buggy.net