Family Affair on Cambrian November 3rd 2007

Both Nieroda Motorsport crews made the start of the 2007 GON Cambrian Rally in Llandundno, Daniel Nieroda and Kevin Wilkins in the 1400 Vauxhall Nova, and husband and wife crew Nick and Denise Nieroda behind the wheel of the 1275 Mini. This was Nicks first time in the forests since the Bulldog Rally last year, and was nervous about using pace notes for the first time. Daniel was looking to impress, on this the home event for the team, but sadly the rally rlly was to come to an abrupt end. "As we passed the flying finish of stage one, I heard the note too late for the next bend, we were going to quick for the corner and as soon as I touched the brakes the back end stepped out and we were a passenger from there. The car nosed into the bank, rolled over and landed on its roof. Thankfully me and kevin were unharmed in the accident, just sore! The car is a write off now though, we'll see what we can salvage and go from there." said a dis-heartened Daniel

Dispite the initial shock of seeing their sons car upside down in a ditch, Nick and Denise continued on with the event at the request of Daniel. "Its quite a shock seeing your sons car in a ditch, but thankfully he and Kevin were okay. We're going to continue, and have some fun!" The mini ran faultlessly until with two stages to go, the car developed a misfire. Luckily the car made it to the finish where a relieved Daniel saw his parents across the line. The fault has now been located to a damaged valve, the husband and wife pairing were lucky to finish the event.

Nieroda Motorsport would like to thank Rob and Martyn for looking after the Vauxhall, and Chris and Jay from Craven Motors for taking care of the Mini.


The Cars at signing-on the night before the rally.

The end result of Daniels Vauxhall Nova



Plain Sailing September 22nd 2007

After the dissappointment of the previous round, the Nieroda MotorSport crew were looking to make amends for the retirement on the Woodpecker Rally. The rally started in Llandovery with a quick visit around the event sponsors yard before heading into the forest of Dyfi, Gartheiniog and Pantperthog. "The first stage was extremely slippy, it was a case of getting it through to the end, two cars have rolled already in there, its a very tricky stage!" said Daniel. The first run of stages went well, the crew gettingg quicker with every run. With only routine checks needed in service, the pair were looking forward to the second pass through the stages, "It'll be rougher second time round, but hopefully with my confidence growing we can pull back some time"  said Daniel just before leaving service. And indeed the pace did increase, with the final three stages Daniel finished within 20 seconds of the top 1400 crews on each stage, which in an underpowered car is quite an acheivement. "The second run through was much rougher, but I had a lot more faith in the car and pushed as I knew a lot of crews would back off with the stages being more trecherous" said a very happy Daniel ant the finish in Llandovery, "The car ran faultless all day, I can't wait for the next event in my home are of Llandudnom the Cambrian Rally in November"

Again, the crew would like to thank Daniels parents for servicing, and Glyn Lloyd & Sons Plant Hire and Craven Motors for their support.



(Pic courtesy of Jonathon Suter http://www.jmsphotographic.co.uk/ )

Woodpecker Woes September 2nd 2007

The crew finally made the start of a full event, and were hopeful of continuing the success of the Quinton. The morning stages were dusty and fast, with grip at a minimum, the team were fighting a car short of grip but were pushing on to make the best of the outing for themselves, and sponsors Craven Motors and Glyn Lloyd & Sons Plant Hire. With four stages down, it was back into service for a top up of fuel and a bite to eat. Sadly the day didn't last much longer, as on stage five Daniel and Kevin were about to join six other crews to retire in Radnor. The pairing had taken the decision to go all out in the afternoon to pull back some time lost from the morning, but sadly 2 miles into the stage at junction five, on a tightened hairpin left, the Nova snapped a driveshaft when pulling out of the corner and it was game over. "We could have limped through the stage but with 6 miles to go the broken driveshaft could have caused more damage with it flailing around" said a dis-heartened Nieroda. "It'll be fixed within the week and we'll be out for the Plains Rally on September 22nd no problem, its just one of those things that couldn't have been prevented sadly."

Daniel would like to thanks his parents and Fiona for servicing, Glyn Lloyd & Sons Plant Hire and Craven Motors for their continued support.

(Pic courtesy of Tim Harding)

Quinton Debut July 7th 2007

The Vauxhall Nova crew finally made its competition debut on this years Quinton Mini Rally based in Llandovery. The Mini Rally used the first three stages of the Quniton Rally and was used by the team as a test for the newly re-prepared car. The pairing of Daniel Nieroda and navigator Kevin Wilkins settled in quickly and got used to the car, and each other to set some reasonable times finishing second and first in class on their first event. "The stages were awesome, they're used on the Wales Rally GB and it nice to drive the same stages as the best in the world. The car worked well, theres a few little things to sort before the Woodpecker in September but nothing serious" said Daniel at the post-event talk with World Champion co-driver Nicky Grist.


Dissappointment on the 'Dean February 12th 2007

After the 'mad dash' to finish the car, the Nieroda MotorSport Vauxhall Nova braved the weather to head down to South Wales for the Get Connected Wyedean Rally. The crew were very aprehensive about the weather conditions and were planning on a steady run to get some miles under their belts and experience, but sadly the well laid plans came to an abrupt end when on the way to the start line, the 1400cc 16v engine expired. The mechanics braved the conditions in their attempt to fix the problem at the roadside, but the fault could not be traced. Daniel and Kevin will now wait until the second half of the season, and plan some extensive test sessions in an effort to prevent any further problems like this arriving again.

 

Plans for 2007 December 8th 2006

Daniel Nieroda, a 21yr old store manager from Conwy, has announced he will be competing in the 2007 BTRDA Rally Championship for 1400cc cars. With the Vauxhall Nova nearing completion, Daniel is hoping to enter the G3RS Gravel Sprint in January as a shakedown event for the Vauxhall, in preparation for the opening round of the championship in February.

This will be Daniels first venture into the forests as a driver, having picked up several awards on the 'black stuff' in previous year's along with navigating for several drivers over previous years too. Daniel is also hoping to use the Mini he has been using for the past three years in local events, and will hopefully be joined by his father in his own Mini.

As ever, the team require any help that can be given and are currently looking for sponsors to aid with the full BTRDA championship assault in 2007. Information on potential sponsorship packages can be obtained by contacting the team at dan.rally@hotmail.co.uk

 

Bulldog Mini-Rally October 21st 2006

The husband and wife crew of Nick and Denise Nieroda from Conwy competed in their first forest event in over ten years on the inaugural Bulldog Mini-Rally. Designed as 'an event within an event' the rally consisted of two stages in the tricky Dyfnant forest in Mid-Wales.

Despite this being their first forest event in the Mini, the crew were aware of the challenge ahead of them. But half way into the first stage, Nick discovered a problem with the gear selector, and had to complete the second run in third gear. Even with the set back, the times set were impressive considering the problems that hampered the pairs return to forest rallying.

Missing from the entry was their son Daniel, who had decided to pull out of the event just days before due to an electrical fault on his new Vauxhall Nova.