Shakedown!! First outing for the new Rally Prep BMW E30

Sideways News

Shakedown Time

Shakedown!! First outing for the new Rally Prep BMW E30 low-cost rally car proves a resounding success!

The day really highlighted all that we have been shouting about - that you can take an affordable BMW base car, build it into a proper rally car without breaking the bank, and end up with a car that is not only quick but virtually bullet proof in its reliability.

After all, rallying should not be about sitting in the service area pandering to your car’s delicate needs – it is about getting out and having some serious fun!

This really was a ‘Day One’ initiation for the latest BMW E30 from the Rally Prep stable with the car moving under its own steam for the first time as it rolled off the trailer at Smeatharpe Airfield. For it to then complete around 50 stage miles without a hitch was really satisfying and testament to the excellent work the RP technicians had carried out during the build. Running in our entry level rally spec, which housed a standard 3.0ltr M3 engine (costing just £15k fully built and ready to rally!) the car was not only on the pace but proved quicker than many established (and very expensive!) cars, prompting quizzical looks and much questioning from the surprised owners. By the end of the day several competitors had enquired about packages available from RallyPrep including Arrive and Drive hire deals, to outright purchase and new

builds, to simply taking on the maintenance and running of their existing cars.

When asked about the concept of building the BMW’s MD of Rally Prep, Neil Yates comments “Our thought process was pretty simple really - it’s about giving great value for money and enabling people to go rallying spending as little as possible while having brilliant fun. This is a really exciting time as the message is obviously getting out there. We have a lot of cars going through the workshops, which is keeping the boys really busy. The team have a huge amount of experience building competition cars to all sorts of budgets, from expensive exotica to trying to keep very tired examples alive for as long as possible. We are looking after high profile cars for journalists Chris Harris and Dan Prosser, and delivering a raft of projects for customers ranging from bare shell competiton builds to big capacity engine swaps for fast road conversions” “The BMW is really a great car to go rallying in a cost effective way. We are seeing more and more E30’s and E36’s series out there going sideways and to be able to professionally prepare a car that someone can buy from us and then to go out and chase the heels of some very expensive cars on the stages from as little as £10-15k is just fantastic. We’ve developed a lot of parts to improve the reliability and performance of the cars and we hope that it could mean we will see more guys and girls getting out there on rallies who have previously felt that it was too expensive which is a win win for the competitors, and spectators alike!”

The fact that the E30’s are now eligible for the RAC Rally Championship opens up a whole new avenue for these versatile cars, and while there has only been one out on the championship stages so far this year there are several people talking seriously about having E30’s built for the RAC Rally in November and 2014 campaigns.

So it is now on to the TSH Stages on May 18/19th for the RallyPrep team where we will be running a beautiful Mark 1 Escort for its proud owner/driver on his stage rally debut, and where the white E30 tested at Smeatharpe will be making its competition debut.

-ends Editor’s Notes For more information on Rally Prep please contact: Neil Yates Rally Prep Ltd 07907 234787 neil@rallyprep.co.uk www.rallyprep.co.uk

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Rally Prep Ltd Rally Prep specialise in the build and preparation of rally, race and high performance vehicles for road and track use. Their services range from full bare shell builds to basic servicing and parts supply. They also are able to supply a range of products which they have developed specifically for rally and race cars, alongside top quality equipment from some of the worlds most respected motorsport parts specialists.

For more media information please contact: Silverback Media Solutions Ltd 01327220003 rallyprep@silverbackmedia.co.uk