The 2015 Maxxis King of Wales boasted its strongest field yet, and with high horse power buggies in every direction, Team Gigglepin decided to enter two vehicles into the fray – with Maxxis driver Jim Marsden & Mark Birch coordinating the Gigglepin Defender. Whilst Jerry Hunt and James Trembath tackled the Ultra4 for the first time in the newly built Gaz-Fab.
Once set-up was complete, it was a long wait to the prologue on Friday afternoon – a 4km fast technical course with slippery corners and a run down the legendary rocks of the ‘Dragons Back’ before charging into the Odyssey Arena to cross the line. Jim and Mark got off to a great start and took the win with Jerry & James posting a healthy time just outside the top five. It’s a great start to the team’s campaign with close running and hot times from drivers all across Europe and the US.
A new addition for 2015 saw the team’s lining up against their fellow competitors – with Jim and Nicolas Montador of Team WSR at the forefront. The flag dropped and we held the line taking the lead with six 23km laps to complete. The next two laps were perfect as we fought through traffic and built a strong 20 minute lead. Then on the third lap while passing a back marker, Jim blew a rear differential and had to complete the rest of the third lap at a snail’s pace to get back to the pits. A quick change of diff and a transfer box later and we hit the trail again.
Meanwhile, Jerry was also having fun on track and after maintain a top five position for the first lap, managed to give fellow Maxxis driver Levi Shirley a little love tap, rolling Levi on to his roof in the main arena! After a few words and a quick winch, both drivers were back under way, but unfortunately Jerry had damaged his steering and was off the pace.
At the end of day 1, both vehicles had completed the days laps and still remained in the top ten and were looking forward to the newly created night stage.
10pm on Saturday night saw the team begin their first ever night stage at the Maxxis King of Wales but unfortunately, Jerry was still struggling with his steering and a leaking fuel tank and missed the 10pm start. Meanwhile, Jim and Mark headed back out to drive the prologue course – this time in reverse and in the dark! Winning the night stage by 8 seconds over closest competitor Nicolas Montador, both cars were prepped and ready to battle it out for the next day.
The final day sees both cars get off to a good start with Jim & Mark flying through the course – and passing many fellow competitors. Unfortunately, disaster struck and mechanical issues forced Jim & Mark to retire seeing them in 10th position overall.
Meanwhile, Jerry & James were in the thick of the action, with the fuel tank full and all new steering system engineered and installed overnight, the gaz-fab racer was putting down consistent lap times, completing the grueling race in a solid 6th place.
