Chelmsford MC Preston Rally 6/12/08
Discussion
We made it 
What a night!
Big thanks to Ciro, my navigator, who really is the most patient and nicest tempered people I have ever met. He didn't make one error on the the rally, and his calm and reassuring delivery made the event a pleasure to do.
Good finish for us. Seeded 57th and finished 21st, which is more a testament to Ciro's ability than mine. I just can not believe a car can take the punishment dished out. I could try and describe it, but for me to give you any idea what it is like you would think I was exaggerating.
It is simply the best fun and value for money of any motorsport. £95 entry fee and essentially an off road stage rally. Only n/a 4 cyl 2wd cars allowed to stop silliness and the formula breeds all sorts! Escort Mk I, Rover 200, Pug 205, Volvo 440 (Kevin Williams - a complete hoot), Suzuki Vitara 1.6 converted to 2wd (Sharon, silly Phil Bennett's girlfriend) and all plethora of others. 60 started, 38 finished, which is up from 25 last year.
I picked the car up from Phil Cutts in Worcester on Saturday, drove it home to Oxford then headed to near Norwich for the start. Then 120 competitive stage miles and 80 road miles in the rally (exhausting with no power steering). Finished at 8.10 yesterday morning. Then drove it home, sans brakes! 600 miles in 21 hours in a 20 year old bouncy ball. I feel like I have been in a washing machine.
The car is an astonishing bit of kit. How the hell it held together is a miracle. It is so rough and the little pug so low and light, the two seemed incompatible. 1 mile into stage one I thought we would complete maybe 2 miles. there IS NO WAY a car can withstand this!
Anyway, the little snotter did finish, after having a spotlight fall off (crap mounting) and mysteriously losing its brakes with 6 stages to run. We did alright with the handbrake... The ruts were deep, the yumps enormous, the noises the poor car made were tortuous, but it took it. Amazing.
Bennett won his class in his comfy Frontera 2wd, but only 60 seconds ahead of a very on form Sharon. He was bricking it! Other superstar entries (
) like Robin Liddell, Michael Vergers and Ed Pead all bombed out with car troubles
Winner overall was 1 hour 20 ahead of me in an 8.5 hour event in a rover 214. I think he had decent ground clearance, nice dampers and a couple of spacehoppers down his trousers.
Definitely going to do it next year. It is full-on mental!
What a night!
Big thanks to Ciro, my navigator, who really is the most patient and nicest tempered people I have ever met. He didn't make one error on the the rally, and his calm and reassuring delivery made the event a pleasure to do.
Good finish for us. Seeded 57th and finished 21st, which is more a testament to Ciro's ability than mine. I just can not believe a car can take the punishment dished out. I could try and describe it, but for me to give you any idea what it is like you would think I was exaggerating.
It is simply the best fun and value for money of any motorsport. £95 entry fee and essentially an off road stage rally. Only n/a 4 cyl 2wd cars allowed to stop silliness and the formula breeds all sorts! Escort Mk I, Rover 200, Pug 205, Volvo 440 (Kevin Williams - a complete hoot), Suzuki Vitara 1.6 converted to 2wd (Sharon, silly Phil Bennett's girlfriend) and all plethora of others. 60 started, 38 finished, which is up from 25 last year.
I picked the car up from Phil Cutts in Worcester on Saturday, drove it home to Oxford then headed to near Norwich for the start. Then 120 competitive stage miles and 80 road miles in the rally (exhausting with no power steering). Finished at 8.10 yesterday morning. Then drove it home, sans brakes! 600 miles in 21 hours in a 20 year old bouncy ball. I feel like I have been in a washing machine.
The car is an astonishing bit of kit. How the hell it held together is a miracle. It is so rough and the little pug so low and light, the two seemed incompatible. 1 mile into stage one I thought we would complete maybe 2 miles. there IS NO WAY a car can withstand this!
Anyway, the little snotter did finish, after having a spotlight fall off (crap mounting) and mysteriously losing its brakes with 6 stages to run. We did alright with the handbrake... The ruts were deep, the yumps enormous, the noises the poor car made were tortuous, but it took it. Amazing.
Bennett won his class in his comfy Frontera 2wd, but only 60 seconds ahead of a very on form Sharon. He was bricking it! Other superstar entries (
) like Robin Liddell, Michael Vergers and Ed Pead all bombed out with car troubles Winner overall was 1 hour 20 ahead of me in an 8.5 hour event in a rover 214. I think he had decent ground clearance, nice dampers and a couple of spacehoppers down his trousers.
Definitely going to do it next year. It is full-on mental!
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