Here are some articles from the latest edition of the club's newsletter Full Chat. If you want to receive a copy of the newsletter by post simply enrol as a member for just £15 per year!
EDITORIAL
NEWS
Here are some articles from the latest edition of the
club's newsletter Full Chat. If you want to receive a copy of the
newsletter by post simply enrol as a
member for just £15 per year!
EDITORIAL
Notes of the Salisbury Shaftesbury Car Club Ltd Annual General Meeting
3 August 2009 The Coppleridge Inn Motcombe
Present
Dick Appleton, Paul Heal, Wayne Bale, Pete Self, John Parram, Ted Howles, Judy Howles, Mike Gray, Pete Loughlin, John Jackson, Dianne Spoors, Chris Damper.
Chairman – Pete Loughlin
Secretary Newsletter Editor and Webmaster – Ted Howles
Treasurer – Paul Heal
Marshals Coordinator – Mike Gray
Club Championship Coordinator – Dick Appleton
Equipment Officer – John Parram
Child Protection Officer – Di Spoors
Committee members – John Jackson, Chris Damper, Judy Howles, Pete Self, Wayne Bale.
- The dates for the club business meetings were set for 2 November, 1 February 2011, 3 May and 2 August
- Pete S to liaise with Roger Hunt and landowners regarding permissions and payments for the Wessex Rally, A £200 fee for this was agreed.
- Pete L thanked everyone on the committee for their hard work over the last year and he hoped everyone has a successful club year ahead.
Ted Howles 04.10.10
PETE’S PAGE
August is now with us which means its time for the A G M, with a full report in this months Full Chat. Don’t forget its YOUR club, any input in any form is always welcome.
July 28th was CLIC day at Henstridge Airfield. 4 members with their rally cars took the children around a specially devised rally test course. Paul Heal and Mike Gray with their MGZRs and Pete Self and Wayne Bale in their Peugeot 205s kept them entertained during the day keeping the grins on maximum! Parents and even Grandparents were given the rally experience if they wished, the oldest being a 77 year old grandmother proving you are never to old for a blast round the track. A mix of tarmac and loose surface kept the drivers on their toes producing clouds of dust and several spins for added fun. John Parram and Sally Gray were on start line duties complete with a large Union Jack to flag them away from the 5-4-3-2-1-GO countdown with Dick Appleton and Robin Davis on the finish line. The only reported car problem was Wayne whose fan was not cutting in but a few minutes in "parc ferme" saw the temperature gauge back to normal.
Wayne’s wife Becky with their children Megan and Chloe were assisting Loonie Balloonie during the day, a popular children’s entertainer making all sorts of things from balloons, telling stories and bringing puppets to life. Surprisingly Becky had never been in Wayne’s rally car so it was quickly arranged that today would be the day. Once belted in Wayne set off for a "leisurely" drive round the track, upon their return Becky said she could cross that off her list of "must do" things! (Just as a note the previous Sunday she jumped out of a plane for charity.) Several planes were on duty during the day giving every family a trip around the Blackmore Vale and beyond. The weather just about perfect with a bit of breeze picking up in the afternoon. After an energetic day all the children went home tired but still grinning which is the best reward for us. A big thank you to everybody who gave up their day to help.
31st July was Fat Albert Rally day, Mike Gray and Pete Self have entered, how did they get on? Read their report below.
On Sunday 22 August The Tour Of Wessex will be using Henstridge as part of the route, marshals will be needed more details from Mike Gray. Another rally test has been pencilled in for October date to be confirmed and another karting night in November if enough interest; all dates in next months Full Chat.
Don’t forget as always The Coppleridge at Motcombe on the first Tuesday of the month is club meeting night, new faces always welcome.
See you there Pete
RALLY REPORTS
FAT ALBERT STAGES 31st July 2010
Keevil Airfield was the venue for this single venue tarmac stage rally organised by Tavern Motor Club. With road rallying undergoing an uncertain future, myself and Pete Self had decided to turn Pete’s' 205 1.9GTi into a stage rally car. It had been a long time since either of us had competed on a stage rally, so our first event was going to be an eye opener. As expected we were seeded well down the running order at 83 out of a starting line up of 90.
The day started very nervously with us presenting the car at noise and scrutineering, expecting the worst. We sailed through both without hiccups. The scrutineer was amazed we had kept the trim, carpets and rear seats in position as we were running in class F the road rally car section as nobody else had, and we were running on Firestone road tyres.
Stage 1 & 2 were run in a clockwise direction of the airfield which was lapped twice and a distance of just under 8 miles per stage. The car starting in front of us was another Peugeot 205 this was caught and passed by us in the first third of the lap. However, as we passed the stage merge point at 115mph in 5th gear and changing down into 4th the gear change knuckle joint disjointed itself leaving us with only 4th gear to do a whole lap of the airfield stage, this cost us dearly on time finishing the stage on 10.28 (the fastest being 8.24).
Back to service and a quick look over revealed the joint had only sprung apart this was easily refitted and all gears working OK.We started stage 2 and at exactly the same point this time on the first lap the joint again became separated so the remaining laps was again done in 4th gear costing us dearly on the time of 10.35 (fastest being 7.46).
Back to service and this time a more permanent repair was needed 'cable ties' (they mend anything!!!). Yes cable ties were fixed around the gear change linkage and a cross member to hold the knuckle joint in place. At this point we were last in our class! Stages 3,4,5,& 6 saw us reclaim much of our lost time with the stages also being longer 10.50, 10.26, 10.28 and 10.23 a spin and a spot of volley ball with one of the big round bails cost us a sub 10 minutes time on stage 6 (our class leader recording times of 10.46, 10.37, 10.35 and 10.42).
Mike and Pete posing in the pits!
Stages 7, 8,.9 & 10 were all run in an anti clockwise direction by now we were running amongst the RAF MSA crewed cars and having a real tussle and duel being passed on the long straights but passing them on the tighter sections where our combined skills from the road rally event come to the fore.
Stages 7 & 8 showed us to slip into the lead of our class with times of 10.17 & 10.11 compared with class leader on 10.34 & 10.13. However, this was not to be our day with a very fast run through stage 9 ending with our car that appeared to be on fire, according to the section marshals, the actual cause was a holed diff casing about 2" in diameter allowing the oil to ignite on the very hot exhaust by the time we had reached the one but last corner to this stage we had no oil left in gearbox/diff causing it to fail "big time" the fire/burning had also stopped!
Checking our overall positions and adding in 2 extra stage times, we would have finished around 40th on about 1.42.10. When the winner was Berian Richards/Russel Davies car no 6 finished on 1-23-42 it shows the vast difference between stage cars.
Mike Gray
THREE LEGS OF MANN CLASSIC RELIABILITY TRIAL 19/20 March
The further adventures of Paul and Matt Heal
So, after the great result on the rally through Morocco, could this run of success continue, March saw us on the Isle of Man, tackling the Classic Rally Association event over classic rally roads. It was a great relief just to make the start, 2 weeks before I had snapped my cruciate ligament skiing, well what I was doing was standing on the top of the slope reading the big piste map when some unknown person skied into me. As always these things happen on the first day and that was the end of skiing. Reading maps is a dangerous thing to do!!
I had to get the car to the start unaided by Matt.He, being a working chap, had to fly in from Gloucester Airport in a 16 seater plane full of Irish people celebrating success at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Luckily the Volvo is automatic as I had to keep my left leg immobile as much as possible. When not driving, leg in a brace and with copious amounts of pain killers we gave it a go.
The event was right up our street, tough navigation, a very tough night leg through muddy wet forest tracks with the need to keep pushing on. It was one of those events where if you dropped a minute it was not the end of the world, we caught nobody and nobody caught us so we just ploughed our own furrow through the night. Below is a report on the event by Tony Davies which I won’t attempt to recreate as it sums it up well and a great result for us, 2nd overall.
REPORT BY TONY DAVIES
The Classic Rally Association, supported by CES (UK) Ltd., continued its usual excellent organisation with the inaugural "Three Legs of Mann Classic Reliability Trial" held on 19th/20th of March. The end-of-event prize-giving saw Owen Turner and Matt Fowle (a last-minute entry in a Cooper “S” loaned by Geoff Twigg) pick up the Premier award and the rest of us going home happy after our short but intensive time on the island. Well done and sincere thanks to Fred Bent, John Bateson and their team for putting on such a great event on an island only 32 miles long by 15 miles wide. No doubt we will all come back for your next offering.
Over sixty cars from the UK, Ireland, Holland and France together with several local competitors were flagged off from Douglas Promenade by His Worship the Mayor of Douglas, Councillor Michael Gelling, on the damp Friday morning to commence a hectic two days and evening of competition.
In keeping with the CRA tradition, the event had a strong navigational bias with Time Control and Regularity sections together with the usual driving tests. The latter were held on closed sections of some of the island’s most iconic roads and also at some interesting venues on private land e.g. the TT pits complex. The series of challenging RS and TC sections used most, if not all, of the famous Isle of Man roads, plantations and airfields with some of each to be taken on in the dark.
Leg One was held in the picturesque south of the island where the morning session featured closed road tests on Marine Drive, Brack-a-Broom, Niarbyl and Port Erin Quay (famous as the southern terminal of the island’s narrow gauge steam railway from Douglas). Regularities through the Baldwins and in the Cringle area rounded off the morning before a lunch halt at the Sound Cafe. The Calf Sound road was then closed for the return, a timed hill-climb test, followed by an untimed tour around the famous 19th Century Craigneash Folk Village. The busy afternoon continued with a test in South Barrule Plantation, a regularity through the complex of roads around St. Marks and finally a further series of tests. Initially some tight manoeuvres at the Bushy's Brewery site, then a second visit to Marine Drive, followed by two laps of the Onchan Raceway and concluding with a twisty test around the Nobles Park complex.
The interim results posted at the Creg-ny-Baa Hotel supper halt revealed a close fought contest with 20 seconds covering the leading five crews and less than one minute covering the first nine. The Irish/Anglo crew of Dermot Carnegie/Iain Tullie in their Escort RS2000 were leading from a plethora of English crews, Richard Prosser/Andy Gibson in their Sunbeam Alpine with Owen Turner/Matt Fowle in their Mini Cooper “S” a mere one second behind; Charles Colton/Guy Woodcock in a Porsche 911 in fourth place and in fifth Charles Graves/Ron Palmer in the remarkable Jaguar XK150. Highest placed Manx driver at this point was Noel Kelly (10th) with yours truly on the maps in a Sunbeam Rapier kindly lent to us by John Bateson.
Leg Two, the night section, restarted from Creg-ny-Baa and turned everything on its head. Crews were presented with a considerable challenge starting with a regularity section in Conrhenny Plantation followed by a challenging TC at the end of Glen Roy. Another regularity on Andreas airfield followed before a driving test on Ramsey Promenade and then time controls on Jurby airfield, over Druidale, Little London, Slieauwhallin and the Mines and finally through the plantations of South Barrule and Archallagan. Precise navigation was required to find the correct route through the airfields, with few obvious features in the darkness, and skilled driving was called for on the slippery tracks through the plantations.
During the course of what turned out to be an exceptional evening, the two leaders fell away due to navigational slips ups. Richard Prosser/Andy Gibson missed two tricky airfield controls and then Dermot Carnegie/Iain Tullie failed to spot a turning in Archallagan resulting in the Escort becoming stuck in the mud on an incorrect route. Owen Turner/Matt Fowle, after what appeared to be a near faultless performance by the Mini men, deservedly inherited the lead followed by CES’s Charles Colton/Guy Woodcock and the father and son pairing of Paul and Matt Heal in their MGB GT. Noel Kelly continued to head up the Manx contingent but a hard charging David Morgan was hot on his heels just 34 seconds adrift.
Leg Three on Saturday restarted at the TT Grandstand with two tests in Nobles Park and another at Onchan Raceway. This final leg of the competition was concentrated initially in the east with a testing regularity through Goudle Glen and, after a welcome coffee halt at Laxey Station, a further regularity around Balloglass Glen. Midway through the morning, Ramsey Promenade proved a popular test for the spectators where, despite rather poor weather conditions, a respectable crowd saw the Dutch pairing of Bart Reitbergen/Dick Derksen take the quickest time in their Porsche 911.
From Ramsey, most of the rest of the day was spent in the north of the island with five very different tests at Jurby airfield and three intricate regularity sections through and around Andreas and the Curraghs either side of lunch at the Wildlife Park. The final competition of the event comprised a test up the hairpins at Tholt-y-Will followed by the longest regularity section of the event with six timing points on a spectacular route via Injebreck and East Baldwin.
Owen Turner/Matt Fowle continued to perform well throughout and held off a determined challenge from the Heal’s MGB GT in second place to be greeted by the Minister for Tourism, Hon. Martyn Quayle MHK, at the finishing line on Douglas Promenade and hailed as worthy winners of the first "Three Legs of Mann". A late surge from Peter Horsburgh/Anthony Preston, in another Cooper S, saw them overtake Charles Colton/Guy Woodcock for the final podium position leaving Howard Warren/Brian Goff in 5th spot. No doubt the CES UK’s joint MDs will have something to “discuss” in the office! David Morgan topped off a strong performance by pipping Noel Kelly for best Manx Driver and 7th overall after a couple of school-boy errors by yours truly during the morning moved us down to 9th. The highest placed Manx navigator was Adrian Hundleby who guided David McNeil in the Triumph TR7 to 1st in class.
At the awards dinner in the Hilton Hotel Jeremy Dickson expressed CRA’s thanks to all those on the island who had assisted with the organisation of the event. In particular, the Department of Transport, the Department of Forestry, the Borough of Douglas, the Harbour Master’s Office, the Coast Guard Service, TTFMAG, the Police, John Gill of the Isle of Man Event Safety Group who also acted as the events Chief Marshal, the members of the Motorsport Medical Services who crewed a rescue vehicle and ambulance for the weekend plus of course all the various hostelries visited, Local Commissioners and Landowners who allowed the event access. A special mention was made of the many volunteer Marshals from within the IOM Motorsport Clubs and numerous non-motorsport people who turned out to officiate on the event. Without doubt the inaugural Three Legs of Mann Classic Reliability Trial was a great success and we all look forward to a return visit to the Island to do it all over again in 2012.
Tony Davies
So that was the Isle of Man, our next outing was the Leukemia in April with friends David Harris in the very quick Escort often seen winning in Henstridge, Worth Birkhill and Mark Appleton in the Cooper “s” and Matt and me in the MG ZR. We all met up in Sam’s Curry house in some unpronounceable Welsh village the night before, drank copious amounts of beer well into the night, well actually the next morning and then went rallying. You will have to wait to hear how the Sam’s Curry House Team performed.
Paul Heal
STAGE RALLY REPORTS FROM THE BALE BROS
New members to Salisbury and Shaftesbury CC Wayne and Daren Bale have taken to Stage Rallying like ducks to water! In their Challenge spec Peugeot 205 1.6 Gti they are now mid way through their championship season with some very surprising results!
The Shaftesbury and Bewdley (Worcs) based brothers who were originally from Devon, started the sport as what Wayne describes as his attempt of a mid life crisis. The Championship is the www.205cup.com which is a mixture of single and multi venue stage rallies with alternate gravel and tarmac surfaces. This provides a vast array of experience and skills to learn. Events this season are; Spring stages (Sculthorpe), Plains Rally (Welshpool), Twyford Rally (Grantham), Swansea Bay Rally (Swansea), Epynt (Mid Wales), Tempest (Aldershot). The brothers hope to compete in further local events later this year ending their first full season with Sunseeker and Somerset Stages early next year.
The season’s first event ended after SS5 with a blown engine. The less said about that the better. This however did not put a damper on the season as when they competed at The Plains Rally they won their class and finished a very respective 91st out of 152 entries, not bad for the second ever rally and first ever rally on a gravel surface. The third event was a mixed surface rally in Twyford, this was the best yet, and also the hottest yet. Driving with the windows closed and the heater on max in 32 degrees heat was not enjoyable. That said, they got to grips of the event and yet again finished 1st in Class and 28th out of 72 entries, which is especially great bearing in mind there were loads of four wheel drive and modified cars out competing.
The next event takes them back to Wales for the Swansea Bay Rally, their chance to drive some quality WRC stages and also a chance for the family to come and spectate. Fingers crossed their success continues.
Twyford Woods rally report, 27 June
Twyford Woods was the best rally to date! The 'grin factor' of being in a rally car has now mostly gone and with our run of luck it was time to try hard to improve on the special stages. Being our 3rd ever event, we tried hard to get on the pace as soon as possible, especially as we had a Scooby behind us on the start line (now there is pressure for a newbie if ever there was one!) Aiming to keep those time penalties at bay.
The pace was good; we caught and passed a few cars, and had our fair share of
spins on the loose stuff finding our way through the dust clouds of the car in
front. The Day-Glo triangles just appearing through to give the clue of where
the corner lies. Wayne throws the car into the corner, the cloud disappears and
we are on target to accelerate to the next corner. Settling in for the
afternoon’s sessions we pushed to improve. Some marshal decisions that
shortened the stages saw some hard hitting competitive driving causing punctures
and broken wheels on other rally cars. We were getting used to the surface and
corners avoiding any damage but staying on the pace the best we could.
Only one big scare; the flying finish on SS 5 as we went sideways over the
finish line and then hit the small jump! We had clocked the rolled BMW and a
marshal waving his arms to slow us down. The glance from my brother said it
all.... Another stage finish! Back to service to prep for the next stage.
Finishing 28th overall and winning first beginner trophy in the 205 + 4WD challenge was the icing on the cake.
A great days sport with great people and a special Thanks to all that put their
hard work into setting up these events and ensuring our safety especially in the
heat of the hottest day of the year so far.
.oh............ and the Scooby never caught us - get in!!!
Daren and Wayne Bale
Check out their web site for more info on the Bale Brothers Stage Rally Season
MYOTIS RALLY 1st & 2nd MAY 2010
Devizes and District Motor Club organised this ASWMC night road rally, the first to use Salisbury Plain for a National 'B' event for many years. I was again competing with Pete Self in his Peugeot 205 GTi. The pre event rumours said this would be a very different type of event than that of the normal ASWMC night events.They were not wrong!!!
Starting at the Peugeot Dealer, Fussell Waddman in Devizes, nine sealed envelopes for the ten sections were issued along with nineteen not as map junctions and control diagrams. The one other section envelope was issued at MTC1 on your start time with the control positions of the other MTCs and start controls. Section one was a straight forward section across the plain from Redhorn Hill to Upavon with three route checks (RC) and one PC using diagram A. Most crews had plotted this section on their way so had to wait at TC3 for their correct time.
Section two would be very different!!!! Ten out of order map references, four PCs, three RCs and two intermediate time controls (IRTCs). From Haxston to Eveleigh the first PC was at the first junction from the start on a very long way round the triangle (LWR). This caught out some crews who had to back track to collect the code board. The first IRTC caused many problems as there was no time or distance to it !! The second was situated on a large triangle where crews could work out their time from the previous IRTC. However the marshal still gave the time he saw you arrive at the far side of the triangle. Sally Gray and Chris Hodkinson (Pete’s partner) were manning a PC on this section as was Gill and John Parram, Dick Appleton and Paul Heal and Worth Birkhill with Matt Heal were also somewhere nearby!!!
Section three consisted of twelve references, four PCs and four RCs to finish at TC8 near North Tidworth. This section used three more of the junction diagrams causing some crews to wrong slot into the woods and get stuck.
Section four, from Shipton Bellinger passing around the edge of Thruxton Circuit to the finish at Cholderton consisted of fourteen black spots to plot plus three stops that MAY be passed through, fifteen minutes allowed for this section most of the top crews cleaned this section but were given the time they arrived at the control board (us two minutes early). Also at this control we were asked to sign an official sheet telling crews not to open their 'sealed' envelopes until they reached the control at the start of the section and showed the marshal it was still sealed. Some crews had opened their envelopes and plotted the route already!!!
Petrol was taken on at Amesbury before crews headed to Larkhill and section five. This a six mile section with eighteen in order references to plot, four PCs and seven RCs to finish east of Rollestone Camp. Four route diagrams were used here "PCK" caused many crews to turn and head back to find the entrance others just reversed in.
Section six was a two mile section from near the Bustard Pub to Tilshead Camp using the tarmac yellow. Six out of order references, two PCs and one RC to plot. Two route diagrams were used PCN causing many problems. The car in front of us at this point (car 4 Roger Holder/Rob Leeman RS 2000) who seemed to go in every direction to find this PC and still miss it.
Section seven, Tilshead Lodge to Chitterne consisted of nine out of order map references, two PCs and five RCs on this two and a half mile section. This again used the three junction diagrams being all the same using the large off road lay-bys opposite the Tilshead Tower.
Section eight was very interesting as a rumour at petrol suggested this section was using a large section of Longleat Forest. The section started just south of the Centre Park Village with six out of order references, with four PCs. This route passed along the edge of the holiday village to finish at Crockerton Village. (I hope they PR'D this stretch).
Section nine was a sting in the tail section. Starting on Westbury White Horse and finishing at Urchfont Hill mostly in thick fog. This section consisted of two pages of references. Nineteen in order, six out of order, seven PCs, fourteen RCs and four IRTCs Total thirteen miles. The first plot should have taken us across the White Horse Car Park. However, Pete being ex Wiltshire Old Bill pointed out to me that this was not a right of way!!! So we waited for car 2 (Butler and Barnard) to see which way they went, that way!!!! One route check was only fifty metres before the IRTC caused confusion and us to back track to collect the code board. PCX was inside a building, PCZ was through a hole in the hedge and then follow arrows along a grass track/field. This took crews across Gore Cross to finish at the bottom of Urchfont Hill.
The finish of the event was at the Barge PH Seend. Where I was amazed to find us first car back other than those who had gone OTL or cut route to avoid OTL. Most navigators said it had been a very challenging event the route would have been a cracker if it had been pre plot, Many crews reported near misses travelling back to collect PC's or RC's in the dust and fog.
No results at the finish, so these to follow. Mike Gray
SOMERSET STAGES 24th APRIL 2010
24th April saw many S&SCC members out marshalling on this BTRDA Forest Stage Rally. I had been asked to be Stage Commander at Chargot Forest Stage and supply deputy stage commanders, (John Parram and John Jackson), finish lines crews, in stage marshals and safety officers.
Chargot Forest was run three times, once anti clockwise and twice clockwise this being an official spectator stage saw quite a few spectators present in stage, the organisers had set up a PA system and burger van in stage for the spectators and officials.
For those who are not familiar with the stage commander’s duties, they report direct to the Clerk of Course and have overall command of the stage personnel including, doctor, recovery, rescue, radio, start line, finish line and the in stage marshals.
As Paul Heal said our "Global Commander", and in Gill Parram’s words the "Lesser God".
Chargot 1 was run as a sixty second start with the 1400 cc class going first then the main full blooded BTRDA cars at 10 minutes after the last 1400cc car. One of the 1400cc cars crashed out very heavily on this stage, causing the nearest radio crew to respond with a "urgent" call. This meant that all emergency personnel on the stage to go to full alert mode meaning ready to enter the stage at my earliest command. However, both crew members were able to escape the car unhurt so the emergency personal were stood down to a ready position and the car recovered after this stage had finished.
Stages 7 & 8 were run at 30 second starts and provided good entertainment for the marshals and spectators alike. No further emergencies took place and all the stage crews headed home happy.
Mike Gray
Updated 05.05.10
BROOKLANDS TO CASABLANCA. THE MOROCCAN CHALLENGE (Well actually it was Kent to
Marrakesh)
Saturday 9 November 2009, after a great deal of build up the day has finally
dawned. Here we all are, just down the road from Brands Hatch, and the overnight
rain looks to have ended – dawn breaks over the forests of the North Downs to
suggest a bright sunny day. Perfect conditions, as the tracks covered in a thick
carpet of autumn leaves are now ultra slippery…and we have two Time Trials to
cope with.
There is an eclectic mix of 50 cars entered in this rally, ranging from a 1925
Vauxhall 30/98 to a 2007 MG Sport & Racing MGZR to an ex Richard Burns Peugeot
205. Matt and I are competing in our well used and familiar MGZR in the
Endurance Class which is for cars up to 1400cc, although different to our Great
Bustard Rally which restricts performance mods. When rallying overseas there is
not the restriction.
Billed as an out and out road rally we are about to embark on 9 days of rallying
from Kent to Marrakesh, taking in forest stages in Kent, closed road sections in
Belgium to mountain climbs in the high Atlas Mountains, which are higher than
the Alps.
The first test has been set up by our old friend Andy Gibson of Blackpalfrey
Motor Club, and a strong team of marshals who have put together a four-mile
testing session in a wood used for army training, only a few miles from our
hotel. So, cars are straight into some demanding competition.
More famous cars include Bradley Mottier and Bill Hoff in the work’s replica
Datsun 240Z, and the ex-London to Sydney 1800 of Peter Robinson and Roy
Stephenson. The slippery conditions with pools of water covered in leaves, mixed
with mud and slime, catch out a few and the ex-Paul Merryweather Jaguar S-Type
of Mark Robinson and Tim Arthur give a front wing a hefty clout against a tree.
Matt and I were the quickest on this test by 2 seconds over the Daihatsu Sirion
of Robin Eyre-Maunsel, the former group one British Rally Champion and Peter
Scott, we were the only 2 cars to beat the target time.
The next test on the top of the North Downs, has
been set up by Endurance Rally competitor Mike Dawson and his team and is a
Forestry Commission wood where rally cars have not been exercised for many
years. Another four miles of Time Trial awaits, this however is different. The
corners are more flowing, the track is more open, the sun has forced away the
clouds by now, and while slippery, the tracks are harder and firmer.
The Porsche 911 RS of Stephen Hyde and Janet Lyne
Casualties here included the very rapid Ford Mustang of Tom Hayes which slid
into a ditch at the end of a long downhill straight, but the Mustang shrugged it
off and just powered out, a trick copied by Stephen Hyde in his Porsche 911 RS,
less lucky was the Volvo of George Coelho and Margo O’Brien, who became the
first customer of the day for a tow-truck. You wonder why some of these took
such risks, when we have more than 5,000 Km ahead of us and seconds lost will
pale into insignificance at the end of 9 days.
We were second quickest here, just 3 seconds behind Robin Eyre-Maunsel so the
gauntlet was well and truly down between the 2 of us. It was then off to Dover,
tea in a café in Belgium and then a closed road time trial well known to Ypres
and Marathon competitors. We beat Eyre- Maunsel by some 5 seconds although gave
1st place to a very rapid Porsche 914/6, power on tarmac making all the
difference. Then a long run down to Le Mans where we were leading the rally on
scratch after the first day, a pretty good days work.
The next 2 days consisted of 900k days, firstly to Burgos and then to Ronda,
little competition so little to say until we reach Tangers in Morrocco. I guess
we should have been prepared for chaos of the port arrival, even catching the
ferry in Algeciras was a lottery. Once on board, the lack of a bank to change
money into Morocan Dirhams was a surprise, but this was to be the least of the
hassles of the day. Passports were stamped by Immigration on board, but this
fails to make amends for the chaos of the bureaucracy of the various bits of
documentation in the port. We lost nearly two hours, which meant that once out
into the streets of Tangiers and threading our way south, the hill climb we had
planned would now have to be driven in darkness.
Once on board, the lack of a bank to change money into Morocan Dirhams was a
surprise, but this was to be the least of the hassles of the day. Passports were
stamped by Immigration on board, but this fails to make amends for the chaos of
the bureaucracy of the various bits of documentation in the port. We lost nearly
two hours, which meant that once out into the streets of Tangiers and threading
our way south, the first true time trial would now have to be driven in
darkness.
The village of Moulay-Idriss was the finish, having climbed up from Beni-Ammar
where we turned off a main road, the Time Trial being a short taster of things
to come set over just nine kilometres. Full-on S-bends climbed up through the
olive groves and cork trees, getting more twisty towards the summit, with the
added challenge that recent heavy rains have swamped much of the road with a
thick coating of mud, which has now set as hard as concrete in the sun.
Best time was set by the Porsche 914/6, something of a rarity in rallying. They
crossed the line in 8 minutes 26 seconds, beating a hard-charging Robin Eyre-Maunsell
on 8:32, a Porsche Carerra on 8:38, and Matt and I on 8:59, two seconds ahead of
the Americans in the works-replica Datsun 240Z.
So where are we now …Day 5, first a few factoids: Today is a circuit over bumpy,
remote, hardly used roads that only a few years ago were dirt goat-tracks. The
day lasts for 405 kilometres, starting from the hotel gate and finishing back
here in the car park of the Hotel Menzab Dahlia , and to put you more fully in
the picture, it consisted of no less than 50,000 corners. Yes, this day was
always going to be “full on” and ultra-demanding.
The day was divided up into five Time-Trials, or, as some prefer to call them,
Selectifs, and while these were run on open roads the traffic south-west of
Meknes these days much prefers the main roads that by-pass this region. So, we
had lush green rolling hills – it could be the Sussex Downs – all to ourselves.
Some steep climbs, here and there, but, nothing you could say resembles
mountaineering.
It was tarmac all the way, but, of the kind that is dusted with fine marble-like
grit that will catch someone out, the edges of the tarmac have to be avoided as
they are all jagged edges and easy for those who try to straight-line the
corners to rip the inside edge of a tyre, and then there is the odd
pothole…which always can be found just round the far side of a tight corner.
The first Time Trial was a short taster of things to come, at five kilometres,
mostly uphill, then the next, an awesome 51 kilometres – no misprint – followed
by a road section that took crews to a 9-kilometre all-downhill string of
hairpin bends… well, there is no point in having all the competition going just
uphill – and then a couple of middle-distance tests with bends that are more
open, free-flowing, but with totally open drops, no fences, or guard-rails, and
ending with a 25-kilometre section, again timed to the second. A full day at the
wheel with well deserved beers back at the hotel.
Several crews reported brake problems – overheating, running low on brake fluid
etc –The final test also claimed another victim, with the Porsche 914/6 of
Andrew Mallagh discovering that the drive-shaft joint wouldn’t take any more of
this punishment, and sidelined the Porsche. Spares were ordered to arrive the
following day at the hotel, the magic of modern logistics!! But they were out of
the top 5.
The 240Z Datsun was rescued by a local farmer with tractor and continued with
barely a scratch.
Also falling down the leader board and out of the top ten was the hairy Datsun
of the Americans, which performed a sort of low-speed flop down a gulley beside
a bridge, an act only best performed when the driver is trying to not only
negotiate a tricky narrow concrete bridge with one hand, but adjust the
brake-balance with the other. The 240Z came to rest beached, with its nose down
a concrete gulley. A local farmer took pity and tugged the car back onto the
road – you don’t need to speak either English, American, Moroccan or even French
in these situations, and a tip that amounts to a week in wages for tractor
drivers in these parts simply does all the talking necessary.
So, with the Datsun messing-up this morning, the Lotus Cortina on a go-slow, the
Porsche 911 RS joining the Cortina in sympathy, and the Porsche 914 giving up
it’s drive, changes aplenty were made to the leader-board. The ex-works 1800
leads the Classics Class up to 2-litres, with the Triumph 2000 second, the
Porsche 911RS keeps the lead in the over-two-litres class.
Peter Robinson and Roy Stephenson - Morris 1800 Landcrab
Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Peter Scott led our class and also 1st overall with us
second in class and 4th overall and the Skoda of former Middle East Rally
Champion Miles Pearce and Simon Jacklin fairly close behind.
Now we come to day 6, just over half way through the rally with the real
challenge of the high Atlas still to come. The results are settling down a bit
with us firmly in the top 5 and the gaps between the cars opening to minutes.
We arrived late afternoon in the dusty, scruffy and run-down town of Midelt,
high up on the plateau of the Atlas Mountains, after a spectacular run from
Meknes. We climbed up through the twisty, remote back roads through the cedar
glades with five Time Trials.
Communications are rather fraught at the best of
times, as getting a signal to send news is more than a little tricky in these
remote parts. We arrived to hear the tragic news that Warren Chmura had died
while at the wheel of his 1967 Citroen ID19.
Warren, a Palladwr regular was well known, well liked, and highly experienced.
He has competed for a number of years, and enjoyed driving something that not
only was totally different from the norm, but also looked it, too, as he had it
sprayed his Citroen a deep shade of pink. This tragic event put a sombre mood on
all that evening and the following day, but Warren, being the competitor that he
was would have wanted competition to resume as soon as possible.
Day 7, we set out on a shortened run, through some remarkable scenery – David
Lean came this way for some of the film-sets of Lawrence of Arabia – we lunched
in the Todra Gorge, where 300ft cliffs of red rock seem only a car-width apart –
and then drive on with the fringes of the Sahara out over our left elbows to the
market town of Ouarzazate. There are no Time-Trials today, and checkpoints are
reduced to just the start out of Midelt, the lunch stop and the end of the day.
This was out of respect for Warren.
Day 8 A long day, taking in a remarkable mountain climb, a roller-coaster ride
up and down through long swooping bends for some 30 kilometres to the summit…
where it was deemed too rough to go on as the tarmac runs out at the top, so,
cars waited for the last man, with large jugs of coffee being laid on while
navigators swopped times and took in the view.
This was like nothing else that has gone before, super-smooth top-quality fresh
tarmac, a road no doubt built as a result of a development-grant, but is in all
reality a road to nowhere.
We had left Ouarzazate early, each being given packed lunch boxes and bottles of
water. It looked like another warm day in bright sunshine.
Best time to the top was set by the rejuvenated Porsche 914-6 of Andrew Mallagh,
with an 11.42, Robin Eyre-Maunsell – aged 70, lets not forget – was best of the
rest on 12.13, in the Daihatsu Sirion, with Alastiar Caldwell just two seconds
behind in his ex-Richard Burns Peugeot 205.
The mountain was then run down-hill, again the Porsche 914 proved quickest, 11
minutes 47 seconds, Eyre-Maunsell taking 12.17, with Caldwell third on 12.19 We
were on 12.28. Robert Belcher’s ex World Cup VW Polo slid wide, then flopped
gently over the edge, the driver picking his way between rocks, finding a goat
track further down, and then powering back up again further on, the lucky
excursion into the undergrowth cost him over seven minutes.
The final run in to Marrakesh was in darkness, tight road times and total chaos
on the roads. When you reach a large town you have to forget all about road
manners, discipline etc and just aggressively plough your way around, through
and between all manner of challenges, old Bedford trucks, school kids waving and
shouting, and sometimes throwing rocks! Donkeys, bicycles you name it. But we
have finally made it to Marrakesh, still a days rallying to go, still in 5th
place.
The final day… three testing trials then a long run back to the bar. We cannot
be late as Matt has to fly back to the UK as soon as we finish, him being a
working chap and all that so he will miss the awards presentation. We are on for
some silverware, 3rd in our class and in the winning team and still 5th overall,
never having been out of the top 5 all event.
The Daihatsu Sirion of Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Peter Scott
But the first Time-Trial of the day changes things for overall leaders and the
Endurance 1400 class , as the leaders with five minutes in hand, Robin Eyre-Maunsell
and Peter Scott, setting a cracking pace, had a coming together with a Toyota
HiLux. Other than pride, nobody was hurt, but the collision was enough to
suddenly end a stirling effort of the Daihatsu crew. So, at a stroke, this
incident handed the winner’s laurels over to Alastair Caldwell and Catriona
Rings, the fourth time this particular 205 has won a long-distance rally.
On to the final time trial, a tricky 15 km with very slippery gravel covered
tarmac, only about 1km from the final control of the rally we come across the
3rd placed Porche emerging from a ditch. He started the day just over 2 mins
ahead of us, started the test 2 minutes ahead of us, we took time off him on the
first test so have we done enough to move up another place? It was too close to
call until the results were posted back in the bar and yes we had moved from 5th
to 3rd overall on the last day.
Matt had no time for the celebrations in the bar, I dropped him at the airport
and then it was time for the awards ceremony, a very fancy tent in the desert,
belly dancers, fire eaters, acrobats etc and I collected some very satisfactory
silverware.So all over except a long day’s drive from Marrakech back to Tanger for the
ferry to Spain, an interesting experience without a navigator, although when the
going got tough I waited until another competitor came along and tucked in
behind them!!
Then it was meeting the car transporters in Malaga who brought the cars home and
the joys of Easy Jet to Bristol.
A brilliant rally and a great experience.
Paul and Matt Heal
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CARPET BAGGER RALLY
23/24 JANUARY 2010
RALLY REPORT BY MIKE GRAY
The 23/24 January saw the 9th running of the "Bagger" organised by the "Road
Rally Register", and is rated as one of the toughest traditional road rallies in
the country.
Salisbury & Shaftesbury Car Club and Devizes & District Motor Club were well
represented at this event with several competing crews and marshalling crews.
Seeded at 23 Pete Self and myself Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
Seeded at 37 Mike Burrows and John Kiff Ford Puma
Seeded at 45 Dick Appleton and Peter Blackett Mini cooper S
Seeded at 47 Jack Curran and David Bardwell Lancia Fulvia
Seeded at 50 Chris Stratton and Martin Moor MG ZR
Seeded at 59 Giles Persey and Dion Casey Ford Escort 1600
Course car Paul & Matt Heal
Closing Car Paul Freeth & Derrick (the Danger mouse)
Finally on marshalling duty Pete Loughlin and Sally Gray, John Jackson and Di
Spoors, Gill and John Parram. Sorry to anybody I've missed.
The start venue was at the Otter Inn Honiton with the first car away at 10.31pm.
No route information was provided until your start. This consisted of 2 time
cards and 2 marked maps with all the time controls and passage controls to take
competitors from MTC1 to MTC3.
The route was split into 3 sections MTC1 to MTC3 at first petrol, from the
Honiton start the route wound south taking in the white and ford at Roundball
Hill then winding back north to cross the A35 near Wilmington. The northeast to
Shortmoor, Moorhayne, south to the white at Membury back north to cross the A30
at Cleave Hill, east to Whitestaunton then under the A303 at Marsh turning west
towards Churchinford (with a broken cattle grid and loose cows on the common).
South West to Smeatharpe, Upottery and back north to Bolham water, Willand,
Churchstanton, west to Clayhidon, Madford, Gipsy Cross turning north to Culm
Davey to RF1 at Wellington Hill (21 time control and 21 passage controls).
A short section to crews to first petrol via Woodgate, Appledore and Waterloo
Cross (3 time controls and 2 passage controls). First petrol and short break was
at the services at junction 27 on the M5 where proceedings were viewed over by a
very jolly and interested police officer.
The restart for 2nd section was nearby at Sampford Peverell crews headed to
Thorn Cross, Venn Cross to finish this section back south at RF3 near Appley,
restarting at RS4 near Greenham Weir heading west then turning east towards
Wellington north back to Kittisford, Screedy to RF4 near Waterow, short run
along the B3227 to RS5 (Pete Loughlin and my misses) Departing west then north
to Heydon Common back south to near Shillingford and a nasty white through a
farm at Pipshayne then back east to Gifford north to Retton then south through
Huntsham Barton, Beer Down to finish at RF5/MTC4 Uplowman (16 time controls and
19 passage controls). One of the competitors arrived at the control with a
wonderful story of being spotted doing a handbrake turn in front of a Policeman
who announced 'that was a silly thing to do! I do like a bit of sport'.
A short run down the M5 to Cullompton service for the second petrol and a very
short break before restarting at the final 3rd RS6 west of Cullompton, crews
headed north to Cruwyshayes then turning south towards Knowle, Bradninch west to
Queensborough then south to Killerton, Budlake then north east towards the
finish Dunkerswell Airfield via the rough white at Langford, long way round
higher Weaver, Kentisbeare, , Southill Barton, then east to Northcott and the
finish (12 times controls and 12 passage controls). Breakfast being over an hour
to wait so some people gave up hope of nourishment and went home.
Overall winners were - Jamie Turner and Dan Harrison 0-24-12 in Rover 200 (endro
spec)
S&SCC and DDMC12th Peter Self and myself 0-56-46
22nd Chrish Stratton & Martin Moore 4-23-10
24th Jack Curran and David Bardwell 6-14-46
26th Giles Pursey and Dion Casey 12-04-15
DNF Mike Burrows and John Kiff (reason not Known)
DNF Dick Appleton and Peter Blacket (clutch)
Thanks to all the S&SCC and DDMC marshals and course car crews
Mike Gray
MARSHALS REPORT BY PETE LOUGHLIN
Bagger time again and as for the last few years I was out marshalling, this year
with Sally Gray as team member. A different start venue at The Otter Inn just
outside Honiton, a very cosy pub with a huge log fire – very welcoming on a
chilly night. Talking to a couple of locals a typical Saturday would be about
15-20 people in the pub at this time of year. So no doubt the landlord welcomed
in excess of 150 people on this Saturday night!
After signing on, sorting out the maps and locations of our three controls the
rest of the evening was spent soaking up the fire along with Jill and John
Parram, John Jackson and Dianne Spores, who were doing other controls. Mike Gray
was navigating for Pete Self in the Peugeot 205. Matt Heal was navigating Paul
as course car. Dick Appleton was in his Cooper S, but unfortunately he had to
retire early in the event with clutch problems.
First car left at 10.30 pm and bang on time Matt and Paul turned up shortly
followed by the competitors. The entry list was made up of teams from all over
the country including several from Wales with cars including Escorts, Peugeots,
Rovers and Subarus. Out of 60 starters several had already dropped out by ITC
15. As it was a still night the sounds carried and it seemed like they were
coming at us from every direction! Closing ITC 15 at 1.35am we were off to RS 5
our second control. Regularity 5, opening at 2.50 am and closing at 4.30 am.
Mike and Pete were going well despite a problem with their spotlights. Only just
over half the crews found their way to us. After closing we were on to ITC 41
not far from the finish at Dunkeswell Airfield. Just 22 crews made it past us;
with the control closing at 7.20 am it was back to the airfield for
breakfast…..or not as it turned out.
Being out all night a good breakfast was a mouth-watering prospect. On arrival
at the finish at 7.45 and ordering our food, we waited and waited for over 50
minutes deciding it would be quicker to drive home than wait any longer, so we
did! It’s a shame the kitchen could not cope with the huge demand, but as always
Jean’s legendary food hampers were very welcome during the night!
Mike and Pete finished in 12th position, well done! Full results elsewhere in
Full Chat along with Mike’s comments. As always a good night out, with no rain
unlike last year’s monoons!
A truly classic event.
Pete
Posted 03.02.10
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Annual Awards Presentation
2009
Congratulations to all our award winners this year!
These awards were presented at the annual Christmas Dinner on 1st Dec 2009 at
the Coppleridge Inn at Motcombe
The Roger Chapple Salver For Services to the Club Paul Simmonds
Newcomers Award Best performance by a Ian & Michael Walpole
member new to the sport
Marshals Cup For marshalling Diane Spoors
Champion Rally Driver Paul Heal
Champion Rally Navigator Mark Appleton
Farris & Palmer Trophy Best S&SCC at Rallytest Chris Damper
Posted on 10.11.2009
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Notes of the Salisbury Shaftesbury Car Club Ltd
Committee Meeting
3 November 2009
The Coppleridge Inn Motcombe
Present
Paul Heal, John Parram, Ted Howles, Judy Howles, Pete Self, Sally Gray, John
Jackson, Dianne Spoors, Chris Damper.
Apologies – Pete Laughlin, Dick Appleton, Mike Gray.
Paul Heal acted as Chairman in Pete’s absence.
Awards – Nominations for the annual club awards were discussed. Ted to finalise
with Dick and Pete.
Secretary’s report – Ted reported that he had registered the club with the MSA
for 2010. Membership renewals were progressing slowly but by the end of the
meeting the membership figure for next year stood at 25. Ted now has the club
printer and has taken over from Paul on publicity. He had produced his first
newsletter in October and planned to publish the next one at the beginning of
December. He had also updated the web site.
Treasurer’s report – Paul reported that the club continued to be in a sound
financial position.
Competitions - Paul reported that a new start venue at Frome Market was planned
for the Bustard Rally with a finish at the Hunters Lodge. John reported on
prices for rally plates, numbers and boards from Cobra. These were agreed except
foe the numbers which were considered expensive and alternatives were discussed.
Paul reported on plans for next year’s endurance championship. There are
currently 7 events. Dick is the championship administrator; Phillip Young is the
web-master. Despite the cancellation of the Evo Rally it is thought there is
still good demand for the endurance championship.
AOB- The calendar of events for next year was discussed and Ted agreed to draw
up a working draft and put it on the web.
Date of next meeting - 5 January 2010
Posted: 10.11.09
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Notes of the Salisbury Shaftesbury Car Club Ltd
Annual General Meeting
4 August 2009
The Coppleridge Inn Motcombe
Present
Dick Appleton, Paul Simmonds, John Parram, Gill Parram, Ted Howles, Judy Howles,
Mike Gray, Sally Gray, Pete Laughlin, John Jackson, Dianne Spoors, Chris Damper.
Apologies - Paul Heal, Alison Appleton, Brian Stiles, Pete Self.
AGM 2008 – The notes of the last AGM were agreed. No matters arising.
Secretary’s report – Ted confirmed that the club had been registered with the
MSA for 2009 and that the club details we also registered with ‘Go Motorsport’.
Treasurer’s Report – In Paul’s absence Dick presented the accounts for the year
ending 31 December 2008 which were formally adopted.
Membership – Ted reported that the club had 32 paid up members plus 3 honorary
members. It was agreed that Dick and Anne Pike and Charles Spencer should
continue as honorary members.
Newsletter Editor’s report – Paul made a plea for new material for Full Chat. He
reported that he would change the date of publication to the first of the month
to tie in with publicity of calendar events. He has a standard format now of 4
pages with 5 photographs. Mike agreed to send the results of the rally test to
Paul and John P agreed to send photos of the event.
Web site and publicity –Ted agreed to write an article about the club for the
Blackmoor Vale newspaper. The November meeting will be used to draw up the
calendar of next year’s events. This will be distributed to neighbouring clubs.
Competitions Report –
Great Bustard Rally – Dick reported that the Bustard had been postponed from its
February date due to a heavy fall of snow. The rally was run successfully on
18/19 April, although entries were down on last year. This year’s championship
has 83 registered entries and 5 events.
Two rally tests were successfully run this year at Henstridge
Rally of the Tests 22 November 08. The club provided marshals for Sparkford,
Wyke Farm and Worthy Farm.
Autosolo – scheduled for 4 October but no venue. Possibly another rallytest at
Henstridge?
Motions – None.
Election of Committee - The current committee was re-elected as follows:-
Chairman – Pete Laughlin
Secretary and Competition Secretary – Ted Howles
Treasurer – Paul Heal
Marshals Coordinator – Mike Gray
Newsletter Editor and Webmaster – Paul Simmonds
Club Championship Coordinator – Dick Appleton
Equipment Officer – John Parrham
Committee members – John Jackson and Chris Damper
AOB – Christmas Dinner, Pete to investigate the Coppleridge Inn.
- Pete thanked everyone on the committee for their hard work over the last year
and he hoped everyone has a successful club year ahead.
Date of next Annual General Meeting – 3 August 2010 to be confirmed.
Ted Howles
05.10.09
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