After we had clocked out of the Main
control at Land’s End, and made our way to the first test on the most south-westerly
tip of land, Elise and I wondered what on earth possessed us to tackle LeJog
for the second time. With 50 hours of
driving ahead of us, spread over 74 hours and (from our experiences last year)
not knowing what could happen in that time, we were nervous to say the least.
This time we had rented the 1972 BMW 1602
from HERO’s Arrive and Drive Fleet. We had rented her on two previous events and
were starting to get a feel of how she handled.
A Left Hand Drive car is a slight disadvantage because it is harder to
overtake but otherwise she is great fun and a bit roomier than the mini.
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| Land's End |
As the sun rose we were flagged off the start
and we began our adventure. The first test was quite simple-we had to stop
astride a few lines and navigate through some cones. The test went well and we
slid to a stop 17 seconds slower than the fastest car in our class. We had winter tyres on the BMW but with warmer
than expected temperatures sliding was expected.
It was straight off to the first
regularity, which was a great introduction of what was to come. We thought we
were doing well and had just dropped a few seconds, but at the second timing point
the Marshal wrote the time in and we were actually 24 seconds off our time.
This did not make any sense to Elise. We later discovered that this clock was
23 seconds out and as a result the regularity was cancelled.
Then it was on to Regularity B where we
could have another bash at working out the timing. Aptly named the ‘Beast of
Bodmin’ this regularity had quite a few speed changes, but because it was a
Jogularity we were given the specific times that we should be at each distance.
Elise and I find these slightly easier than working from speed tables and this
was shown in our times –we were 2 seconds early for the first timing point and
then we completely cleared (arrived at our due time so no penalty) the second
timing point.
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| Porlock Toll Road |
This was a fantastic regularity for both of
us, however we aren’t good enough to maintain those scores throughout,
especially as I get a little throttle happy on the straights. This means that
at some controls we picked up about a 20 second penalty for being early and at others,
such as the one on Porlock Toll Road (a private road) we were dropping time
(late) at every control. It was an awesome road though and I hope I will drive
it again, now that I know what to expect.
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| Plotting at the Services |
Within daylight hours we had another four
tests. The first was at Cornwall College, then there were two very muddy tests in
Davidstow Woods and the last one was completely gravel just outside a quarry.
As darkness fell we headed up the M5 to the
evening halt at Gordano Services. I was going to call it a rest halt, but with
the night navigation section and 2 regularities to plot it definitely wasn’t a
rest and before we could get route information there was another test to do in
the services car park.
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| Test at Gordano Services |
The Gordano test compromised of a few 360
turns around markers, then a winding route through gates and chicanes through more
cones to finish. I kept a steady pace and Elise called the test perfectly which
led to us being fastest in class on that particular test and 6th
fastest overall! A real achievement for me as a self confessed slow driver.
No time to celebrate as , after just an
hour and a half ,we were back on the road with a full tank and, after a very
welcome KFC, full tummies too. We had stocked up our sugar and caffeine levels
because, despite it being 7pm, we had 9 hours until we could even think of our
beds in Llangollen.
We had one major issue once it got dark,
our stopwatches didn’t have lights on them. We had tried to get a Brantz rally
timer fitted before the event, but unfortunately we ran out of time. This meant
that the regularities through Wales were a little hit and miss, but the real
challenge was the navigation section. This year we were given panic envelopes
in case we got lost or hadn’t had enough time to plot this section. There was a penalty for opening them but it
was less than missing out a section. It was quite tight on time as we entered
the early hours and we arrived at the main control in Newtown on our maximum
permitted lateness. Luckily they had extended the time by 15 minutes, but it
still meant no break as we had to head off to start
the Navigation Section.
I had a lot of confidence in Elise and she
didn’t let me down at all. Not only did she plot the route perfectly she called
every junction and we didn’t take a wrong slot once. I may have to start lying about how good she
is so that no one steals her away from me. As the night wore on and the
roads became twistier, I just couldn’t
keep up the time. We managed to complete ¾ of the controls before we started
pushing on our lateness and for the last 8 controls we went over the time limit
which also meant that we were OTL for the main control. It was now 5 am, so the
most important thing to us at that point was our beds, and it was the comfiest
bed I had ever slept in, for the whole 2 hours I got to enjoy it.
Waking up was very hard to do on Sunday
Morning just two hours after arriving at the Hotel. However over breakfast we
heard that we were running 10th Overall up to Gordano the day before
and had managed to retain that through the dreaded Welsh night section. This
boosted our spirits tremendously!
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| The Route |
The first call of the day was the fuel
station as we were definitely running on fumes into LLangollen. We were to make
our way north to Carlisle, and for us it was relatively smooth running. Three regularities
started the morning off and they were great. We hit most timing points within
10 seconds. One or two were slightly over that, but we made up for it with a
few 0 and 1 seconds. The tests were also
fantastic, with four during daylight hours and we were never more than 17
seconds slower than the fastest person in our class.
During all this we had left Wales behind,
entered England via Cheshire, and enjoyed
the test at Delamere Forest. Then it was on through Lancashire and into
Yorkshire where ,of course, it was raining. Just before lunch we discovered a
leak. Not a fuel or oil leak, but a rain water leak into the car via the air
vents. With the heavy rain we experienced during the run in to lunch at Clapham
I had quite damp feet for the afternoon. This paled into insignificance though just
after dark when we came upon the Stanhope Ford Test. Elise had tackled this
test last year in the mini, so I have to admit that I felt a little pressured
to succeed this year in the BMW. The water seemed much faster and deeper than
last year and as we approached the start line my nerves went through the roof. There
was quite an impressive crowd watching so Elise and I were determined to at
least give it a try!
I am not really sure how, but we got
through to the other side! We were over the moon and even the smell of the
putrid water couldn’t dampen our spirits. The water that had seeped through the
driver’s side door, however, more than dampened my feet!
See the video of us crossing Stanhope Ford here
It was straight on to the next two tests at
Eastgate Works. Despite the mini tidal wave underneath my feet every time we
stopped astride a line or finish we were the fastest in class for the first of
these tests and 11th fastest overall. The second got slightly
confusing halfway through as one of the Triumphs had stopped just off to the
side and a Mini was coming towards us from the wrong direction, but we finished
the test without penalties and only dropped 16 seconds on the fastest in our
class.
The last regularity of the day was
cancelled due to flooded fords so after a final hill climb test it was on to
the hotels at Carlisle, a long awaited glass of wine and a relatively early
night.
I have come to the conclusion that it
really is the smallest of things that can mean a lot when competing on these
endurance events. A few moments immediately spring to mind-the German Marshal
team of Matthias Huber and Michael Perner, giving out apples to all the
competitors in the middle of the Welsh night section, Ian Wallace throwing
Percy Pigs through our window, Kev Haworth’s infectious enthusiasm throughout
and the biggest hug ever from Guy Woodcock when we arrived at Carlisle.
Morning came around far too quickly,
especially as it would be 28 hours (or more) till we would see a bed again. We
weren’t even half way through the mileage either, as we entered Scotland and
it’s breathless scenery.
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| Rest and be Thankful |
The highlights of Monday were definitely
the tests, one of which was ‘Rest and Be Thankful’. I have marshaled, observed
and been a passenger on this test on previous rallies, so I was very excited to
finally, after 3 years, competitively drive it! The last but one test of the
day was also awesome, at Oban airport (with a plane due to land at any moment).
The surface was quite loose tarmac and the course that was set was fast. I
think everyone would agree that it was a lot of fun.
I love the roads in Scotland. One minute
you’re coasting along the side of a Loch with a picturesque view and your car
beautifully reflected in the glass like water, and the next you are
hair-pinning up a mountain side trying
to maintain 28mph. You cannot beat the feeling of arriving at a timing point
just one second late, when you know you’ve put your everything into getting
back on time after being stuck behind a tractor or a bus.
Night was closing in on us fast and we knew
that the real test from here on in would be a personal battle against
tiredness. We found out that we had dropped to 11th overall, but we
were running first in our class and only had a few points between us and second
in class. The aim of the game would be to maintain our steady progress, keep on
time and get to the end!
Lunch had been at Loch Fyne and we had
passed through Fort William and headed up the West Coast to Kyle of Loclash.
Trying to keep ourselves alert and focused, Elise and I were singing and making
up lyrics (most of which did not rhyme and some of which didn’t even make sense,
but it worked all the same) I am very glad that no one had any microphones on
us through this time though.
There were plenty of stops during the night,
but the best had to be a garage that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
They had made sandwiches and there were crisps and tea or coffee. It was a very
welcome surprise. Night seemed to go on forever, but we were managing to keep
going, keeping tiredness at bay until about 4 am , when it started to get
really hard.
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| John O Groats |
I think it was half past five in the
morning when we got to a Spar shop in North West Scotland. Elise and I both had
to have a quick nap (we squeezed in about 20 minutes). It wasn’t enough but it
was all we could have. There was only one moment that I thought “Hmmm, perhaps
I shouldn’t be driving” and that was when a flying yellow banana with brown
wings hit the windscreen! Sugar and mints kept us awake through the final
minutes of darkness. The long awaited sunrise brought with it a renewed sense
of determination and the kick we needed. It was a beautiful and welcome sight
over Northern Scotland.
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| 1st in Class |
With gritted teeth Elise and I pushed
through the last two regularities, following the North coast to John O’Groats
and the finish line. Being waved over that line is completely different to any
other rally , as it is a real sense of personal achievement that overcomes you.
It was particularly emotional for us as it marked the end of our first year of
rallying and it really hit home how much we have learned and how far we have
come since crossing the same line a year ago.
Finishing 11th overall and 1st
in class was beyond belief and an incredible feeling. The added bonus was
winning the team award alongside Andy Lane, Ian Tullie, Richard Boughton and Kevin
Savage-we were so proud that we could be a part of their success.
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| Team KAISER BMW winning the team award |
We couldn’t have done it alone though and
if we could thank every single one of you personally we would! So this is to
you all- everyone who waved or cheered us along the way, every single Marshal
and observer who gave up their time, all the competitors who encouraged us and
kept our spirits high, and not forgetting the mechanics and sweeper crews who
keep everyone going as long as they can!
THANK YOU!
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| Team KAISER BMW at the finish |
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