We set off at 6am on Fri 1st Oct to catch the 07:50 Eurotunnel.
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| Parked up ready for the Shuttle ... |
Our route plan was to get to Gap for an overnight stop, a quick 600 miles blat down the French autoroutes. We had arranged to meet up with our Team Mates in their TVR Griffin. The journey down was pretty uneventful apart from our Sat Nav deciding to challenge us with some strange route decisions. Net result we got separated from the TVR and arrived at the hotel in the dark.
I had planned a 150 mile route across the Alps on the Saturday to take in some of the more windy roads including the Col de Turini. It was a great drive and served a good warm up for the Rally.
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| Photo opportunity with the TVR |
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| Fantastic scenery en route to San Remo |
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We arrived at the Rally Start Hotel in San Remo about 4pm ... ready for scrutineering ... which we passed without incident.
Drivers briefing took place later that evening. Just to explain the format of the rally ...
Each day is broken up into a number of timed stages (about 70 for the whole rally). Each car leaves the start of a stage at minute intervals. Navigation is by way of tulip maps with distances ... these are very brief and not explicit so navigation is a key requirement. Each car must reach the Timing Control at the end of the stage at an exact minute. If you are early you are penalised ... if you are late you are penalised. The car with the lowest points wins. Each stage is timed to an average speed of 40 - 60 kph. This doesn't sound that fast but when you have to build in fuel stops and other traffic it often requires some very spirited driving!
Day 1 - San Remo to Savona
With number 14 on the car our start time was 08:14. Route distance today ... 445km with 8hr 52mins of scheduled driving. Our destination ... via a convoluted route across some windy mountain roads was to be the port of Savona for our overnight ferry to Corsica.
The day started well except for Paul, my co-driver suffering a little with travel sickness. This meant an earlier than planned driver change (we planned to share the driving and navigation between us for the whole rally). The small fuel tank in the FW Body (less than 5 gallons) also meant more frequent fuel stops. We mistimed a morning fuel stop and were late at a timing control. The next stage was a short one and we couldn't make up the time so were late at that one too. Net result 9 penalty points ... aarghh! ... need better fuel planning on next days.
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| Lunch stop day 1 |
There was a couple of bad route map directions on our final stage of the day as we neared the port. Along with most other cars we arrived late to the final control but due to the route error no-one received any penalty points so we ended the day with 9 points.
After a pizza and a few beers with the other crews to relive the first day we boarded the overnight ferry for Corsica. It started raining a we waited in line to drive aboard!
Day 2 - Bastia Port to Porticcio (Hotel Base)
312kms - 6hr 52mins driving
We were woken at 6am ready for the 7am arrival. A quick breakfast on board and a chance to see Corsica for the first time as it gradually got light. Not much to see though ... the mountains were shrouded in mist ... not a good sign!
We were now lying in 8th place so started at 8:08. It started raining just as soon as we started ... made for a very challenging first few stages.
Stage 1 started from the port and resulting in the need to navigate lots of traffic as we exited the port and town area. Traffic and towns means slow progress resulting in the need for quicker (read very fast) driving later in the stage to catch up. A combination of wet and unfamiliar roads and never having driven the car in anger in the wet, meant we had a very "interesting" time!
Lunch at just after 1pm ... still raining ... a quick rest ... another fuel stop and what was soon to become our stable lunch diet ... Pringles, Mars bars and energy drinks!
The afternoon was fairly uneventful ... all fuel stops as planned with no delays and on time at all controls. The car, however was starting to show that it had been driven a bit ....
Our fellow competitors were suffering slightly more than we were ...
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| MGB GT with some exhaust clearance issues ... compounded after falling off the jack! |
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| Francie Clarkson (aka Mrs Jeremy Clarkson) with some alternator issues |
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| Porsche 356 after it's mid morning gearbox rebuild! |
Day 3 - Porticcio (Hotel) back to Porticcio (Hotel) via Porto and Cargese
466Kms - 10hrs 3mins driving time
Start time today 8:05 ... we had climbed to 5th place overall. The sun was shining today but was low in the sky in the morning so climbing up the mountain roads we had issues with the bight sun in our eyes. This made for some interesting braking moments on some hairpins!
Some great driving roads in the morning meant we could catch up some time and take a break waiting for the clock to tick down so that we could enter our time controls on time. Others had the same "issues" ...
... but we also had time to take in some scenery.
We finished the day on the same points and still lying in 5th but we had gained some ground on the some of the cars in front. Francie Clarkson had picked up 6pts during a spot scrutineering check when her brake lights weren't working.
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| Back at the hotel after Day 3 |
Day 4 - Porticcio (Hotel) back to Porticcio (Hotel) via Bonifacio
427Kms - 8hrs 49mins driving time
Still in 5th place on 9pts ... only 3pts behind the car in front (Francie). However our TVR team mates still have a clean sheet with zero points ... all the drive for!
The afternoon drive back to the hotel included some great roads (again!). Sun shine all the way too. The only looming issue was news of a Port Strike in Marseilles ... this was restricting fuel supplies to the island. The result of this was that petrol stations were starting to ration fuel ... limiting fill ups to €30-35. This wasn't an issue for us ... we struggled to fit in more that €25 of fuel in a fill up. A bigger issue was that some garages were not allowing filling of jerry cans ... we were totally reliant on our two jerry cans to provide sufficient range. May need to resort to syphoning fuel back from the tank into the jerries!
The delay added at least another 10 minutes to our already stretched schedule. It now required some "very spirited" driving! We reached the control with 2 minutes to spare ... Doh! .. in our hast to get there on time we actually arrived early ... 10 penalty points! It was a minor consolation that most of our fellow competitors did the same thing.
Day 6 - Porticcio (Hotel) back to Porticcio (Hotel) via Bocgnano318Kms - 6hrs 24mins driving time
We started the last day in 4th place 3pts behind Francie, who was close behind "Toni and Guy" in their Lotus Elise (not really Toni and Guy ... nicknamed for their hairdresser car) with the TVR boys still in the lead.
Another beautiful morning with, yes you guessed it, some great driving roads, with scenery to match. We didn't get off to a great start though ... Paul missing a roundabout in the route book within five minutes of leaving the hotel!
Our strategy for the day ... overtake the 3 cars in front of us as quickly as possible on each stage in he hope they would make a route navigation error or get delayed. We figured if we followed them we would have any opportunity to beat them. A great strategy that required some very energetic driving ... catching up 4 mins on the TVR boys. Overtaking Francie was fairly easier ... we pre agreed with her that if we rolled p behind with lights blazing we wanted to pass! The TVR was also fairly straightforward ... they were taking things easy to make sure they didn't break anything or miss any directions. Catching the Elise was a bit more of a challenge ... they were as quick as we were and as soon as we caught them they turned up the wick a little more. We had some great fun though!
The net result of our full-on morning meant we reached lunch with no additional penalties. Unfortunately those ahead of us were on time too!
It was a short run in the afternoon but still allowed some time to meet up and enjoy the view on our final day.
There was a final twist near the end of the day. On the penultimate stage we got news that our TVR team mates were stranded at the roadside behind us. A rear shock absorber had broken ... they missed the time control on that stage and the last one :-(
The last stage was a fairly short stage which didn't allow us any latitude for error ... we made it with 1 minute to spare.
The Finish
After 2,443kms (1,527miles) and 49hours 49mins rally driving time we had finished.
"Toni and Guy" in the Elise had finished 1st with Francie & Clare in their Caterham in 2nd.
A busy morning drive culminating in the lunch stop at the port of Porticcio. We only just made the lunch time control ... there was an extra optional route around the castle in the port. These optional roads are not labelled in the route book ... you are meant to find them from the extract of the map shown in the route book. They are intended to add extra time and distance and therefore challenge you on timing for the rest of the stage. Penalty for not doing the extra route is 10 pts so we didn't really have an option but to do them. On this same stage our TVR crew were struck down with TVR reliability when their fan relay failed. Some quick rewiring meant they just managed to get in on time and keep their clean sheet.
The afternoon drive back to the hotel included some great roads (again!). Sun shine all the way too. The only looming issue was news of a Port Strike in Marseilles ... this was restricting fuel supplies to the island. The result of this was that petrol stations were starting to ration fuel ... limiting fill ups to €30-35. This wasn't an issue for us ... we struggled to fit in more that €25 of fuel in a fill up. A bigger issue was that some garages were not allowing filling of jerry cans ... we were totally reliant on our two jerry cans to provide sufficient range. May need to resort to syphoning fuel back from the tank into the jerries!
Despite all this we finished the day with no additional penalty points ... unlike our competitors in front ... we had climbed to 3rd place!
Day 5 - Porticcio (Hotel) back to Porticcio (Hotel) via Casevecchie
474Kms - 9hrs 33mins driving time
Another sunny day and some great driving roads (common theme here!) early on. Halfway through the morning we were confronted with a closed road on our route. There was an FIA Historic Rally going on at the same time as ours ... they had closed one of road as it was an official rally stage. Some hasty phone calls from our rally marshall and it was confirmed that we needed to make our own way to the time control. All crews spread their maps of Corsica out and started to work out where we were and where we needed to go ... not an easy task as our on route books rarely contained road number directions.
A few minutes later we were confident we knew where we had to get to ... the route there was a major detour but we had no allowance for this ... still needed to get there on time! 5 or 6 of us set off together ... Paul was driving and I was navigating as we followed Francie at the head of the line. It required some spirited driving and all was well until we came across some major roadworks due to a landslide.
The delay added at least another 10 minutes to our already stretched schedule. It now required some "very spirited" driving! We reached the control with 2 minutes to spare ... Doh! .. in our hast to get there on time we actually arrived early ... 10 penalty points! It was a minor consolation that most of our fellow competitors did the same thing.
The early afternoon was without incident ... some more great roads ... some more "energetic" driving. The optional "off route book" section in the afternoon was a particular challenge. A quick sprint of 6-8Kms up a road, collect the passage control stamp and back down again to rejoin the route book route. The only issue, we were driving fast to make up the time to complete the extra route and our fellow competitors were doing the same. All well and good with us running in 3rd or 4th up the road but on the way down were our fellow competitors coming towards us ... it made for an interesting few minutes on a very narrow road!
The last stage of the day also through a challenge. The route book referenced a village bypass that was incomplete when they did the recce. We had travelled the same road on Day 2 and taken the bypass and missed a section of the route but saved some time. The question was do we do the same again today or follow the route as instructed? Navigators decision (me at the time) was follow the route. As we entered the village we spotted one of our controls ... those that followed the bypass missed the control and were awarded 10 pts. A great result for us as it cancelled out some of the indiscretion earlier in the day!
The last stage of the day also through a challenge. The route book referenced a village bypass that was incomplete when they did the recce. We had travelled the same road on Day 2 and taken the bypass and missed a section of the route but saved some time. The question was do we do the same again today or follow the route as instructed? Navigators decision (me at the time) was follow the route. As we entered the village we spotted one of our controls ... those that followed the bypass missed the control and were awarded 10 pts. A great result for us as it cancelled out some of the indiscretion earlier in the day!
Day 6 - Porticcio (Hotel) back to Porticcio (Hotel) via Bocgnano
We started the last day in 4th place 3pts behind Francie, who was close behind "Toni and Guy" in their Lotus Elise (not really Toni and Guy ... nicknamed for their hairdresser car) with the TVR boys still in the lead.
Another beautiful morning with, yes you guessed it, some great driving roads, with scenery to match. We didn't get off to a great start though ... Paul missing a roundabout in the route book within five minutes of leaving the hotel!
Our strategy for the day ... overtake the 3 cars in front of us as quickly as possible on each stage in he hope they would make a route navigation error or get delayed. We figured if we followed them we would have any opportunity to beat them. A great strategy that required some very energetic driving ... catching up 4 mins on the TVR boys. Overtaking Francie was fairly easier ... we pre agreed with her that if we rolled p behind with lights blazing we wanted to pass! The TVR was also fairly straightforward ... they were taking things easy to make sure they didn't break anything or miss any directions. Catching the Elise was a bit more of a challenge ... they were as quick as we were and as soon as we caught them they turned up the wick a little more. We had some great fun though!
The net result of our full-on morning meant we reached lunch with no additional penalties. Unfortunately those ahead of us were on time too!
It was a short run in the afternoon but still allowed some time to meet up and enjoy the view on our final day.
There was a final twist near the end of the day. On the penultimate stage we got news that our TVR team mates were stranded at the roadside behind us. A rear shock absorber had broken ... they missed the time control on that stage and the last one :-(
The last stage was a fairly short stage which didn't allow us any latitude for error ... we made it with 1 minute to spare.
The Finish
After 2,443kms (1,527miles) and 49hours 49mins rally driving time we had finished.
"Toni and Guy" in the Elise had finished 1st with Francie & Clare in their Caterham in 2nd.
We ended up 3rd overall and 1st in our Class (2000cc and above).
Despite some gruelling conditions and some very hard driving the Westfield didn't miss a beat through the whole week. I was justifiably very proud of our driving and navigational achievement but above all my mechanical skills. Not bad going for a car built in my garage!
It was then just a matter of an overnight ferry back to Toulon in France and a mere 700miles run back to Calais. This was pretty uneventful ... 7 fuel stops and 10hrs 15mins ... you gotta love the French autoroutes ... but not a patch on the fantastic roads in Corsica! :-))
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