Pre-start - Lubeck
The 16th Classic Marathon hit town as crews assembled pre-start, and following a foggy overnight North Sea crossing for the British crews they on pleasant and sunny afternoon beside the river here in Lubeck.

The trip from Cuxhaven first involved the tranquillity of Sunday villages – and the similar pace of many of the local drivers – and later, the autobhan “Donner & Blitzen” where even humble Corsa’s were topping the ton, never mind the Porkers, Beemers and Mercs. Sunday evening in Lubeck opened with the “foot regularity” rally on route to the group dinner in the Kartoffel Keller. Your correspondent – you’ll get to know me, the one eavesdropping about the place – cried off that opening Regularity, having broken one foot recently and not wanting to wear t’other out as well.

All crews made Lübeck, a few grateful for the attentions of the Fowkes/Inskip and Banham “Rescuers” already…

At Harwich there was some early fettling going on. John Hartley’s Healey 100/4 over generous with fuel, the carbs not playing the game. Tony Welsh had made his ’63 Lancia from two such cars, only the battery box letting him down, as it almost dropped off, before restoration to health by Mr. Fowkes. Tony also observed that the Flavia was a little high at the front… but also that “a few mountains will soon settle that”

Bob White’s red GT Cortina was disconcerting clonking under braking, a loose calliper bolt diagnosed, and the Mark 1 was attended to by Tony Fowkes and two ships engineers on the voyage, the ships tannoy announcing the completion of the work shortly before docking at Cuxhaven. Unfortunately one bolt came loose again, needing more work at Lubeck, temporary repairs accomplished, but if anyone has a 3/8 UNF bolt about an inch long, Bob will buy it.

Ted & Judy Howles were trying to cool the Scimitar at Harwich, amidst steam and water. Now at Lübeck the Reliant is cooler minus its thermostat, while Keith Graham’s Healey 100/4 was found to have an unknown addition of electronic ignition, after a motor rebuild, so will incur an extra pre-start penalty.

As cars and crews waited to disembark at a rainy Cuxhaven Roger Gourd and Terry Davies donned wet weather gear. Of more concern to the crew of the tiny Austin 7 Ulster was the fact they had no room for their two bottles of Glenfiddich. All was soon sorted with no shortage of volunteers to carry the precious malt… they had plenty of water, with it, or without it.

The Autobahn run was soon over, Mark Tipping stopping off to investigate an MGB brake fluid leak onto Tony Jolly’s foot, but all was well… “Monte” winners Peter & Ann Locks had prepared the Morris 1800 well… Peter said he’d washed it twice. He also admitted to painting the odd bit and treating “Lurch” to some tyres… the methods are clearly successful anyway.

At Lübeck, alongside the tranquil River Trave, Peter Banham and Tony Fowkes were performing the usual miracles… they would make good “Blue Peter” presenters, able to make almost anything out of absolutely nothing. Among their minor miracles today were cures for a defunct Jaguar XK150 of the Graves; rally plates speedily fixed on the Michael Kunz MGB GT; a new fuel pump on George Niblett’s Triumph 2000. As this edition closed for press they were tackling an electrical malady on the David Cook Morgan Plus 4, and discomforting oil consumption and wiper trouble on the Phil Burgan/Des Wood Porsche 911… and the rally hasn’t even started yet. Denmark here we come.

Leg 1 - Remark on Denmark…
The 16th Classic Marathon started in the early morning sunshine from Lubeck… and ended several hundred kilometers later in the north of Denmark under dark and wet skies.

At Lubeck news was that Kenny MacEwan has purchased a Peugeot 404 injection… bit of a change from the 911, and ‘tis rumoured that the ’68 car will be seen in future competition.

The pre-start “Foot Regularity” was impressively won by Simon Parsons and Trevor Cattermole, without the aid of their Healey Sprite.

Come the dawn early risers spotted Marc Tippings MGB had done just that… tipping into the Bentley 4.5 Le Mans of Robert Harley… it must have been a fly off handbrake.

The Bentley obviously took umbrage at being so rudely woken up, refusing to start thereafter… and took a nasty bite out of the “B” bonnet…

Phil Bergen almost blotted his copybook before he’d even started, almost late for the “off”… that’ll teach you to sing in the bar until the early hours.

The Padborg Test brought its share of those too excited to do just the requisite ONE lap… enthusiasm has its cost as results show. Frank Fennel finished VERY quickly, crossing the stop line with no brakes after a brake pipe burst and he had top stop the big Mercedes on the hand brake.

Peter & Betty Banham report a busy day dealing with horses… the Mustang breed. The Shelby GT of David and Sarah Rayner lost oil pressure, needing a sump removal and fettling of the oil pump, and the Mustang of Chris Rees ran much better after a fuel filter clean out…

Peter Brennan was perhaps missing his Bentley, as the MGB spluttered with a condenser failure, but thanks to Peter Banham all was soon on song again.

Leg 2 - Aye… Aye… Skaggerak!
The undulating roads of Denmark gave way to a breathtaking vista as Norway unfolded, the rain occasionally still made its presence felt, but the sun still glittered through. The crossing of the Skaggerak was slightly eventful, the voyage getting underway amidst an electrical storm, and the waves proved they could kick up a storm as well, the ship taking quite a battering as the Marathon sailed North. Careful planning and liaison with the ferry company ensured that competitors and officials were off the ferry first and ready for a regularity consistency test at the Ruglandsbanen Rallycross Circuit. This test was to be the downfall of several crews who completed too many laps but it’s early days yet and many penalties are likely to be accumulated later in the week so nobody should feel too despondent.

A number of top contenders also blotted their copybooks during the first Norwegian day, including Fred Bent, his problem coming on the pre-lunch Regularity… Late at night many competitors were seen photocopying and enlarging maps to try and avoid future mistakes.

The final test of the day at Geilo airport – flying suspended for the afternoon – route designer Keith Baud and our Norwegian consultant Tom Granli had designed a great test but it seems that some crews found it a bit long and took a short cut at the end. Gordon Bywater took Colin Francis in the 4x4 to be an extra course marker, doing a 360 degree around him as well.

The field still runs at capacity, though two cars have been appearing sporadically, including the one with the – perhaps – best reason… today was Gavin and Kirsten Thomas’s wedding anniversary, so they took their Aston Martin DB2 for a short holiday from the rally!

Paul Carter and Robert Ellis made the usual rapid “Bentley Boys” pace, despite an earlier skid pan spin, though the applause was gracefully accepted… and then Robert went and lost it… his hat that is, which blew away as fast as the shores of Denmark had overnight. They are however still in seventh place overall and first vinatgeant.

Peter Brennan & Mick Briggs had an eventful start in the MGB, various electrical gremlins… or Trolls perhaps? Thwarting their progress, as did a spin mid final test, and as they noted… things could only get better from now on.

Final case for the Banhams was the Jaguar brakes for Charles & Kit Graves… the final mountain descent was no place for lack of grabbers… The ever efficient Peter got them sorted and the XK will be stopping again and Kit’s heart can stop pounding.

The leaderboard is very close with just one second separating Jan Ebus / Robert Rorife and Jayne Wignall / Kevin Savage, a further eight seconds behind is Bert Dolk and Jan Berkhof whilst just another second back is Cornelius Goedegebuur accompanied by Erwin Berkhof – son of Jan – dare he overtake his father? Two cars are tying on fifth place – the MGB of Paul and Sandra Merryweather and Porsche 356 of Neil Wilson and John Buffum. 2003 Marathon winners Henk Touw and Bennie Roetgerink are down in 15th place after an uncharacteristic error on the second regularity of the day saw them gain a 33 second penalty.

At the group meal the wine was flowing and there was much banter between the tables as the tales of woe emerged and strategies were planned for the next days exploits, the bar was remarkably quiet as we went to press – the previous night’s ferry was taking its toll but from now on it’s only the cross fjord “hops” so normal drinking activities will no doubt resume at Balestrand as crews sample the delights of Kvioknes Hotel.

Leg 3 - Here comes the sun …
Continuing on our musical themes for these bulletins, maybe I should have entitled it “You’ve had it all…” for today we all certainly have.

Norway at it’s best, as only Norway could be… spectacular gorges, snow covered heights and icy waterfalls dropping out of the sky… herds of goats, often in the way but caring not, even angry cows, more of which later… and the steepest hillclimb in northern Europe,

After the splendour of the Dr. Holms Hotel in Geilo it looked like a hard day ahead… but the blizzards eased and then the sun broke through.

Leg three began with two regularities, the second of which had a bridge in a state of post “recce” decay… Route-Meister Keith Baud requested crews be warned of a dangerous bridge… but didn’t say if it was because a Troll was under it.

The Schaffrath brothers Alfa was an early casualty with a rear puncture, while Roger Gourd & Terry Davies had a fraught intro to Day 3, finding the Regularity slots hard to find… they were not alone.

The pristine Rolls-Royce of the Covills had a few overheating problems but fights on, as does the Healey 100/4 of Keith Graham and Sue Hoffman despite bursting the radiator after the hillclimb. Scaling the heights obviously gave Sue courage, as she clambered down to the lake for water after the Healey boiled. Sterling work by Tony Fowkes & Andy Inskip fixed the radiator and the Healey lives on to fight another day.

While waiting for a ferry Peter Banham continued to work his miracles, sorting an oil leak on Phil Burgan’s Porsche 911. Earlier he sorted Jeff Hooley’s dynamo, and the Graves XK150 brakes and tyre trouble, plus the brake caliper of the Tony Welsh/Anita Williams Lancia, Michael Ridley was tackling upper wishbones on the Volvo, courtesy of some good Norwegian wood. The Morgan of David Cook and John Topham had wiper trouble, the “Bentley Boys” Paul Carter and Robert Harley lending a hand. Paul’s co-driver Robert Ellis continuing his losing habit – today it was his scarf. The notice board now has a sweepstake for what he will lose next.

Roy Williams and John Bayliss have dropped a good few places after missing a secret check despite the hints in the route narrative, still at least they can have some fun catching up the time over the remaining three days.

Old number ones, Roger Gourd and Terry Davies fight on in the Austin Ulster, today’s drama including the maps flying away on a Regularity – and it’s hard to reverse wearing a waterproof hood – and encountering a goat herd at high speed, and an angry Heifer at low speed.

A short ferry crossing brought the crews to Balestrand and an overnight halt at the fabulous Kviknes Hotel. This hotel is listed in the book “1000 places to visit before you die”, so at least Marathon competitors have only another 999 to go. After a quick look through the book that incidentally the hotel owner had never seen before, several of the places have been visited on previous Classic Rally Association events – including Lourdes and Blarney Castle.

At the evening feast Bert Dolk was presented with the Nigel Broderick “Trowl Trophy” for the fastest time on the Stalheim test. Nigel and Paula had bought this earlier today and had been told it was a local troll but a MORI poll in the bar decided it looked more like an owl so it became christened the “Trowl”

Leg 4 - River Deep… Mountain high
An apt description for the fourth day of the sixteenth Classic Marathon. Today certainly showed some examples of the Viking horns on the rally logo.

The fast coast road took crews out of Balestrand and into the hairpin intensive regularity above Sognefjord, and despite the odd lorry against route the standard of crews timing was impressive. The leading Porsche of Jan Ebus and the MGB of John Bateson and Tina Lowe were the only two cars to achieve all three timing points without penalty.

Amongst the reminiscences at the Balestrand hotel, Willy Cave discovered a photo of himself as a lad, pictured on the ferry when he visited …well… a few years ago. If you go back it’s just by the lift on the sixth floor.

The day was a hectic one, ice causing a short re-route, but the ice on the closing Dalsnibba regularity deterred no-one as they soared for the stars, some crews took it easy being wary of an intermediate time check but others took a chance and made up some time on the easy first section. The run down the hill was in convoy, and competitors then had free access to the Fjordsenter in Geiranger village, where the slide show depicted Norway at its stunning best. This rally has been an experience never to forget, and for many one to repeat later at a more leasurely paced event without the pressures of a time schedule while maintaining the camaraderie of being with like minded enthusiasts. If you are interested in joining them why not give the Rally Office a call next week.

The sweep crews have had a busy day and running repairs have included a new drive coupling for the Austin Seven Ulster – currently up to second overall in the Clubmans section as the Covill’s Rolls-Royce is only eligible for class awards being a post '67 car. The Lagonda of Howard Bellm is having a broken rocker welded so that they can restart tomorrow morning. Clubman leader Mike Booth’s Porsche had a petrol pump gasket change, as did the similar example of Neil Wilson & John Buffum. The Howles Scimitar was re-tracked at the lunch halt, along with the Porsche 911 of Trevor and Alan Wragg. Kenny MacEwan’s Porsche was restored to full power by a points change – seems that the Porsches have had more that their fair share of the sweeps time today. Gordon Bywater and Michael Wheatley are finding that the wooden suspension fitted to their Wolseley in place of the normal hydrolastic unit is struggling to cope and a change to a hardwood version may be needed before they reach Oslo on Saturday.

Newcomers Simon Parson and Trevor Cattermole also needed help when the exhaust system finally fell off their Austin Healey Sprite – the low slung system falling victim to a stray rock – this just a couple of hours after a discussion regarding how to mount a system “flexibly”.

Jan Ebus and Robert Rorife are still leading but second place has now been taken by the Volvo Amazon of Bert Dolk and Jan Berkhof. They have a three second lead over Jayne Wignall and Kevin Savage. Current FIA Historic Regularity Run Championship Leader Frank Fennell is working his way back up the leaderboard and only needs to finish the event to win the Championship so isn’t taking any chances. With only five seconds between eight and eleventh places there are sure to be more changes as the rally works its way towards Oslo.

Tomorrow the rally goes north… perhaps more snow after this bright and sunny day, that had many a crew smiling equally as brightly in the hotel bar.

Leg 5 - I can see for miles, and miles, and miles…
After an early start in the snowy mountains crews headed for the ferry and the delights of Trollstiggen… the anticipated fog did not materialise and the rally reached its northern extremity in good weather… it is a sobering thought that if you had kept going to the northern tip of Norway top and measured the distance then reversed it you would be deep in Southern Italy… this IS a big country, and in more ways than just mileage.

A run down country to the lunch halt brought the first Police interest of the rally, Paul Carters Bentley attracting understandable attention, but Robert Ellis was so pleasant to the Officer that he raised no concerns over their driving… which in any case was – as always – exemplary. There is a particular need to observe speed limits in villages of course, for the good of crews, the local populace, and the reputation of the rally, and no doubt all crews had this in mind. Good communication with the Police prior to the event has meant that they are fully aware of the route are very supportive in every way.

The first regularity after lunch sorted out a few crews, “Route Meister Baud” making the most of the amazing selection of private toll roads to catch out even the leading crews. Judicious use of “NO” boards reduces the length of the navigational errors and helps to guard against accidents. Peter and Lin Hon Baker raced on in the Lancia Appia (the only such car in historic rallying it is believed), relieved that the suspected oil leak was no more than petrol spillage washing off the block, this followed on from a bad landing after a bump that caused the rear door to fly open, just to be on the safe side Peter has roped the doors closed. Poor Willy Cave had the added distraction of a nosebleed, though he was not included in the missing or late category.

Keith Graham and Sue Hoffman gave some regularities a miss, getting the Healey 100/4 radiator repaired in a local workshop, Tony Welsh & Anita Williams also heading straight for Lillehammer in their Lancia Flavia, with a suspect pushrod, as did the Mercedes of Roy and Sue Watson, which made it to the town square in Lillehammer.

By the afternoon the musical theme changed again to “Raindrops are falling on my head”, as the rally neared the overnight halt, although some enjoyed it still, Roy Williams and John Bayliss in the open Lagonda saying “Great…all misty and muddy…just like Wales". The Lagonda M45 Rapide of Howard Bellm rallied on, the broken rocker welded up overnight, a measure of what can be done to keep cars on the road but it looks like the 100% finishing record is as elusive as ever – the father and son team of Rutger and Gerrit Reinders suspecting that the crankshaft has broken in their Cooper S had no choice but to retire.

There was some drama on the final Regularity, the Lotus Cortina of Andrew Newman and Michael Hope slid off the road on the last corner of the Regularity, bending a wing and headlight, and tearing out the anti-rollbar AND in sight of fellow Lotus Cortina driver Bob White. Bob later said “It’s not too bad… he only hit a squirrel… but it was still in the tree” The car awaited “ministrations” from the Banham’s but continues OK.

In a damp Lillehammer town square there were a few cars being fettled. Adrian Paye and Anna Lawford spent several hours repairing the exhaust on their Citroen Light 15. Hubert and Diane Lynch awaited help with a noisy front end, suspected to be exhaust related in the Cooper S, whilst “Monte” winners Peter and Ann Locks admitted to a few retrograde steps, Peter saying “I think we’re in trouble again”

The leaderbaord has seen some changes in both Masters and Clubman categories but with two tests and several regularity timing points tomorrow there is still potential for further changes and the battles mid field are as intense as ever with a tremendous variety of cars battling away showing that you don’t need lots of power or an expensive car to do well.

The Final Day
The final day started bright and sunny for the “going for gold” efforts at the Olympic ski-jump venue in Lillehammer.

The first Regularity was a fast run over another mix of tarmac and Baud gravel motorway… most crews made it through well, a few a little late, and a few unfortunately held up by a giant tractor and trailer that arrived against route… farming goes on despite a Marathon. A well timed presence of the Banhams Toyota Landcruiser at least allowed the mobile road block to be rapidly escorted off rout.

It was a disaster area for Peter Brennan and Mick Briggs, the MGB men wrong slotting for five minutes, but worse for the Danish crew of Hilmar Andersen and Henning Friborg, the Volvo 123 GT collecting a huge penalty, dropping from a hard fought fourth place as a result.

Safe now from the northern Trolls, crews still ran the risk of attack from the legendary monster in the deeps of the Mjosa fjord… there must be an underwater tunnel from Loch Ness… that’s why they are seldom seen… all that swimming back and forth… Perhaps official photographer Tony Large has a photo of it… he’s got photos of everything else, having taken over two and a half thousand shots since he arrived in Norway !

At the Oslo Park Hotel there remained much fettling for the return trip… Peter Banham was doing a “shocker swap from the Aston DB4 of Barrie and Roma Weir to the Brodericks DB6, the Weir car having the luxury of a trip home in the back of the Cambridge Motorsport transporter. Earlier work had included a clutch fix on the Van der Klis Healey and a coil misfire on the Hartley and Ball Healey 100/4.

Gordon Bywater was developing his suspension tweaks for the Wolseley, having rubber blocks fitted, the earlier fitted wood all sawdust. Tony and Andy had earlier fitted chains on the wobbly suspension, the rubber a final tweak. The lack of suspension did not however stop them taking first place in the Clubman Category.

En route to Oslo some crews encountered a “Gumball” type run, involving Ferrari and Porsche cars, which the Police were unhappy with. Wim & Chris Krosenbrink – Porsche 911 were mistakenly thought to be involved and “collared” unjustly by the Police, and escorted – politely but firmly shall we say – off the Regularity to the main road… innocents abroad!

And so to the final checkpoint at Oslo Castle, now raining and a little foggy, but with bright spirits nonetheless… more water awaited. Jeremy Dickson conjured up one last adventure, “boating” all guests from the hotel to the prize giving… a splendid touch to bring down the curtain on a rally that was truly a Marathon… no-one that was there will ever forget this adventure through this land of so many superlatives… see you all for the seventeenth Classic Marathon, and more surprises.