Reports from the 14th Winter Challenge.
 
The 14th Winter Challenge is underway

Competitors from the Brooklands and Cassel starts met up at Cormeilles in Northern France as dawn broke on Monday morning. The Brooklands starters had crossed the channel from Portsmouth to Le Havre and the early alarm call has meant many were early to bed tonight., the Cassel starters had overnighted at Rouen and were noticeably fresher here at Chateauroux this evening.

Crews faced three regularity sections on Leg 1, being the first day the navigation was quite straightforward and few wrong slots were reported. Only one car has incurred road time penalties - the Triumph TR5 of Tony Rogers and Bill Colbeck, the penalties are of little concern to the crew as they have subsequently become the first retirements of the event - the TR has succumbed to engine and gearbox maladies - even our highly experienced sweep crew of Peter Banham and Andy Inskip have not been able to come up with a fix.

The sweeps have however been busy on several other cars - the Jaguar Mk 2 of Phil Burgan and Des Wood had brake problems cured - and that was before they got to the ferry. Speedo cables have been replaced in several cars as crews seek to try and improve their performance on Regularity Sections. The Jaguar XK150 of Andrew Taylor and Geoffrey Jardine had not been charging but this has not stopped them reaching 4th place in the Marathon Category.

Leading the Marathon category is Reg Rivett and Paul Craven, Reg has had a shoulder injury but this does not seem to be holding him back, he has a lead of over three minutes on second placed man John Angus, navigator of John's MGC is Chris Pleasance who is on his first event (just don't mention the word p**sp**t to him)

Dutch crews Wim and Christine Krosenbrink, Jaguar Mk 2 and Paul Ruys / Henk Spin, Alfa Romeo Giulietta are bringing up the rear of the Marathon category but are sure to improve as the week goes on, both crews are full of enthusiasm on their first major event - feeling relaxed after a good meal and a couple of drinks we hope they remember that the out control tomorrow is a couple of km down the road....

The French crew of Jean-Pierre Maisonneuve and Christian Allagnat had an extended lunch halt in le Grand-Luc‚ whilst Peter and Andy tried to repair their speedo cable.

In the Sporting Category the lead is jointly held by regular Challenge competitors - James Ewing / Keith Webster (Wolseley 6/110) and Paul Merryweather / Mick Briggs (Jaguar S Type) - both are on two seconds penalty. On three seconds are birthday boy Frank Fennell / Kevin Savage (Mercedes-Benz 300 SE) and Horst Deumel / Willy Cave (Porsche 356). This is a good start for the first time pairing of Willy and Horst. A further four seconds behind are Richard and Elizabeth Brown in the MGA. Regular competitors Richard Thorne and Bill Granger bring their Lancia Flaminia Zagato along in sixth place with an eight second penalty. Last years winners Nigel Broderick and Colin Francis are in joint 8th.

Dutch crew Johan de Swart and Willie van Gemert have brought along a Rover P4/110 to show us Brits how it should be done, the brave lads are currently in 18th place having incurred a large penalty on the Foret de Berce regularity section - did they get lost in the woods we ask ourselves?

A group dinner this evening was well received and saved the drudgery of trying to find a restaurant in a strange town, a good buzz (and the free wine) flowed as crews told tales of woe and if only, all were full of praise for the route penned by Martin Clark and Phil Pavord. Reports back from our advance car are that all the route is passable but as we go further south and into higher terrain there is no doubt that it will become more difficult to maintain the schedule and road penalties will be incurred.

Tuesday sees us set off for Clermont-Ferrand, the competition intensifies so we are likely to see many changes in the leader board as navigation and accurate timekeeping comes to the fore.

Leg 2 from Chateauroux

Reports back from the advance car had indicated that the weather and road conditions were likely to deteriorate as the crews travelled south.

After an early coffee stop at a small rural French caf, - only secured on the route survey with the assistance of a local American resident who managed to convince Madam that we would not wreck the place and she may even make some money out of it!

But enough of that, you want to know why the leader board has changed so much.

The route included a section through a forest and not only were there more roads in existence than shown on the map but we had also decided to run it as a regularity section to heighten the tension.

Just to make matters a little bit more difficult speed changes were introduced as there was a speed limit in the forest, often this can make life easier for competitors as they can calculate the specific time at which they must be at the specified points. On this occasion though it does seem to have thrown many of the leading crews and several dropped larger penalties than they would ordinarily do.

Colin Francis was last seen prowling the streets of Clermont-Ferrand looking for a calculator that could add up times, rumour has it that he dropped a minute on the section due to mathematical error, previous front runners James Ewing and Keith Webster dropped 21 seconds which puts them back into third place. Sharing this place with them are their former partners on the top - Merryweather and Briggs.

Frank Fennell and Kevin Savage have taken the lead, three seconds behind are John Rondeau and Dennis Greenslade, both crews driving Mercedes 300SE - it seems that these are the cars to have when the weather is bad.

The ex-Works Daf 55 of Paul and Mark van Doorne is up into fifth place, the highest placing for many years for this regular crew. Richard and Elizabeth Brown are in sixth place and Elizabeth will be looking to improve on this as it's her birthday on Leg 3, there won't be time for celebrating as the Sporting Route crews tackle a five hour evening section at the end of Leg 3.

On the Marathon route the lead is still held by Reg Rivett and Paul Craven in the Healey 3000, this is despite having missed the finish of the notorious forest regularity section. Their lead is however reduced to 17 seconds. Just one second separates third and fourth places, Alan Wright and Barry Spinks just keeping their Mk II Jaguar in front of Jean-Pierre Maisonneuve / Christian Allagnat's MGA - this pair being the leading novices - so perhaps the visit to the Classic Rally Association rally school did pay off.

Peter and Ann Locks in the ex-works Austin 1800 Landcrab are moving up and currently lie in ninth position, First Sporting route crew to incur any road penalties were Steve Rogers and John Shute in an Alfa Romeo GTA, they has a small coming together with the only other Alfa on the event, that of Paul Ruys and Henk Spin. Not too much damage was caused and both crews are able to continue in the event.

The Citroen DS of father and son team, Tony and Daniel Mather dropped a massive 15 minutes at the Nadaillat Time Control after a major wrong slot - blamed on the patchy fog!

The day had seen a mixture of sunshine and fog, conditions had included some roads covered with a thin layer of snow and judging by the photographs seen so far many crews were playing for the camera and enjoying the experience of driving their classics on snow - without the interference of modern technology such as ABS and traction control.

Peter and Betty Banham with Andy Inskip have had an easier day in the sweep vehicle, the Jaguar Mk II of Peter Rowley and Dominic West had been flooding but this was soon cured, Our other son and father team - Stephen and Stan Cooper needed attention to their points - I hear rumours of confusion between metric and imperial settings.

After arrival at Clermont-Ferrand competitors enjoyed a superb meal and there was much banter across the table - aided no doubt by the wine that was flowing liberally.

Leg 3 sees the competitors set off for the Spa town of Vals-les-Bains, a traditional Challenge night halt. The Sporting route has a evening section in the Burzet region, advance warnings are that there are parts of the route covered in packed snow so it's sure to be slippery as the night temperatures fall.

Leg 3 started from Clermont-Ferrand,

Crews had a shorter day than usual as the Sporting crews faced an evening in the Burzet region – the Marathon crews were left behind in the magnificent Château Clement restaurant – drinking the wine that the Sporting competitors had to abstain from! The Chabot family had provided a quick meal for those who needed to get back out – we all return there for a banquet after Leg 5 and to celebrate the birthdays of Elizabeth Brown and two officials – our Clerk of the Course Martin Clark has reached the big 60 and former Chief Marshal Bob Rutherford is catching rapidly.

With the winter sun in their eyes for much of the day it was no wonder that crews started to make mistakes, they need all the excuses they can think of.

Frank Fennell is still in the lead by the smallest of margins, Paul Merryweather and Mick Briggs have done fantastically to gain seven seconds back, big story of the day was the retirement of John Rondeau and Dennis Greenslade, the differential in the Mercedes failed prior to even reaching the second time control of the day – so even Mercedes fail occasionally – I can’t remember the last time that one of the big Mercedes retired for mechanical reasons.

The van Doorne brothers have got the Daf up to third place – but they are over a minute behind the leading pair. Richard Thorne and Bill Granger are working their way up and are a further 27 seconds in arrears. The Burzet loop is likely to see most crews penalties increase dramatically so more changes are expected before the crews leave Vals-les-Bains.

The Marathon route has new leaders – Alan Wright and Barry Spinks have powered the Jaguar Mk II into first place, not bad considering it’s Barry’s first event – mind you he is yet another graduate of a Willy Cave Rally school.

Former leader Reg Rivett dropped down into fifth place having missed a secret check, Andrew Newman and Michael Hope are up into second place in their Lotus Cortina, but are over two minutes behind the leaders, a further five minutes back is the MGB of Garry Growns and Angus McLelland – it will be interesting to see if they can maintain this position as they no longer have a speedo or trip meter as the cable has broken – they generously lent their spare cable to another MGB at Portsmouth. Just a second behind is Wim and Chris Krosenbrink’s Jaguar MK II – the most popular make of car on the event. Chris is a last minute replacement as Wim’s original co-driver Bernard Muller broke a leg whilst skiing. As long as they keep the car on the road they should get at least one award being the only remaining mixed crew in the Marathon route. Our other mixed crew Charles and Margaret Peet failed to start as their MGB was stolen on the day before the start – so if you get offered a rally prepared MGB please let us know – they’d even flown in from the USA to compete.

Most embarrassed crew of the day award goes to John Angus and Chris Pleasance – not only did they oversleep and clock out late from the first control but they thought they were staying two nights so didn’t bother to take their bags – by the time they realised the error of their ways and went back they missed most of the morning but they are not last!

Birthday girl Elizabeth Brown isn’t celebrating as she managed to wrong slot on a regularity section and missed the finish control incurring a five minute penalty, this drops them down to 13th place.

Dave Axten and Peter Green got stuck in a ditch before the lunch halt at Sauges, they had a 13 minute penalty which will take some clawing back.

David Moffat came into the lunch halt full of praise for the fantastic route that had been provided – good driving roads, stunning scenery and sunshine are an unbeatable combination.

A novel introduction on this event has been the “lucky dip” teams – as crews clocked in they each had to draw a lot and from this teams were formed – current leaders in the teams are Sporting E of Broderick, Deumel and Locks, Marathon MG team of Maisonneuve, Growns and Angus.

Leg 4 & 5 Report from Vals-les-Bains

After arriving at Vals-les-Bains the crews on the Sporting route had a short break before venturing into the infamous Burzet region for Leg 4. The tension had been heightened as the route for this section was only given out in the morning, leaving navigators torn between concentrating on navigating the daytime route or plotting for the evening route.

The Burzet area is famous for its maze of small lanes, many of which are not marked on the map. Clerk of the Course Martin Clark loves this area and had spent two full days in this area mapping out a very testing evening route. There were many short sections thereby maximising the opportunities for crews to drop time and be penalised.

He needn't have worried as by the first regularity control all crews had incurred penalties, this trend continued throughout the night and by the end of the night Frank Fennell / Kevin Savage had incurred nearly four minutes, next placed crew of Paul Merryweather and Mick Briggs had amassed over 17 minutes, Richard Thorne and Bill Granger in third place were a further ten minutes behind.

Meanwhile, the Marathon crews had stayed behind at Vals-les-Bains. After a session in the bar a walk up to Chateau Clement saw them enjoy an excellent meal - the restaurant can't do enough to please, it's just a shame that when they refurbish the chateau it won't be large enough to hold the whole event. Rally Headquarters at the Grand Hotel des Bains has also been refurbished and crews who remember it from the early days of the Winter Challenge would be pleasantly surprised. Room numbering is still as obscure as ever and rumours that the person who numbered the rooms also produced our route marking notes are possibly true.

When the Sporting crews returned it was not long before the bar was drunk dry, one enterprising competitor went out and got fresh stocks! Sold no doubt at a profit - why didn't we think of that first!

Thursday's Leg 5, a loop from Vals and back to Vals had also been the subject of intense research by Martin Clark. There is suspicion that he is looking for a second home and uses the rally as an excuse to search out all the local possibilities.

It was a late start after the previous evenings run and the top crews had been eagerly looking forward to this section - they are provided with route marking information a couple of weeks in advance so can study the route in great detail and obtain very large scale maps to try and help them find the correct goat track - oops sorry I meant road.

Most crews were penalty free until the third time control but at this point every crews incurred penalties, six minutes penalty for Frank Fennell in the big Mercedes, but the amazing 1800 Land Crab of Peter and Ann Locks managed to get just four and a half minutes - the lowest recorded. From this point on the penalties just kept getting larger and larger, Fennell and Savage finished the day over thirty six minutes in front of Merryweather and Briggs, Broderick and Francis were a further seven minutes adrift. Deumel and Cave were a further fourteen minutes and in fifth the van Doorne brothers had a five minute deficit in the ex-works Daf.

Johan de Swart and Wim van Gemert keep on peddling the Rover P4 along, probably one of the most unsuitable cars on the event they make every effort to get to all the controls - they have previously competed on the Winter Challenge in a very early production Mini but have decided that the car should be preserved in its original state - they don't seem to have quite the same degree of concern for the Rover.

The Marathon crews had an extended lunch break at St Jean-du-Gard where a local press man was on hand to record the moment and took several shots of the cars and crews. Perhaps we may get some more French entries next year - Pierre-Yves and Christian would like some company! The brave duo seem to have had the hood down all week which is okay as it hasn't been raining but it must make it very difficult to keep warm. They faced a major problem on the final regularity section when, after getting lost, they ran out of petrol. With no phone coverage to summon help they took shelter with a local resident and eventually the Sweep Crew came to the rescue helping them back to Vals in time to eat at the Chateau.

The Lotus Cortina of Andrew Newman and Michael Hope held the lead in the Marathon category with a thirty eight minute lead over Wright and Spinks in the Jaguar Mk II. The Jensen Interceptor of Pine, Keane and Gibbs had spent most of the day in Vals as the crew had tried to cure their brake problems - it is a heavy car to try and slow on these twisty mountain roads - it seems that the master cylinder is at fault and they have decided to take it easy and get to the finish.

Early in the day the pristine Aston Martin of David Moffat and Stephen Hall met the Austin Healey of Reg Rivett and Paul Craven, the meeting was terminal for both cars and the cars are now on the way back to the UK via the transporter of Cambridge Motorsport.

A long night faced the organiser's as many re-routes had to be planned because much of the Leg 6 route was affected by recent poor weather. Competitors meanwhile were up at Chateau Clement enjoying yet another group meal, celebrating the completion of the Ardeche and Cevenne sections.

Only one day to go......

This final leg of the 14th Winter Challenge had been affected by snow and much of the original route was obstructed by closed cols - well, even though the locals were using most of the passes the signs said 'Ferme' so we could not afford to take any chances. The advance car had done a wonderful job of finding alternative routes and Martin Clark and his team were up most of Thursday night preparing route amendments for issue to competitors.

The time schedule was slackened to the relief of many crews who were still suffering from the intensity of the competition in the Cevennes the day before,

At the lunch halt in Voreppe the competing cars took over the car park of the Mairie and also part of the adjoining roundabout much to the distress of the locals! Our café‚ control point did a roaring trade in lunch for those who wanted to sit down and the remaining crews raided the local patisserie. Everyone was enjoying the glorious winter sunshine; even the lady gendarme on duty in the square seemed to accept the parking chaos. Although there were only a couple of cols left to cover several cars were receiving attention from the sweep crew and the spirit of the event was being displayed as crews lent each other parts - brake pads were in strong demand. Main discussions revolved around whether Frank Fennell would get his Mercedes 300SE to the finish. The differential had been getting increasingly noisy and co-driver Kevin Savage was calculating how many controls they could miss without loosing the lead - it was a good job that they had such a lead in hand when the day started.

The afternoon session included a final regularity section to finish the event off. This section had a tricky not as map junction and many top crews either failed to find the regularity finish control or approached it from the wrong direction and hence incurred a 5 minute penalty.

Frank nursed the ailing Mercedes to the finish to keep his position at the head of the leader board which only changed slightly on this final Leg. So, Frank Fennell and Kevin Savage were confirmed winners of the 2003 Winter Challenge; Paul Merryweather and Mick Briggs took second in the Jaguar S Type and 2002 winners Nigel Broderick & Colin Francis took third spot. In the slightly easier Marathon category the win was taken by Andrew Newman and Michael Hope in a Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1; second was Alan Wright and Barry Spinks in a Mk II Jaguar - not bad considering it was Barry's first event. Third place went to Garry Growns and Angus McLelland in an MGB - it was the first event for both of them so they have got something to live up to.