The 15th Winter Challenge to Monte-Carlo has started and all crews have reached the end of the first leg at Nancy. The UK starters had an excellent send off from their new start location at the Imperial War Museum. After completing the vehicle checks crews had a couple of hours to admire the superb exhibits in the museum.
The Duxford start attracted a host of new spectators and several previous Winter Challenge competitors were there to wish the cars well - many wishing that they were going all the way to celebrate the return to Monte-Carlo.
Already there were some tales of woe with the Lancia Fulvia of Dominic Manser and Jeremy Davies needing a head gasket change - they made it as far as Nancy but were last seen looking for a torque wrench for a further tighten up.
After an overnight halt near Canterbury on Saturday the UK starters crossed the channel early on Sunday and then had a leisurely drive to the start of the event proper at Chateau le Faucon. Most had time for tea at the Chateau before setting off for two regularities.
At the Noordwijk start a mix of both UK and European crews were greeted with Dutch hospitality and a fine meal at the Hotel Oranje before their Sunday morning run to the Chateau le Faucon.
The first regularity through the Fôret de Wœvre was a "practice" regularity and no time penalties would be incurred - this did not stop some crews managing to incur penalties by missing either the start or finish. The second regularity section - Fôret de la Montagne was quite tricky navigationally and many crews were caught out with visits to a farmyard. Four crews did however manage to complete the course successfully and on time, hence getting a zero score at the end of Leg 1,
There was a good atmosphere at the dinner table in Nancy and as usual with the wine flowing problems of the day were forgotten - it's another day tomorrow and as we start entering the more mountainous sections of the route the question on most crews slips was will there be any snow - our advance car has not seen a lot to date but we do expect that by the end of the week we'll have had a couple of snow covered regularities.
The Triumph Herald of Alex Back and Alan Pettit was very late arriving, they had broken a trunion on the front suspension. Thankfully they had a spare and after some determined spannering will be up and running on Leg 2.
Michael Kershaw and Christopher Mallett had enjoyed the flowing curves of today's route in their Austin Healey 3000. They are now without a brake servo and feel that the car could be a bit of a handful on the twistier sections to come.
Irish crew Mickey Gabbett and Michael Jackson have been on tenterhooks all day, at Duxford they thought that perhaps the head gasket may have failed but this was traced to a faulty radiator cap, at Canterbury the car would not start so Mickey delved in his spares box and found an alternative voltage regulator and once this was fitted the car started and made it to Nancy without further drama.
Leg 2 -
Aix-les-Bains welcomes the Winter Challenge
The 15th Winter Challenge to Monte-Carlo has reached Aix-les-Bains, and after a very wet day a leader board is starting to emerge. Todays route had four regularity sections with six timing points so there was plenty of opportunity for penalties.
At the end of the day the lead was taken by Dutchmen Bert Dolk and Jan Berkhof in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint, with have a mere five seconds total penalty. In joint second place is the Irish duo of Gabbett and Jackson - their Peugeot 404 settling down now it's back in it's home country! Former Winter Challenge winners, Nicky Porter and Colin Francis, have brought Nicky's Mercedes-Benz 220SEb out of retirement. Both these crews having a thirteen second penalty. Leading mixed crew is Peter and Ann Locks in the Morris 1800 Landcrab affectionately know as Lurch - Peter in good form having celebrated his 47th birthday on Sunday. The cars a bit lighter now Ann has thrown all the candles away!
Sharing fifth slot we have some cosmopolitan crews - Irish / English in the Fennell / Savage partnership - winners of this event last year and also with thirty nine seconds zre the German / English team of Deumel and Cave. This crew have to be careful not to let fame go to their head as they were featured in the local paper as part of an event preview.
We think it is a record for this event but as we write not one competing crew has retired. We'll keep quiet on which of the organisers has retired but, she is having a well deserved rest rather than being thrown about in the front of a well known *e*v*c* barge! We are all thinking of her and wish her well. You'll have to check back tomorrow for an updated report.
We are still trying to establish how Mike Rushby and Tim Bland lost the screen in the Sunbeam Alpine. Today was not the day for driving without a windscreen. They have found a couple of motorcycle helmets to give some protection - not sure quite how they are going to communicate but at least they might keep their heads dry!
George Holt and Rod Carter are carrying on the development of the Trident Ventura - Rod said after the meal at the Casino that a week ago the car had no front suspension, seats, the wiring looked like spaghetti (and probably still does). The run from Lancashire to France via the Noordwijk start had cleared the gremlins from the system and one assumes they will be in the top ten at the end (well that's what George told me...). Close rivals Keith Webster and James Ewing are just one place ahead in 21st spot. They are using Keith's TR3A, their old steed the Wolseley Police Car having been sold to Bentley owner Robert Harley - who borrowed the car for the recent Rally of the Tests then decided it was easier to send a cheque than drive the car back to James! James is supposedly building an Alfa Romeo Giulia Super but has yet to fill in a registration application form so the car remains at his Sussex estate.
Leading the Clubman's section is the husband and wife crew of Wim and Chris Krosenbrink-Sanders. Last year they brought a Jaguar but have now gone the Mercedes-Benz route with a lovely looking coupe. Second is Hugh Porter and Derek Jones in a newly acquired MGC GT. Third is the Morris Minor of John "Gladys" Tooher and Ian Stewart - if only Nurse Gladys car went as quick as this she'd never have been troubled by Arkwright. Michael Moss and Laurence Jacoby have gone to bed early tonight with the event regulations to study - they and a few other crews had failed to appreciate that the Clubman category are not penalised for being late at a Time Control.
Leg Three starts and finishes with the traditional driving test on the Aix-les-Bains lakeside so, as well as trying to beat your fellow competitors you can also aim to better your own time set in the morning session.
Legs 3 & 4 -
Aches and Pains strikes back
With the wet weather continuing it was a tough day for competitors, the Clubman had it slightly easier as they did not turn out for night Leg.
The day was also marked by a series of retirements - Frank Fennell retired his Mercedes-Benz on the early morning test on the Aix-les-Bains lakeside - a broken gearbox bringing his Challenge to and end. Fellow Irishman James O'Mahony managed to find a local garage to carry out welding repairs to his Volvo 122S but has withdrawn as co-driver Pat Neville Is unwell. Dutch father and son pairing Marcel and Alfons Geurts retired their Mercedes-Benz 280SL with a blowing head gasket. In the Clubman category Roy Pine and Pat Keane have retired their Jensen Interceptor with a suspect differential - you can almost hear the petrol companies weeping as they see a drop in their sales over the next couple of days.
The recent heavy rain caused a landslide on one of the morning's regularity sections - this led to the Clerk of the Course, Keith Baud, having to become a mobile traffic diversion for some time as cars were re-routed around the hazard.
A group lunch was held at the top of Mont Revard, the view is quite superb but most crews seemed more interested in getting stuck into the lunch that was laid on. The top navigators all claimed they were too busy plotting to enjoy their lunch but the others seemed to make up for it.
After lunch Kenny MacEwan had a lucky escape - admiring the view whilst they drove down the hill and no doubt in a relaxed post lunch mood they overshot a hairpin and slid off into the countryside, thankfully there was a couple of trees in the way and the car stopped before carrying on back to Aix via the cross country route. Sweep crew Tony Fowkes and Andy Inskip were just up the road and were soon in action pulling the car back onto the road - damage was minimal and the car started on first turn of the key once it was back on the road.
At the end of the afternoon crews had another attempt at the lakeside Test and most crews managed to improve on their morning times. As the Masters category came back into town the lead was held by Mickey Gabbett and Michael Jackson, just 24 seconds in front of the Deumel and Cave Porsche 356, Dolk and Berkhof had dropped back after being baulked on a regularity by a large truck - ironically it was a Dutch registered truck and not as originally suggested an Irish Truck! A further 11 seconds behind was the Morris 1800 of Peter and Ann Locks - a tremendous effort in what is basically a long distance car. The leaderboard goes all the way down into 15th place before we have penalties in double figures so there is plenty to go for. Roderic Bunn and David Roberst are holding that place - raising money for Leukaemia Research as they go.
In the Clubmans category "Gladys" has taken the lead from Team Krosenbrink, and Stephen and Joyce Hall are in third. Considering the weather conditions experienced to date Keith and Jason Piper are doing extremely well in the Aston Martin International. Leading novice crew is the Porsche 356A of Paul Dicker and Mike Booth, yet another crew to have taken advantage of a Willy Cave rallyschool.
After a quick meal at the Park Hotel the masters set off for a 4 hour night section in the mountains around Aix-les-Bains. Some of the crews lower down in the running order decided that a "table top" rally in the bar may be more enjoyable - so they have a few extra penalties but this would probably mean little change on the leader board. All the interest is in the top five places with just over a minute splitting the top places, only three crews managed to get around the section without any penalties at time controls, one of which was the 1800 of the Locks - how do they do it? This strong performance moved them up into second place behind the Porsche 356 of Deumel and Cave, Dolk and Berkhof retain third position. Gabbett and Jackson have dropped back to fourth. There is now only eight seconds between second and fourth place, so plenty to go for tomorrow.
The Mercedes of Porter and Francis is in fifth spot, Colin Francis unhappy that the current scoring system means that a minute lost on the road only results in a ten second penalty. This system aimed at reducing the influence that road timing has on what is principally a regularity rally. Paul Merryweather is working his way up the leader board and will be looking to improve on his current sixth place, David Gidden has brought his Lotus Cortina into seventh place - the light problem that plagued them on Leg 1 must have been cured. The next two places are also occupied by Lotus Cortinas with the Newman brothers just 23 seconds apart! Late entry Mike Corns has Dennis Greenslade on the maps and this new pairing are doing well to hold tenth spot.
Local difficulties mean that Leg 6 between Briançon and Col de Turini has been cancelled but Leg 5 tomorrow has enough competitive elements to ensure that none of the top crews can rest on their laurels.
Just before finishing at Briançon competitors have two attempts at a test on the ice racing circuit at Serre-Chevalier - No tyre studs or chains are allowed for our crews so smooth driving is likely to be the name of the game as the leaders fight it out.
Leg 5 -
Snow bound?
The planned route into Briançon had to be drastically amended as the main road to Briancon over the Col de Lautaret was closed after a serious avalanche. Some quick work by route designer Keith Baud meant that all the planned regularity sections were still included in the re route so the competition is intensifying as the rally approaches Monte Carlo.
The weather has taken a turn for the better and most of the day was spent under clear blue sky. The planned ice-circuit test had to be cancelled after four days of rain and temperatures above zero had turned the track surface to deep slush. The circuit owners are hoping for some serious frost as the prestigious Andros Trophy series races are due at the circuit in 10 days time.
The endurance aspect is coming into play now and more and more crews are suffering mechanical maladies, The Trident Ventura of Holt and Carter went missing for most of the day whilst they had a rear wheel bearing replaced. They vowed at the meal tonight that they'd get the Trident to Monte-Carlo even if they had to push it. Not quite sure what the Monegasque will think of the paint job but we understand that it is the original.
Steve Chivers and James Hodgetts are still going in the 997cc Anglia - the smallest engined vehicle in the event, today it was brake problems but again they have promised the car will be on the harbour side at Monte-Carlo.
The Triumph TR4 of Peter Opie and John Clark retired today, they had hoped to have the suspension repaired in Aix-les-Bains but this was not possible so they have now joined the rental-car class.
In the Masters Category Peter and Ann Locks have taken the Morris 1800 into the lead, Bert Dolk and Jan Berkhof are chasing hard, just 20 seconds behind, with Horst Deumel and Willy Cave in third. Mickey Gabbett and Michael Jackson have dropped to fourth. There is still less than 2 minutes covering the first six cars.
'Gladys' the Morris Minor of John Tooher and Ian Stewart still leads the Clubman section. In second is Keith and Jason Piper in their Aston Martin International - a remarkable effort in a pre-war car. The MGC GT of Porter and Jones remains in third with Stephen and Joyce Hall moving up to fourth, this car has been in the family for over 30 years.
We have had a couple of visitors to the event in recent days. While in Aix-les-Bains we saw some of the Liege-Rome-Liege organisers, and at Briançon we were greeted by our friend Knut Hallan. Knut is driving an Austin Healey 3000 on the forthcoming Monte-Carlo Historique, he was over to the UK in November with his flat-rad Morgan on the Rally of The Tests. Knut says that we should resurrect the Oslo start for the 2005 Winter Challenge. This would link in well with our plans for the 2004 Classic Marathon which will be finishing in Norway. Also in Briançon we saw Jocelyn Williams aka Penelope Pitstop who did her first CRA event last November in a Lotus Elite.
At long last the snow has started falling in Briançon and local estimates for overnight snowfall range from just a few cm to a metre! Still the cars are tucked away in an underground car park so they are not going to get buried but the shovels and chains may be needed on route tomorrow.
It's a relaxed day with a meal at the top of the Turini before a short finale takes the crews into the finish on the harbour side at Monte-Carlo.
Leg 7 -
Monte-Carlo or Bust
Crews went to bed in Briançon with snow gently falling so were unsure what to expect the next morning. As it turned out the fall was only slight but it was good to see a covering of the white stuff after the rain of the previous days. Not so happy were the Austin Healey 3000 crew of Mike Salter and Nicholas Smith. They skidded on some slush and ended the event with the Healey a little shorter than intended! It was soon in the back of the rescue transporter and Mike was on his way back to the UK by train. Nick, however, decided that he would like to continue to Monte-Carlo but as most of the cars had left by this point he clambered into the back of the Ford Anglia driven by Steve Chivers and James Hodgetts. The little Anglia is only 997cc so struggles at the best of times but with three good size gents on board, and spares, and luggage, progress up the hills was painfully slow. It wasn't much better going downhill as the brakes struggled to cope.
It was a relaxed run to the dinner halt at Col de Turini but many crews stuck with the original route and visited the bars and cafes on the route as originally planned, having an enjoyable time on the way.
There was a good atmosphere at the top of the Turini as crews speculated where the final section of route would be run. They had always known that the final section was to be a secret so had not had the chance to source additional maps etc. The less experienced crews tend in these situations to manage better as they are not used to sourcing alternative mapping.
Once the handout was given a lot of the worries went away when the crews found out that the competitive section was a 'tulip' route. Starting over the border in Italy it was a regularity section with two timing points. Despite the tulips many crews managed to go wrong and only 4 crews were without penalty at the first timing point - the average speed was less only 38kph which gives a clue to the type of road being used. Thhe second part of the section was slightly easier and most crews managed to get something back.
From the end of the regularity it was a run back to Monte-Carlo where the finish banner welcomed crews to our favourite finishing position on the harbour side. The nearby café had stayed open for us and there was a good crowd to welcome the cars in.
Peter and Ann Locks are confirmed as the Winter Challenge winners in the Morris 1800. This is Peter's first ever event win and we think possibly only the second ever International Rally win for the 1800 Landcrab but I am sure somebody will let us know if this is wrong.
Second was the ever-reliable Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint of Bert Dolk and Jan Berkhof. In third, Horst Deumel and Willy Cave showed that the Porsche 356 is still a very competitive car. Mickey Gabbett and Michael Jackson proved that there is still life in the old Peugeot 404 by achieving fourth place. Nicky Porter brought the big Mercedes-Benz 220SEb into fifth place. Less than two minute separated first to sixth place. Seventh, eighth and ninth were filled by Ford Lotus Cortina's with the Newman brothers finishing just twelve seconds apart. The top ten was completed with Mike Corns and Dennis Greenslade in the Volvo PV544.
In the Clubmans section John Tooher and Ian Stewart brought their Morris Minor into first place with a lead of nearly nine minutes. In second was Keith and Jason Piper in the 1932 Aston Martin International. Just over a minute behind the oldest cars was the newest car - the Lotus Elan of Stephen and Joyce Hall taking third place.
Top Novice award goes to the Porsche 356A of Paul Dicker and Mike Booth, the car has done many events before in the hands of a previous owner and it is rumoured that they found a copy of How to Win a Road Rally in the glovebox - we still have copies for sale which may be a slightly cheaper way of getting a copy.
It was a tough event but very few cars failed to finish which is a great testament to the efforts of the Organisers service crew of Tony Fowkes and Andy Inskip. Andy is to receive a special award tonight for his remarkable efforts.
