|
I started in 1965, as a navigator on
road rallies,with various drivers in all sorts of cars.
I thought I could do better than some of the lunatics I sat with!
So in 1969 I decided to have a go in my road car MBK 157, a Ford Prefect 100E, 1949 vintage! as it only had an 1172cc. side
valve engine and a 3 speed 'box, it was awfully slow!
A bit more power was needed, so in 1970 I bought XJ 1367,
a Sunbeam Imp Sport and prepared it myself.I did quite well with it, although it had a tendency to understeer in the wet!
After the Imp came the first of the Mini Coopers 'BB0 3B' a red 'S', crashed this one heavily into a bridge in mid-Wales.
Another Mini followed, sold this one, and in 1972 bought XBO 818K the black Escort Twin-Cam,all the bell's and whistles, superb
car,very forgiving, taught me how to drive really, as you could do silly things with this car and get away with it!
Won
my first rally in this car.
Another Twin-Cam followed,which had been built by a Boreham mechanic who built the 'works'
cars, but some Bast***, stole it!
Gave up for a couple of years,and started again in 1976 with ODW 723R the Peugeot
104ZS, this was a works supported car, run by the local dealership.Had a lot of success with this car in the British Championship.
Stopped Rallying again for a year or two.
Next, in 1984 came OUT 841R, 'Big Rumbly' the TR7V8, awsome power, handled
like a three legged donkey, but the best fun you can have, with your clothes on!?! It expired in 1986 after a very fraught
Welsh Rally, when the axle tried to part company with the rest of the car! Got passed by a gaggle of Lada's on one stage,
only to pass them all back on the next stage after tying the axle back on with a length of rope!!!
For 1987 the mechanical
bits from the TR8 were built into GBW 222S, the Rover SD1, great car handled like an Escort, very chuckable, did well with
this car.
In 1988 I decided to have a bash at the European Rally Championship as there were some great deals to be
had, so I bought VPK 639Y the Talbot Samba that had been used the previous year to win the British Championship.
Nice
little car , Won our Group and came second in Class in the Championship.We even beat Carlos Sainz on one of the stages on
the Catalunya Rally!
Cars were starting to get a bit expensive, so in 1989 I went back to co-driving.
I teamed up
with Brian Davies a 65 year old postman from Swansea who had built 'TINA' from scratch, 730 EBX was the quickest, best handling
MK1 Cortina ever built, we embarrased many a Cosworth driver in the lanes of Ireland and over the Epynt range!
Had a 'BIG'
accident on Otterburn in 'TINA' and it took Brian over a year to re-build her.
In 1997 I was invited to sit with
Guy Woodcock who is from North Wales in F59 DWR his Astra G.T.E. had a lot of success with the Astra in the Safety Devices
Championships of 1998 & 1999.
For 2000 Guy bought M69 SOL an ex-works RS2000 KIt Car. This car is the full monty,245
bhp twin-cam Zetec motor, 6 speed X-trac sequencial gearbox, full throttle gearshift, 18inch wheels, 365mm discs, lightweight
panels etc,etc.
2000 and 2001 competed with Guy and won the National Tarmacadam
Championship F2 title, with a couple of first overall placings, and finished 3rd O/A in the championship.
In 2002, I was lured back into the co-drivers seat, in
Brian Davies's Toyota Corolla, as he has had a bit of bad luck lately and needed a bit of confidence rebuilding.
The first event we tackled together was the Mewla Rally on Epynt,
a start no. of 55 saw us set 26th best time on stage 1!!!---- not bad after a 4 year break, it was as if I had never been
away, the old boy has still
got it!!!!
For 2003 & 2004,we have been selective in the rallies
we have done,although not chasing a championship,we managed to pick
up a few trophies along the way!
2005, was a successfull year, with 8 finishes from 8 starts, we
won the Rallysport Challenge of Epynt, and we were 3rd in the O/A standings, and won our Class.
2006, not the best of luck this year, only finished 4 rallies,
due to teething,
problems with the new engine management system.
2007, another good year, again we finished 8 out of 8 rallies entered,4
top ten finishes.
2008, the first event, The Tour of Epynt, was a huge disaster as
we had a Major off on a big jump! The rest of the season was business as usual, we finished every rally we started.
2009, I was having a year off, but Guy asked me to co-drive for
him,in his Historic RS2000 on the Harry Flatters Rally on Epynt, as his regular co-driver was on holiday.
Needless to say I jumped at the chance,thoroughly enjoyed my first
taste of Historic Rallying,
7th O/A and 1st in Class.
Just LOVED it, and would love to do more.
|
