Rally Reflections

A few days have passed now since the end of the Rally in the great City of Cape Town, and what a rally it was. The 4 hectic weeks seemed to go by in a blur so I was pleased with myself that I took the time to keep up with my blog - at least as much as I could due to work on the car and technical difficulties with the Blackberry.

I suspect others are the same but I'm taking some time to recover, lots of dozing and I'm still dreaming of the rally - mostly of breaking down near the end. After 2 days of sightseeing in Cape Town and sending the car safely home in its container back to the UK, it was back to reality. The rally seemed to create a cocooned little world for all those taking part; people could leave their normal lives behind them for a time. When families arrived in Cape Town, people changed; back to their home norm I suppose. As I found when I returned, it is difficult to explain to family and friends, what it was like and the experiences we had all shared. On the day after I returned to the UK, I had to travel up to London in the commuter slog to the City in freezing conditions. Africa seemed like a world away yet only a few days before, we had been bashing through Namibia and South Africa in 40 degrees heat.

Time to add a few postscript reflections to my blog on the 4 weeks to end Jan 2012.

Firstly, on our choice of car and how it stood up. Our (non-turbo) Subaru Impreza 2.0R was, I think a good choice. It is well-built from the factory with all lines inside the shell which is always an advantage. It has a rally heritage and strengthening parts such as mounts are readily available. I had no idea how much punishment it would have to take and neither had Gawaine and Jason at Langworth Motorsport in Lincoln who did most of the prep work. In retrospect, we should have put extra beefing up on the rear turrets (though the damage was caused by putting on longer but too soft springs in Nairobi). The guys did a good job though on a tight budget and when we lost some of our guards (like the wheel arch liners on a heavy dip in the final days), we saw that extra extra guarding had been placed over vulnerable areas like the underside of the fuse box.

The simple monoshock Bilstein dampers lasted well to the end and we were one of only a few cars that finished on mostly original dampers. We only changed one rear insert in Nairobi due it going slightly soft but it was still fine as a spare.  The fronts remained on the car for the whole rally, though the left one more of less gave up the ghost on the final day, causing us to slide off on the penultimate section (that's my excuse anyway).  As we found out from African Rally Championship contender Ashish Patel in Zambia, the exact same dampers were recommended to him by Prodrive for his Subaru as simple and effective for African conditions.

I would probably add a limited slip diff to the rear to give some more traction on rough tracks and would look to improve the brakes which were standard - 2 pot fronts and single pot rear. With the weight we were carrying, it was a lot to ask of them and pad wear was heavy - even with competition pads. They never completely gave up the ghost though and the Mintex pads did their job. I would also take out the air con radiator to give maximum airflow over the main radiator. I'm sure this was causing our cooling problems in the heat and altitude as the air con radiator became blocked with mud and insects. When we took it out in the last week (with the help of Simon from car 28), we were able to push hard in the hills without problems (just as it hit 42 degrees).

When we finished the final section on the last day, the car really wasn't capable of driving another  competitive mile - impeccable timing but a close run thing. Our front brake pads were down to the metal (we had used all our spares), a rear wheel bearing was about to give up the ghost and one front damper had gone with the other was well on its way out. Our tyres were also just about shot (but 4000 miles is not bad for a set of gravel tyres) and the whole car creaked, groaned and rattled due to play in suspension bushes and top mounts. To cap it all, our fuel gauge started to play up. We had put 30 litres in to raise it to 3/4 for the final morning sections and run to fuel. We later discovered it had just over a quarter of a tank in it as it ran out 50km after the last competitive section.  Perhaps that made the difference as we were running a lot lighter than we thought. The Land Rover of Nick and David (many thanks to them) towed us the few miles to the nearest fuel (interesting doing a twisty downhill road section without any power steering or working brakes) and we were up and running again - limping to Cape Town.

A word on tyres. I made a lot of the Continental Vanco 6 tyres we used in Europe and to Nairobi in my earlier blogs. They were well suited to most conditions as a compromise and seemed impervious to any puncture in the tread pattern, even when negotiating the unreal rocky Marsabit road. We put commercial sealant in them, but there was no evidence that any puncture had been sealed. The only puncture we had was in the sidewall and that was their vulnerability when pushing hard and with the car sliding more. I think we made the right decision in changing to Africa spec Dunlop gravel tyres in Nairobi and we wouldn't have won had we not done that. The sidewalls of the Dunlops were extra-reinforced to the extent that tyre fitting machines struggled to get them on/off. It allowed us to push hard at the end without fear of punctures. Oddly though, they seemed more vulnerable to tread pattern damage and we had a couple of slow punctures that were fortunately easily repaired overnight.

Looking at the event itself and the organisation, I was told before the event that Philip Young's rallies were a bit different to those we had done in the past like London-Sydney. Philip's vision is to run events more like they used to run in the 60's and 70's - with World Cup competitive sections on open roads (though usually isolated and little used).  The timing of the competitive sections is designed to maintain competition but not compromise safety and this is always a difficult balance for the organisers.  Set slack target times and the competition will be restricted as crews will clean the sections. Set them too tight and it can develop into a road race. Overall, I think they found the right balance and most crews kept a bit in reserve. The pace in the final few days did pick up as we fought for the lead with Andy (and I heard that the South African officials were slightly concerned at the pace) but there were no local accidents and I didn't feel unsafe at the pace we drove (and Joost had cleared most of the locals away by the time we arrived). Some application of penalties was a little difficult to understand at times relative to the published rules but the idea was to keep everyone involved and competing and not discourage them by 2 hour penalties for getting stuck in Greece or Egypt.  Still the penalties on occasion left little advantage to those who had pushed their cars hard through rough sections and sustained damage rather than not bothering and taking the penalties so I think they were too generous at times.

Philip himself is an enigmatic and slightly eccentric character who was determined to see this rally through after the cancellation the year before. It was a mammoth exercise in financial planning, perseverance and organisation to see it through and he deserves great credit. As he said himself though at the prize giving (and all the more reason to do the rally), this could be the last such long distance international event through Africa. The financial commitment and planning is very risky with so much regional political instability. The passage through Egypt for instance would be unlikely to happen now - just a few weeks later due to further troubles.

What were the most interesting countries to pass through? All had something different to offer but Ethiopia and Namibia stood out for me. The support from the Ethiopian public on the rally route was unbelievable - thousands lined the roads several deep in all towns and villages over 3 days from one end of the country to the other to cheer us through. Policemen and women manned each junctions and snapped to salute when each car passed. I'd never seen anything like it and neither had any of the other crews. The country itself was also beautiful and in most places green and lush. They were obviously grateful for the rains this year.

Namibia was a contrast, massive by European standards yet with a population of only 2m. It is more arid  yet beautiful in its own way but is criss-crossed with wide gravel roads (think 4-lane highway wide) which made for some great driving. We did a 600km day (one of the most challenging of the rally) - all on gravel roads and maintaining a relentless pace to stay on time.

South Africa also deserves a mention. Cape Town had all the amenities we needed to end such an exhausting marathon event and the twisty competitive sections for the last 2 days were fantastic - better still that they were suited to our car.

Of course we saw some heartbreaking poverty on our travels. Gerard the event photographer took some great photos of people en route. Some obviously had little or nothing and it is easy to see how a shortage of water for a time can have such a calamitous effect on daily lives so quickly. Most had little or nothing in reserve as far as I could see in some of the outlying rural areas we passed through. We did see lots of schools and happy school children but we also saw lots of school-age children begging and selling fruit for pennies by the side of the road. The sight of a young boy of 5 or 6 leading his very elderly blind and disabled grandfather or great grandfather round those passing through the Kenya/Tanzania border begging for a few pennies was deeply saddening. Emaciated, dressed in rags and looking ill they made a truly pathetic sight. What life chances does that small boy have, attached to his elderly relative and begging in the street? Of course, I gave them something as did others and a cynic might say they were just very good beggars but I don't think so. We were just passing through on the trip of a lifetime. Those we passed are there every day eking out a living as best they can.  In some areas we passed through, life expectancy is under 40. It made raising funds for African Revival which is addressing just these issues by bringing schools to poor rural areas to encourage self-help, all the more poignant. Without knowing that we were making just a little contribution (and hopefully difference) to such problems, it would have been much harder to witness.

Now, the crews on the event. What a mixed bunch. From wealthy businessmen to keen and talented enthusiasts on the tightest of budgets with us somewhere in the middle. All sharing a few things in common; a sense of adventure, a love of driving cars fast and a keen competitive spirit which had all crews fighting hard for positions wherever they were in the placings. This is what drew the crews together and all helped others out if they could. A genuine cameradie developed across all teams who shared the experience of the driving, the conditions, the hotels (some great and some not so) and mucking in to help each other out if they could.

The crews of the classic cars had the hardest job as their cars required the most regular work. Some looked exhausted well before Cape Town. We only had one late night and that was enough for us. Some had late nights repairing and rebuilding for several nights running. When the Escort of Ben and Mike broke a stub axle, it took them 2 days to fabricate a new one locally to get them back on the road. They then had to drive 2 days to catch up the rally down the notorious Marsabit road, some of it at night on dangerous roads.

There were 3 classic Datsuns on the event - 2, 240Zs and an Aussie P510. Grant Tromans in one of the 240Z's was relatively new to classic rallying being an accomplished circuit racer. He was accompanied by Simon, his mechanic and navigator who kept the car together with his mobile workshop and spares. In fact Simon kept several cars going at different times and helped us along the way too for which we were very grateful. Grant also gave us some of his valuable advice on matters such as our cooling problems and was always right so I owe him a beer too. I think they both learnt a lot about an event like this and were a pleasure to do the event with.

The other 240Z was crewed by Alex and David who just kept going after their car was seriously damaged in an accident in Greece. They flew it to Jeddah to catch up and had problem after problem. We saw them on several occasions having work done on the car in several countries. On one notable occasion, we shared the services of a roadside welding shop on the Kenyan border with Tanzania when we were getting our strut turrets welded up and they seemed to be getting most of their car welded. They were always good company and have raised an immense amount for charity. The target for the car doing events is £1m and they will keep doing events until they achieve it - though I suspect they might need a new body shell to do that after this event. An absolutely brilliant effort for them to reach Cape Town and they just would not be discouraged.

The Aussie P510 of Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy was a quick car well driven. But they had accepted penalties at the start for non-period suspension and had to run down the field (seeding being done on placings rather than speed). They were therefore disadvantaged by being behind slower cars.  Had they been higher up the seeding as they should have been, they would have been contenders as their car ran faultlessly. They backed off at the end to make Cape Town such were their penalties.

The classic Peugeot guys were the heroes of car repair on the event. Most of them had some of our 2-pack epoxy filler at various times holding together some part of their cars. Yet they all reached Cape Town and looked great all lined up as a team. Some of their crews looked fit to drop. Similarly Owain and Peter in their Mercedes suffered a series of problems in what could have been a winning car had they had more time for testing to iron our potential problems.

The lesson for me from this (similarly in the last London-Sydney event incidentally) is that modern cars are built much better now than cars were built 30 years ago, they are stronger and more reliable.  We did nothing to ours except bolt on Bilstein dampers, Eibac springs and underguarding. Engine, ecu and drive train were totally standard as were the basic suspension layout and brakes. Admittedly, if we had had an electrical problem with all the Canbus electronic complexity of a modern car, we would have been in serious trouble but we had no such problem. It ran as sweet as a nut throughout. Perhaps it's time for rally organisers to run an event for ordinary modern cars in the same spirit of the 1970's - such as N3 2 litre fwd production class. After all, the World Cup rallies of the 1970's didn't attract cars from the 1940s, they were a rugged test for modern cars of that era. Perhaps the problem is that it might not be much of an endurance test. Most modern cars would last the course and the pace may be too fast. But it might well get manufacturers interested again in long distance rallying rather than WRC high speed sprints in multi-million pound hand-built cars that rightly appear as different from production cars to the public as a Bugatti Veyron to a Ford Fiesta.

The modern 4x4 crews had an easier time. Whilst obviously not rally cars in the usual sense, their cars were built for rough terrain and being diesel turbos, chipped for extra grunt and with rally-raid suspension, were a good 'low maintenance' choice for an event like this which was very rough in parts. Whilst heavy, for hillclimbs and at altitude, they had an advantage relative to the asthmatic low-slung non-turbo petrol cars. Andy Actman in particular drove his hard and well consistently throughout the event and could easily have won had the final sections been better suited to his car. The steady and experienced hand of Andy Elcomb as his navigator was also a great benefit.

Rod (Tell Laura I Love her) Taylor and Ian Morgan also had a good run in their Toyota until they rolled it towards the end. They were back up and running in a few hours and said their car ran better afterwards. Stuart and Colin in the no 19 Nissan (and our team mates along with Andy), were also steady performers. Admittedly, they could have gone faster had Stuart not spent so much time driving with one hand whilst filming with the other but they got to Cape Town in good order all the same.

Owen Turner in his MG was the best driver (possibly the most naturally gifted driver on the event) and chief mechanic for the MG team which kept him busy for most of the time. The smaller fwd MGs were not best suited to some parts of the event (soft sand in Egypt or the moonscape of northern Kenya) but they just kept going changing parts as they went. Jane and Jill in the Maestro (both highly experienced) also had some trials to put up with but were very quick when the car and conditions allowed. If any car had vulnerabilities, this event found them out and it only took a couple of problems to push a car several places down the order and make it difficult to recover. By the end of the event only Andy in his Toyota and our car had not had any major problems or penalties and that made all the difference.

A special mention for Tim and Dominic in their 1400 MG - not the most obvious choice of car for the conditions we experienced and they had their share of suspension and other problems. But, they just kept on going to reach Cape Town.

I have referred in my earlier blogs to the beautiful Tuthill 911 of Joost and Jacques - 'the professionals'. They even had Frances Tuthill himself along to look after the car; himself a real gentleman of rallying and experienced competitor in his own right.  They were clearly the fastest crew in the event in the 911 but lost a lot of time in the lanes of Kent on the first night and were further penalised for non-period suspension which made it impossible for them to catch up unless the leaders had problems. Still, to hear Joost flying off the line like a rocket every day and attacking the competitive sections was a real pleasure. They were great sportsmen too, helping us without question with a puncture to ensure we didn't lose any time. Their team also carried their 'rations' and many a night we would be welcomed into the car park with a gin and tonic and nibbles after a hard day. After they saw how much gear we were carrying, they even offered to carry our sand spade which they did for the last 10 days. I'm sure they found the event frustrating and not quite what they expected but the event was much better with them in it. I can also thank them heartily for the champagne we sprayed at the end.

Then I have to mention Penny, the 1923 Vauxhall 23/60 vintage car, piloted by father and son Max and James.  Although obviously not designed for speed Penny was built for the unmade roads of the 1920s and was unfazed by most of the road conditions thrown at it. We drove alongside them on the road to Marsabit and Max and James were quite happy at the same speed as us taking full advantage of their longer suspension travel in their open-air cockpit. They had planned to drive Penny back up the route to visit some of the places we had zoomed past but a broken diff in the Cape Town Hotel car park (of all places after nearly 10k miles) put paid to that for now. The car attracted attention wherever it went and even by the police in South Africa after a late night jaunt with a few on board threatened to put James in a cell for the night.

I think I said early on that this was an event for navigators and Bob was one of the best on the event if not the best. Even though I had no road rally experience for Kent, Bob more than made up for it. As shown with other crews, losing a lot of time in Kent effectively put them out of the running. We lost 3 minutes only when stuck behind slower traffic but it still put us up with the front runners which meant we were not affected by later incidents of getting stuck in mud or sand behind others. Bob is a key reason we did so well on the event. We were mostly in the right place at the right time when it counted.

So the end of an amazing event of excitement and adventure which we were privileged enough to win by a whisker. What a great experience and a great bunch of people to meet. It will take quite some time to re-acclimatise to ordinary life again and then sort out what I can do with a very bruised standard 2 litre Subaru Impreza. Maybe I'll put it back onto ebay as 2 careful owners and less than 30k miles....

S