1st International RallySprint

After various discussions about past rallying experience and future plans, it was a straightforward decisions for me to agree to co-drive for Neil Cloughley - slightly less easy was which event should be our first. The Tour of Cornwall was our first choice as I'd done it last year and Neil had been there the pervious one. Unfortunately, Neil's business commitments precluded a visit to the Wet Country that weekend.

The next possibility was Millbrook (one of my favourites both as a navigator and as a marshal). However, this time I couldn't make it due to a 3-day party at a remote, semi-derelict farmhouse in deepest, darkest Hafren - ain't life a bitch!

"The Motoring News fairy waved her magic wand..."

At this rate, we were beginning to wonder if we would ever find a suitable event. But just then the Motoring News fairy waved her magic wand and, hey presto, an advert appeared offering free entries for British crews on the Monteburg RallySprint near Ypres in Belgium.

For those who've not heard of it before, the event is run over a weekend using just one stage. This comprises most of the infamous "Kemmel" stage from the Ypres International Rally which is run by the same organising club at the end of June.

Having done Ypres itself last year, after several years of only spectating or servicing for others, I already knew what the roads would be like and also had a pretty good idea of the atmosphere generated by such an event.

However, this was unfamiliar ground for Neil, it being his first foreign rally, his first time out with me alongside and the first rally, (apart from one-and-a-bit laps at Goodwood last year) for his ex-circuit racing Ford Fiesta 1600.

It wasn't too daunting, though. After all, when event organisers offer you Free Entry with Third Party Insurance (normally £140) plus Free Service Space, Free Road Book and even Free Accommodation for the driver and co-driver in small hotels or farmhouses, it seems rude not to accept their invitation!

We weren't the only ones to take up their generous offer either. Some 40 to 50 British crews made the trip over - nearly double the number originally anticipated. This is hardly surprising though, given that our only major expense was Le Shuttle there and back, a tank of petrol for the two vehicle/service barge plus a jerry can or two for the rally car and the usual?! food and drink liberally consumed when having a weekend away. We also decided to book our own hotel accommodation (at only £15 per room) on the expectation that our sponsors might be joining us.

Although the event lasts for two days, it is split into 4 categories - a regional event (the equivalent of a National B rally for local Belgian crews) which ran on the Saturday only, and the Sunday event comprising National, International and Historic categories.

"The National B cars wouldn't have disgraced themselves on a World Championship round..."

We arrived for signing-on and scrutineering on the Saturday afternoon whilst the regional event was in full swing all around us. I must admit that we double-checked what day it was when we saw the spec of some of the regional competitors' cars - local crews they may have been but the cars wouldn't have disgraced themselves on a World Championship round with more Imprezas, Lancers and Escort Cosworths than you can shake a stick at!

One thing well worth bearing in mind when it comes to Belgian/European organisers is that they insist you stick to their rules. This is not a problem so long as they share these rules with the competitors! One example is signing-on. You are only given a 10-minute window during which you must sign-on and present competition licences (National A or International are acceptable) and Driving licences for both co-driver and driver. However, they failed to mention they also require passport photos for an I.D. card to be affixed to the side window! Luckily they didn't need the photos until after we had shown our licences so after suffering the usual sniggers at our embarrassing piccies from the signing-on crew, we then had them displayed on the side or the car for everyone else to laugh at and, contrary to popular conjecture, I have never been part of Spandau Ballet!

"...the scrutineers attempted to put us into Group N"

Scrutineering proved to be equally interesting. Despite entering a highly-modified 1598cc unhomologated Ford Fiesta into Group B up to 1600, the scrutineers attempted to put us into Group N! When I suggested that perspex windows were never showroom spec, even by Ford's standards, they decided on Group A! Either way, I could see us getting protested and excluded in the event of a good result. They finally settled on Group R - for Belgian rally cars. And Asterix the Gaul reckoned the Romans were crazy!

"The course is just over 9km long and starts up Monteburg"

With the formalities out of the way, there was one hour of slow speed recce for pace-note checking (thank you to the Phillipsons for faxing me a copy of their notes beforehand). The course is just over 9km long and starts with a blast up Monteburg hill via some fast open curves to a split left at the top to a very narrow winding lane back down the hill. This leads to a flat out, 1km straight and a 90 right at the end with a dodgy bump right on the braking point. The rest of the course is a combination of single track country lanes with car hungry ditches either side and offset crossroads with trick jumps which demolish the unwary! The 90 left, 90 right merge is right by the start line and the hospitality marquee. With all this, a burger van and an ice cream stall a mere 250 metres from the service area, it made spectating a real pleasure for the thousands watching and the service crews alike. The stage continued back up the Monteburg curves again to the split right at the top and the Flying Finish beyond.

The morning session gave everyone 2 timed practice runs and then there were 3 competitive runs in the afternoon with the fastest of the three to count. Our times improved each time as we got used to both the car and the course, starting with a 6 min 42 sec and a 6:25 in the morning. Our afternoon times were 6:10.03, 6:06.91 and finally 6:03.02, the timed runs using a sprint type beam to allow for delayed starts due to congestion at the merge.

The final run time was enough to give us 1st in class, 28th in Group R and 49th overall. Had we been in the Group B 1600cc class we would have been 2nd in class - an excellent result on Neil's first foreign event.

"The awards ceremony was a real pot-hunter's fantasy"

The awards presentation took place in the hospitality marquee by the start line with a video of the day's action playing behind a table laden with trophies - a real pot-hunter's fantasy! The whole event was a British walk-over really with the top 3 and 17 of the top 20 crews coming from the UK. In total 41 British crews finished the International Event and 18 the Historic section. Each year the event's popularity grows as more and more of us join the annual invasion of non-homologated 6R4's, Darrians, Sunbeams and Escorts, not only from the South but also from Wales and Yorkshire, on one of the only foreign adventures they're allowed these days. If this sounds like fun to you, I'd recommend keeping the middle of May free next year and watch out for any similar deals on offer to British crews - it's well worth it. Just ask our hardworking/spectating/sunbathing service crew of Helen, Suzy, Trevor and Celia!