2002 ALAN ROGERS' HISTORIC ROAD RALLY

What a difference 5 months makes. Last November I competed in the Alan Rogers' rally with Dave Hughes. I had an awful event as his navigator. An incorrect test at Canada Farm in the morning was followed by an afternoon when I seemed unable to perform basic navigation tasks. As a result, Dave did almost all of the regularity timing whilst I grappled clumsily with the navigation. A wrong departure at an ITC sealed a very poor performance. Thankfully Dave took all of this in his usual cheerful way, and we are continuing rallying together this year in the Premier Challenge.

And so to the 2002 event. This year I am competing with my wife Gill in the Classic Challenge, but after my 2001 experience on the Alan Rogers', I was not feeling overly optimistic. The event format this year was similar to previous events, with 5 tests and 4 regularities to keep both crew members occupied.

The 2 morning regularities were straightforward and pre-plotted out of a comprehensive Roadbook. We received this 1-hour before our start time, and when a long link section took us from Test 1 to Test 2, there was no problem in getting both regularities plotted.

Amazingly we almost achieved another wrong test at Canada farm. I seem jinxed with this test, and although I wrong called part of the test, Gill sensibly ignored me as she had memorised the correct test route. I am very fortunate in that Gill has 2 skills that are vital in this type of rallying:

• The ability to memorise test routes
• The ability to drive at accurate regularity speeds with little checking from me. This is particularly useful during the tougher plot and bash regularities.

Both of these skills were to be fully tested on this event.

The extremely convivial organising team provided their usual first class lunch, this year in Halstead Village Hall. This relaxed enjoyable respite was to disguise what proved to be a very eventful afternoon. 2 long regularities provided 16 intermediate timing points – plenty of opportunity for penalties to be minimised (or maximised!). The first of the afternoon regularities was markedly more difficult than the morning pair, and a sign of what was to come. The tricky junction in GS 5111 did not catch out as many crews as I had expected. After that, the navigation got tougher with a headless or tailless tulip section that required plenty of concentration. We started overtaking parked-up rally cars at this point, and I began thinking that things may be going well.

My new edition maps had plenty of overprinting to confuse my colour blind eyes, so the junction in GS4199 had my glasses perched on top of my head with my nose about 2" from the map! Not a pretty sight, and one that my numerous other drivers will know often heralds disaster looming! We then pulled into the lay-by to start Regularity 4. We had 6 minutes to wait but there were no other cars waiting! Mild panic set in, and I wondered whether I had gone wrong during the previous regularity. Checking our regularity times seemed to show that we were OK with only 2 times greater than 10 seconds from 8 intermediate timing points.

I was expecting a tough final regularity, so was not disappointed. The plot and bash handout contained 5 types of navigation. The 3^rd sector comprised of 10 eight-figure map references defining a barred route. The instructions stated that a 25-metre radius around these points should be avoided. For some reason this caused enormous problems for some of the Masters and Experts (who had a different handout than the Novices). Perhaps it was due to it being late in the event, or was simply an accumulation of pressure throughout the day. Surely by stating "25 metre radius" most navigators would realise that some precision would be required?

It was departing SH 172 S in GS 5988 that caused me most of a problem. I had been pondering this for miles before we actually got to the spot (with glasses on top of head – of course). My new edition map had a cycle route very inconveniently positioned across the junction. When I got home and looked at the previous edition map, it all seemed much clearer. Anyway, the marshal positioned the long way around the unmarked triangle was extremely friendly (as they all were on the event), and we slowly slipped into his control with revving engine and slipping clutch on the steep uphill approach. Apart from finding a code board after the final ITC, the rally was now over.

Finishing 1^st overall was a first for both Gill and myself - and what a strange feeling. Thank you to our friendly rivals who took the time to personally congratulate us at the finish (you know who you are). This is what makes historic such an enjoyable pastime.

I must say a special thank you to Cliff, Bob, Merv and all the crew in Dorset who made this a special rally for Gill and I.

To find out more about the Ross training days, contact Andy Gibson and book a place.

Richard Dix