I had a phone call from the engine builder on Sunday telling me my Engine was ready. He was busy for the next few days, so arrangements were made to collect it today. Luckily for me I managed to finish work early, so I made the trip to Wickford to collect it. 
Apparently the engine was in pretty good condition. The pistons were new, as were the big end bearings and the main bearings. However, it looked like whoever had put the engine together originally hadn't honed the bores in the cylinder block which would apparently lead to 'blow back' and cause excessive pressure inside the crank case. The cylinder head gasket was suspect as well. 

So, each cylinder had been given a good hone and the engine was reassembled with new piston rings and a new timing chain. It had also been given a real good clean and a nice paint up as well, so it looked really smart. The engine was then loaded into my car and taken home ready to install into my Green Cortina. This wont be for a while yet though as I want to get the steering box refurbished and it will be lot easier to refit the steering box while the car has no engine in place. 

 Whilst removing the steering box from the Green Cortina I discovered another part that needed replacing. (It just keeps on giving this car!) Luckily, a quick scan on ebay found the part that I needed and it was also being sold by my Friend Keith. After a quick phone call, I found out that Keith was going to the Battlesbridge autojumble and would bring it over for me and meet me over there. The part in question is a foam gasket that fits under the column shield and as you can see below, mine was quite knackered! 

I was at Battlesbridge quite early and while waiting for Keith to arrive I met up with Gavin for a couple of cups of coffee. Upon looking around the stalls I also found a couple of nice metal plaques for my garage wall. 
To be honest, the autojumble wasn't as big as usual and I had seen all I needed to by about 12pm, so I made tracks as I had other things to do. it was still quite a nice morning and good to get out. 

 Since owning the Green Cortina I've always felt that the steering had a lot of play in it. I'd always put it down to the fact that it was due to it having a steering box, rather than rack and pinion steering which is far more accurate.

However when you compare it to driving the Zetec Cortina the two cars are worlds apart. The Zetec steering feels nice and tight while the Green car resembles sailing a boat in force nine gales. 

While the engine is out of the Green car I felt that now would be the best time to remove the steering box and get it refurbished. Having no engine in the car gives you a lot more room to work. So after speaking to a few Cortina friends for advice and reading the workshop several times, I decided to bite the bullet and get stuck in. In situations like this, I always think back to what one of my ex-girlfriends, Amanda, said to me, which was: 'Sometimes, the THOUGHT of doing something is worse than the actual doing it'. 

So with this ringing in my ears I made a start. I'd had to work as well today, but started very early so that I could have a good few hours in the afternoon to get the job done. (I had to deliver one car to Margate in Kent, then come back and deliver another car to Maldon in Essex. I started at 5am and was finished by 12pm. 

Anyway, I digress, so I drank my cup of coffee while staring into my empty engine bay while trying to figure out how the hell the steering box (and column-they cant be disconnected whilst in the car) would be able to exit the car from underneath. (That's what the workshop manual had said!)

The first job was to remove the steering wheel, then the indicator and headlight arm and then the column shroud. I then found two crosshead screws that had to be removed to relieve grip on the column. Next was to remove the parcel shelf so that I could remove another bolt that holds the column to the pedal box. The last to do inside the car was undo the metal plate that the column goes through via the firewall. This also has a foam gasket which I knew was completely knackered, but luckily my friend Keith has one for sale and will be bringing it to the Battlesbridge autojumble for me to collect. 

Work then moved to inside the engine bay where I had to disconnect the pitman arm on the steering box from the steering link. This caused no problems and I was now at the stage where the car had to be jacked up and placed on axle stands to provide enough room to manoeuvre the steering box out from underneath. 

I also found out at this point that it's easier to remove the offside front wheel to gain access to the three bolts that secure the steering box to the chassis rail. (The workshop manual didn't mention that!) Once I'd removed the three bolts the steering box was free, but I still couldn't find enough room from underneath to remove it. I then decided to disconnect the track rod from the drop arm and this then gave me enough room to 'manoeuvre' the steering box out of the car. (The workshop manual never mentioned that either!) 

So the job that I had been dreading for months and months was now complete. It took just under two hours. It will now be taken to a steering box specialist in West Thurrock in Essex when time permits. I'm not sure I would have fancied doing it with the engine in place though, so I definitely wont be refitting the engine until the steering box is refurbished and back in the car! 😊

Having not been able to make the local 12 Cars recently, Devizes had moved the date of one of their events and it fitted with our availability. We agreed for this event that Gavin would drive Kermit and I would navigate, as it feels a long time since I read a map and the Gremlin Historic is coming up.

I wasn’t feeling great on the day of the rally and spent the afternoon sleeping (I work longer Monday to Thursday so I have Friday afternoons off), and only decided I would give it a go about 20 minutes before we were due to leave, with the viewpoint that it was better to regret trying rather than regretting not giving it a go. It was just over an hour to the start so I dozed a bit and took it easy before the rally started.

We were car 4 and having picked up an amendment for a link section, it wasn’t too long before we started. We were given the first handout as we left the first control and this showed it would take us to TC3 (Time Control 3). The handout said “all roads” (meaning it could use white roads on the map) and I realised we were off to Salisbury Plain. There was only 15 minutes OTL (Over Time Limit) for the first two controls so I knew I needed to plot quickly and make sure we went the right way! We had to stop and plot for a minute, as the navigation for the first two sections was a mixture of spot heights to go via, but also the odd thing (such as a spot height) to avoid. Even with the potti (magnifier), I couldn’t see exactly where the dots plotted for the spot heights and I needed to ensure we went the right way so we pulled up briefly so I could ensure my plotting was accurate.

We did ok in the first section, but by now were truly on the Plain. Kermit is a standard 998cc Micra and so Gavin was picking his way through the potholes and we dropped 6 minutes on this section. Part way through, on the bumps, the potti decided to stop working so I had a rummage around in my nav bag for the two magnifying glasses I carry as backup; I feared it was going to be a long night at this point… We were pleased to not get lost at all because anyone who has been on the Plain knows, there are roads on the map and then there are four times as many roads once you actually get up there! Seeing code boards (so we knew we were going the right way) and trusting my calls was pleasing with all the extra junctions and those on the map not looking the same in reality. We saw one other competitor on a parallel road going in the opposite direction to us and nobody came past us so we thought we were going ok.

The next section was a neutral, before NTC4 – TC5 took us via a series of map features and grid references, around 20 in total to plot. Again we were given the navigation at the control, so it kept me busy getting it down on the map and telling Gavin where to go. We did ok on this section as well, although we were still dropping time. TC5 – TC6 saw a herringbone handed in through the window and I simply couldn’t get the middle part of it to work. I tried working it backwards and then asked Gavin to help and he couldn’t quite get it either, but we had a guess at a route and off we went. We got to the next control and were told the finish (MTC7) had been shortened and we were given a revised finish map reference, and the final piece of navigation (tulips).

By this point I knew we were getting close to OTL, which was 30 minutes from TC3 – MTC7, and so to save time I called the first few junctions without having the whole route on the map, and just using the tulips given. It’s not ideal to do it this way but saves time, which we needed to! However, it did not take me long at all to realise a tulip was missing and I asked Gavin to pull up. I realised which tulip it was, worked out what the correct route was versus the route I actually had plotted, and made the call we would continue as we were, join up with the correct route and hoped we hadn’t missed a code board. We only saw one board in the section (the time card had space for two), but we were relieved to find there was only one board on the correct route.

We finished the event 1st in class and 3rd overall. I’m a novice by the event regulations (the middle class) but I found out at the finish I’d been given the expert navigation throughout by mistake, so that made me feel better about taking some time to do bits of it! We’d found all the code boards so finished on 0F (zero fails) and 27M (27 minutes), which was a pleasing result. We headed home where unfortunately I deteriorated overnight fairly rapidly, with a high fever and other symptoms meaning I needed NHS help and support and spent the majority of the next week in bed and missed many things I had been looking forward to. I’m still not back to 100%, but have returned to work after an unexpected week off and am now trying to get back to full health before the Gremlin.

 The 365 days since the last MOT had come round really quick and so it was time for the Zetec Cortina to be checked over again. I know that classic cars don't need an MOT, but it's a condition of my classic car insurance that this one does because it's classed as modified. (It produces twice as much brake horse power as it did when it left the factory!)

It would also be interesting to see what kind of brake readings I would get on the brake rollers seeing as I have recently carried out a rear disc brake conversion on the car.

The guy doing to the Mot was impressed with the car and the brake readings were spot on. I was worried that the new callipers on the rear would have a better braking efficiency than the fronts, (which is not allowed) but this wasn't the case. In fact, the total braking efficiency of my car was 69%, which apparently, is better than most modern cars. That's pretty good considering I haven't even got a servo fitted. 

The car passed with no advisories and I celebrated by driving round to Gavin's house and we both went to his local cafe for breakfast. A very good, successful day. 😊

(Look how small the Cortina is compared to the BMW!) 

 This was the first Battlesbridge meeting of the season and due to the bright sunshine I expected it to be quite packed. I was able to have a 'proper' drive today on unrestricted roads and test the new 3:31 ratio in the differential I'd just had built. I was really pleased with the result and I now don't feel as though the car needs a five speed gearbox. 

Even though I arrived early, there were still people that had got there before me. It looked like it was going to be a busy day. 

Good friends Gavin and Peter arrived shortly after I'd arrived so we headed to the marquee for breakfast and coffee. Cars were pouring in at a good rate and pretty soon they were starting to use the second field to get everyone in. 

It was a beautiful morning weather wise and a pleasure to be out in the sunshine again. I like this meet because as well as the regulars, there are always cars that I've never seen before which makes it very interesting. 

About lunch time I called it a day as I had things to do at home, plus I had to run some parts down to my engine builder. Hopefully he'll have my engine repaired soon and I'll be able to get the Green Cortina back on the road. 

 At last the weather was getting a bit warmer, so a visit to the Billericay breakfast meet was on the agenda. It would also be the fist proper drive for the Zetec since the fitting of the 3:31 differential and the rear disc brakes. 

I left early in case I had any issues and as a result, I was the first one there. The only trouble with the drive down to Billericay is the roads are all 50mph speed limits, so I couldn't get up to the speed I wanted to to test the diff. 

After a while other people started arriving and a few of my friends as well. We enjoyed a bacon roll and a coffee and spent time looking at the other cars. While I was there I received a text reminder that the MOT was due  on the Zetec Cortina in the next couple of weeks, so I rang the garage and booked it in for the following Saturday. 

All too soon it was time to head home and hope that the traffic wasn't too bad. (The A127 can be a nightmare when the sun comes out, because everyone heads for Southend!) Luckily, the A127 was fairly quiet and I was home in no time at all. It had been a good morning and nice to finally go out without needing a coat! 

With the weather unseasonably hot it was a return to the evening autotests run by Witney MC.

These are simple and good fun, the grass had been kept short by resident sheep over the winter, this meant the grip was generally higher than the normal first few events, in fact with the recent dry weather and no wind there was a lot of hanging dust!

With the Kent Targa Rally looming and having not used the ZR for a while this was an ideal shakedown before then. So I ran the car in targa mode complete with spares etc…

A big entry meant not all tests were completed but good fun was had by all and at the end I finished up 2nd overall. The ZR behaved it’s self and it was good to get back in the proper rally car after using the Rover 25 for a while.

Its been a busy few months since the last update, so here is a quick overview from motorsport during that time….

First up was the March SOCC 12 Car, this was a fun return to the lanes and we finished up clean and just a few minutes down it was a tight night and this placed us 6th overall and 1st in class. Always good to get a class win.

Then just days later it was out in Red Shed II, this is a Rover 25 bought originally for parts but it ran ok. So it was taken out onto a car trial to see how long it would last….

The day was dry unlike last years mud fest, this made for a lovely day outside but made the hills more challenging. After a few hills I got back into things and we finished up 14th overall and 3rd in class – not too bad for a totally standard car collected just days before the event.

Then just a week later it was a return to Weston Park navigating for Wayne Larbo in his Evo III, this had been through more work and had more power than before. This is event is short and sharp but with more modified 4×4’s banned it allowed us to have a fun and sideways day out at a former RAC Rally stage and finish up 6th overall and 1st in class.

Next up it was back in Red Shed II (Red Shed I was used and then scrapped around 2018) back to Silverstone Rally for another SOCC autotest. After sorting out the handbrake so it was more effective it was back to the fun – although I got a few too many cones we had good fun and finished up 4th overall and 4th in class.

Then after a few weeks away it was back again in Red Shed II but at Banbury Plant hire, this was a hot and dusty day and after a wide range of tests it we ended up equal 2nd overall / in class. Some great fun was had in Red Shed II which is proving to be a useful test bed for the rally car, and may stay longer than originally planned…. Though this may mean the end of the Golf… Decisions to be made.

 Despite suffering a flu bug, I ended up in the garage again today as Dave Maton was free to come over again and help finish of the brakes on the Zetec Cortina. We gave the cafe a miss this time and got started in the garage as soon as he arrived. I'd had the brake pipes made up during the week, so these were fitted and we were then able to connect the new handbrake cables. 
We then bled the brakes to get all of the air out of the system, going round twice to be sure. Then we refitted the back wheels and went for a test drive. The brakes felt good and I was happy with our work. 
It was still fairly early and Dave was here for the day, so the next job on the agenda was to turn the Green Cortina around and get it in the garage backwards. My recent attempts at curing the oil leak hadn't worked, so the next stage was to take the engine out. (Again!)

It didn't take long to push the Cortina out and turn it around. (I couldn't drive it because it would have pissed oil all over my new drive)

Once the car was back in the garage, we both got stuck into it and before long, we had the cylinder head off. I then set up the engine crane and after not much longer we had the rest of the engine out and on the floor. This is now the third time this engine has been out since I've had this car, so this time it needs to be done right. It will be going to an engine specialist soon and hopefully, all the problems will be rectified. 

 Today I was lucky in that good friend Dave Maton was free to come over and help with my proposed rear disc brake conversion on my Zetec Cortina. 

We had a quick meet in the local cafe for breakfast before work commenced, but then got stuck into it. The first job was to get the  car up on axle stands, remove the rear wheels and then remove the drums, shoes and backing plates. 

The rear disc brake conversion is a fairly new kit from RetroFord and at present there are no instructions with it, so some educated guesswork was required. 

By mid afternoon we had done all we could do. I now need to get some brake pipes made up and then once they are fitted and the brakes bled, then we can connect the new handbrake cables. 

I was quite pleased with the days progress even though it left the car unusable. Another couple of hours work once the brakes pipes are done will see it back on the road. 

 I hadn't planned to enter this event this year, but good friend Richard Warr wanted to do it. The only snag was that his car is still in the workshop having some major work done, so I agreed to do it with him and use my Triumph. 

The only snag with that was that my Triumph was in storage at Colin Wake's place in North Essex. Luckily, Colin joined us as a third crew member for the event, so he spent a couple of days using the car for work to make sure it was all ok. 

Richard made the journey to my place and stayed over on the Friday night in readiness for the event start at Saturday tea time. We just had a few drinks on the Friday night and a takeaway as we didn't want to feel like crap Saturday morning with so many miles ahead of us. 

Saturday morning saw us make the 50 mile journey to Colin's to collect him and the car and then after a good breakfast in a local cafe, we made the 200 mile journey to the start. 

The start was at 'The Great British Car Journey' museum at Ambergate in Derbyshire. We met up with the other crews and after dining on jacket potato's and plotting part of the route, we set out into the evening. 

The theme for this event was motor sport, so extra points could be gained by visiting race tracks and race car manufacturers, so the first part of our route took us through Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, before nipping into Leicestershire on our way to the halfway point at Rugby Services. 

After a mandatory 30 minute break, we set out through Leicestershire, (again!) Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire before heading for the finish in Northamptonshire. We visited some great places including Snetterton Raceway, Silverstone, Rockingham and many others. 

By 8am we were at the finish and awaiting the results. Colin had done really well and had acted as navigator and spent all night plotting and directing. Richard and I took turns to drive. 

The finish was an interesting place as well with plenty to look at while we enjoyed a bacon bap and a much needed coffee. 

The results were announced and Colin's hard work had paid off as we were rewarded with 2nd place. (We weren't that bothered about winning, as the winners have to organise next years event.😉)

We all had a great time, although we were pretty shattered by Sunday morning. Colin still hadn't had enough and wanted to drive home as he hadn't driven on the event. We were back at his by about 11.30am and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the sunshine before making our separate journey's home. 

The car did well and we reckon we covered just over 750 miles in total. The only time we opened the bonnet was to check the oil before heading for home. It seems to be back to its old reliable self. 😁

Having double driven Fly at Debden last September, and us both missing some tests after a steering arm issue, we entered in her again for the March event. This meant it would be my second time driving in her competition, and I was hoping to improve from my previous outing!

The first loop of tests was three tests, two of which were lovely and flowed well and one which just wasn’t quite our cup of tea. Gavin drove first and we were car 10, so when we got to the finish of Test 2 and were told we were the quickest through so far it was pleasing! The reality is, double driving is an advantage (as you see each test twice, once as a driver and once as a navigator) and we expected that “quickest time” to change once second drivers went through (we ended up 19th fastest, as a ten second cone penalty was added, dropping us from 3rd fastest). My first couple of tests went well and the lack of power steering didn’t feel as unfamiliar as last time, with just one small reverse on Test 3 after a boot full of throttle resulted in understeer and I wasn’t quick enough on the handbrake. We sat 7th (Gavin driving) and 39th (me driving) after the first loop.

For the second loop of tests, I drove first (done to try and negate the second driver advantage). The tests were similar, but with some different aspects, and I had the same understeer issue at the same place! Gavin was absolutely on it, and bar finding another car at a merge on Test 5 (they were on their first lap and we were on our second) it went well. Unfortunately we were behind them for a while, including two passage checks (marshals signing our timecard) so we caught them after the merge, sat behind as the nature of the test meant the only way of getting past was if they moved offline, waited for their passage check to be completed (and watched the seconds drift away!), then got our timecard signed… then we caught them again, not able to get past, waited for their passage check, waited for ours…then caught them again, before going different ways at the split. As we were on our second lap we went different ways at the split, but it did rather spoil our flow and time on that test costing around 15 seconds (we counted whilst stationary and awaiting our turn in the PCs – the marshals did it as quick as they could). Gavin went the third quickest time of everyone on Test 6, so maybe the frustration helped! We both moved up one place overall after this loop.

Timecard/loop 3 with three tests, and I was driving first again. This time the tests were reversed and had more changes, including lots of “bus stops,” which is where I found the lack of power steering harder work going lock to lock in first gear. I used Fly’s RWD to steer where possible, but I’m not as used to her as Gavin is given it was my second event driving her and he bought her in 1991. I did manage to set my best overall test time of 28th fastest on Test 9, which was my favourite test/area of the day as I felt the test flowed well as it was more open/second gear corners, particularly in the second half. Gavin set his best overall test time of 2nd fastest on Test 8, just one second slower than the quickest car. By the end of this timecard, Gavin moved up to 5th overall and I was 34th.

On to the final loop and timecard, with two tests and Gavin to drive first. We knew it was tight between him and Adrian White, but Adrian had been clean all day (no penalties) and we had picked up 30 seconds of cone penalties (3 x 10 seconds). We had known about hitting one cone but not two others, so we were a little apprehensive. We went into the last two tests 9 seconds behind Adrian, and didn’t know it at the time, but set the exact same time as him on Test 10 (joint 3rd fastest). The last test was two of the earlier tests joined up, and Gavin was on it the whole way round, and we were 9 seconds fastest than Adrian, which initially put us 4th overall on identical overall times (us ahead as we’d set a faster time on Test 1). Unfortunately, we were given a wrong side of cone/gate penalty which was a 20 second penalty, something we didn’t know we’d done wrong at the time, which meant we finished 5th overall exactly 20 seconds behind Adrian, but comfortably ahead of 6th.

Then it was my turn, and I did ok on the shorter test before heading into the long one. It was all going so well until a few corners from the finish, where I was a bit heavy with my right foot and spun Fly. I tried to get the clutch down whilst spinning quickly but didn’t quite make it and stalled her, so after a quick restart we were off again. It cost me some time, and I picked up a ten second cone penalty (my second penalty of the day). Normally I know when I hit cones, so I can only presume I clipped a base or something somewhere in the test as I had no idea! I finished the day 36th overall.

It was really good to be driving Fly again, and with Gavin driving her too with me navigating, I get to see what she is capable of; my limitations are most certainly my driving, and not Fly. I was getting quicker and more confident in her and getting more and more comfortable using her rear wheel drive to steer, not something I’m used to having a front wheel drive rally car with Muriel. Andy Manston got a great photo of me coming out of a hairpin sideways with a big grin on my face.

We were both pleased with our results of 5th and 36th overall (72 starters), and to finish and complete all the tests after a challenging event in September at the same venue. The only thing that would really make things easier would be if Debden was closer to home. At around 170 miles, we didn’t get home until 21:45 which makes for a long day (especially with work on a Monday!).

Photos by M&H Photography

 I finally managed to order the correct dipstick tube for the 1600 Mk2 Cortina GT engine that's fitted in my Green Cortina. Or so I thought. When the tube arrived I found that it was a very loose fit going into the hole in the timing cover. It needs to be a tight fit so that the oil wont seep out of the gap. 

So, I decided to remove the timing cover so that I can take that, and the dipstick tube to engineering company to see what they can do for me.

So, I've now removed even more parts from this car in order to complete just one job. I said to my mate Dave on the phone 'it's one of those cars where one job turns into three or four more!'. 

I have to admit, I'm getting to the stage now where I'm considering selling it and replacing it with something else. (Maybe a Ford Anglia-Another favourite car from my childhood)  I'm a bit tired of throwing money at it, only for it to cause me a different problem. I honestly think I've spent more time laying underneath it, or with my head under the bonnet, than I have actually driving the bloody thing! 

 I received a phone call the night before from good friend Dave Maton saying that he was coming to Shoeburyness on Sunday morning to collect a fuel tank for his Morris Minor. he knew that I'd got myself into a situation of having an immobile car in front of the garage and a mobile one trapped in the  garage, so would I like a hand to 'shunt cars around?'. What a top bloke! So I gratefully took him up on his offer.

So, Sunday morning, I filled the differential with oil and bled the clutch master cylinder while waiting for Dave to arrive.  

Once Dave arrived we got stuck in and pushed the Green Cortina onto the drive and I reversed the Zetec Cortina out of the garage. Temptation got the better of us both and we couldn't resist taking the Zetec round the block the couples of time to 'get the oil in the diff circulated'. 

After having a bit of fun, we pushed the Green Cortina into the garage where I could resume my latest challenge with it at another time and Dave set out on his journey home. (He had other stuff to do) He certainly done me a favour though, so it was a very worthwhile morning, plus it's always good to see your friends! 

 I had taken my Zetec Cortina differential to Herts & Bed transmissions in Baldock, Hertfordshire the previous Saturday for him to replace the crown wheel and pinion and also fit a limited slip differential. 

The crown wheel and pinion are a new item from Retro Ford and the ratio is 3:31. I've bought this in the hope that it will bring the revs down enough and I can avoid the huge task and cost of fitting a five speed gearbox. Calculations show that it will reduce it by 300 revs, which doesn't sound a lot, but is. (If you drive your car at 2000 revs, then increase it to 2300 revs, you'll see how much more the engine has to work)
I also purchased a Blackline limited slip differential which will also stop the accidental wheel spin that the car gives me in the rain as the LSD will provide more grip. 

I set out early and was at Herts & Beds transmissions  at 6.45am. Luckily, the top man was already there and after paying my bill and having a bit of a chat, I was on my way home. 

A trouble free drive saw me arrive at my friend Gavin's house in Wickford and after a cup of coffee, I left my car at his place and jumped into his Triumph and we went to the Billericay classic car breakfast meet. It was still quite cold, so there wasn't that many cars there really, but a beautiful Cortina Mk1 2 door GT had come down all the way from Bury St Edmunds. All of us Cortina fans at the meet had never seen this car before, but all agreed that it was a very nice car indeed. (See below pic) 

We spent a few hours at the meet, but left when everyone else started leaving. On arrival at my place, I changed into my overalls and went into the garage to refit my differential. It only took an hour or so to get the rear axle back together including refitting the half shafts and bolting the propshaft back on. 

I then refitted the back wheels and all I had left to do was fill the new differential with oil and bleed the clutch master cylinder. (I had removed it and replaced the seals the week before) By now though my long day was catching up with me. I'd got up at 4am and was doing my Saturday shopping in Tesco's Baldock at 6am. so I could be at the transmission place for 7am!  I was starting to feel cold as well, so I called time and went indoors. 

My third day out of four in a rally car, in Wales, on gravel and in sunshine – a perfect day.

A massive thank you to Callum Black for having me on his Malcolm Wilson PET (pre event test) in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. But how did this happen?!

I marshalled on the South Oxon Car Club Targa in November 2023, and Robert Hall and the club had worked hard to put together prizes for a marshals raffle. To my surprise (and delight!), I won a day sitting alongside Callum in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. Work meant I couldn’t make the original date he offered, but this week everything came together and we had an early start to head to the Phil Price Rally School in Wales so Callum could test ahead of the Malcolm Wilson this weekend.

I asked Callum if Gavin could come to watch and he said yes and he’d take him out too which was great and unexpected. When there, Callum’s Dad Steve said “I’ll take you out!” so I also did a run with Steve in his Suzuki Swift S1400. As we drove out, he said “it’s only a 1400” to which my response is “I drive a 1400!” The Swift sounds great and is quick in Steve’s capable hands, too.

Aside from both cars being left hand drive (I’ve only co-driven and navigated in right hand drive before, so I was sat in the wrong place!), it was good to feel comfortable in both cars. I’d taken along my own kit and my Stilo helmet was compatible in both cars which helped.

I’d never experienced launch control, and Callum offered to show me and talked me through how it works. He was testing ahead of the Malcolm Wilson this weekend and getting the car set up so there were many runs and adjustments made. The way the car pitched through acceleration and deceleration, the acceleration she has and the braking really was something else and I’m very fortunate to have had the experience.

It was a really great experience so remember – it is always worth marshalling and trying to give something back, because you never know if there is a prize draw and you might be lucky enough to win!

A YouTube video with highlights of the day is available here.

After just a few hours sleep from getting back from a few days away in Prague it was back to the Banbury Plant Hire depot for another slippery day.

This time the mud seemed deeper and gloppier (if that is a real word)

For the second use of this venue the tests explored more of the venue, giving longer tests which seemed to suit me and the ZR.

Overall it was a fun days sport, though I was nowhere near the winners times this time around. Through consistent times, we ended up 2nd overall and 1st Experts on what was a very muddy and tiring days sport.

Sadly the venue jet wasn’t available, so there is quite some cleaning to do before the cars upcoming MOT. As well as sorting the wipers which failed on the second to last test…..

The last time I was at Bramley for a Targa Rally was back in 2019, and although it was fun I did end up in a ditch after a bit of a ‘moment’.

For this event I linked up back with Lizzie Pope, who has navved me on many events over the years.

A relatively local event, meant not too early a start. Scrutineering was very quick so it was off to get an enjoyable but not healthy breakfast.

The tests at Bramley are short and sharp and very much at the ‘autotest’ end of Targa Rallies, but this doesn’t take away from the challenge though the ZR is a big old car at times…

During the days six tests we soon got into the mix of the tests. Apart from one overshoot (which was soon corrected), we got all the tests correct and setting some good times. Sadly two cones cost us some time, which on an event with realtively less test times meant they were quite costly.

In the end we finished up 8th overall and 2nd in class, which was pleasing after a while away from Bramley and competing with Lizzie. Plus we didn’t end up in a ditch like I did last time I was there!

Sadly those cones did come back to haunt me and without them we would have been 4th overall and 1st in class. But as the saying goes that’s motorsport and we can all say ‘What If’….

After the what if’s it was still a fun days rallying, and lots of laughs were had.

Ten years to the day since I last drove on a stage rally at Bovington, it was time to return. Muriel had her normal spanner check and re-prep since her last event (the Goodwood Stages) and we didn’t find anything unexpected, just a change of front brake discs was needed. With new classes announced by Motorsport UK for 2025, we had entered the up to 1400cc road rally spec class, so added her rear sets, carpets etc back in to comply.

The format for the event was six stages on Saturday (with Car 1 starting at 13:00) and six stages on Sunday, covering 65 miles on tarmac. We headed down on Saturday morning and completed noise, scrutineering and documentation quickly. We set up in service (we were servicing for ourselves) and waited for the drivers’ briefing. The first stage was a short one at just over three miles, with no splits or merges, and went ok. SS2 and 3 had a loop added in and these also went well, just a slight hesitation looking for the split the first time but nothing else to report.

The sun was starting to set and I was glad of my tinted visor and being up to pull it up/down as needed. On SS4, we caught a Talbot Sunbeam – we were quicker through the chicanes but didn’t have the power on the straights. We were on our second lap which always helps a little, and I managed to get past going into the “tank trap chicane.” The driver came and spoke to me on Sunday and was very complimentary about my driving and Muriel’s speed which was very kind and much appreciated.

SS5 looks a little darker on the onboard than I remember it feeling at the time, but we had another good run although we were two seconds slower than SS4; having taken tyre pressures when we returned to service, I should have raised them all a little as they were a little lower (1/2psi) than I would like when coming off the stage. The sun had disappeared even more by this point and it was cold, so something to think about in future. Due to a delay on Saturday, the organisers decided to postpone SS6 from Saturday to Sunday so once Muriel was safely in parc ferme, we headed off to a local chip shop before finding our B&B for the night. The Cheltenham MC marshalling group offered to camp in our service bay over night so we knew the space would still be there in the morning.

Sunday morning soon came round, and we were back at Bovington for 0800 with a 0924 start time. I was wondering about changing my front tyres given it was very cold and icy, but even the tarmac in the shade in service didn’t seem too bad. I decided to leave it until the last minute and by the time I needed to make the decision, I decided to stick with what I had been running. We put a little fuel in Muriel, torqued her wheel nuts, did pressures and it was time to go. SS6 was a handful of seconds slower than the previous evening, I think a combination of a cold car, cold tyres, a lock up as it was slightly slippy in places all contributed.

On to SS7, 8 and 9 – the longest of the event at 6.32 miles. We had a good run of these and took time off between SS7 and SS8 and I felt I was really finding my rhythm. I think SS9 was the best stage I drove all weekend, as I took 17 seconds off my SS8 time. We found a Mini in this stage, I think we made a lot of our time up through braking later in the chicanes as they were initially a long way ahead. It was the “typical” challenge though of running a 1348cc road rally spec car; we’d caught them and were quicker through the chicanes etc, but didn’t have the power on the straights. We followed them for a little while and then were on our final split which was good as we were going a different way to them. I can find it hard following other cars; we knew we were quicker as we’d caught them, so I needed to be careful with my braking not to get caught out and get too close.

SS10 and SS11 were a pair, and we found the Mini again on SS11 as we came through the merge on our second lap as they were on their first. This time, we only followed them through one chicane before taking our final split so that was better. That meant one stage to go! We still hadn’t done anything to Muriel other than tyre pressures, torquing wheel nuts and the fuel splash first thing Sunday morning and we had 3.71 miles left. The final stage had no splits and merges and we got round well and that was it, finished!

We finished 1st in class and 35th overall, with 53 cars finishing and 78 starting. I was really pleased with how Muriel handled all weekend and Gavin and I had some laughs too. Bovington is a great venue to drive, especially when it’s dry, as the key is getting the speed up and trying to keep it there, especially in a lower powered car. I don’t want to leave it ten years until I drive on a stage there again, we’d wondered about doing Bovington or another stage rally later this month but I’m really pleased we decided to head to Bovington. Thank you to Gavin, not just for co-driving, but for helping me prepare Muriel for the weekend too.

Onboards on YouTube: SS3, SS4, SS5, SS9, SS11, SS12.