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.

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

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.

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.

The Bath Festival was all going well… until the diff said no more

I was navigating for Anthony Newton in his BMW, and it was his first time on the Bath Festival. It had been nearly two years since I last navigated for him, and it was good to compete together again. We were setting some top 15 times and catching the cars starting 30 secs ahead of us, until on Test 5 out of 10 at Castle Combe, we had no drive and that was it, game over. We did all the venues, just not all the tests.

I got covered in mud at one point and Anthony really did seem to enjoy it – Andy Manston was in the right place as always! His facial expressions really are a picture. It was a shame, but we had fun until we retired.

On test photos by M&H Photography (others by me)

A David Whittock 12 Car was always going to be a tough night…! We took Kermit out with me driving and Gavin navigating and were one of only three cars to complete the full route, which was a surprise. There was one board was missing so everyone had at least one fail.

It was one of those events which was about keeping going because you never know how it is going for anyone else…! We had a wrong slot part way through, and made the decision to effectively do most of the section again (it was the safest way to loop round and get onto rally route), because there had been several manned secret checks and code boards. It turned out there weren’t any in the section we missed so it cost us lots of time (and we wouldn’t have picked up any fails given the lack of checks), and in the cold light of day we’re not sure we made the right decision, but we might just have scraped 2nd otherwise.

As well as some Tavern competitors, there were plenty of Tavern members marshalling as well which was good to see. Thanks to all involved for a challenging evening.