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MCAC TAKES
ON THE TOUGHEST RAC RALLY EVER
MCAC TAKES
ON THE TOUGHEST RAC RALLY EVER
The considerable involvement by the club in the ’70 RAC Rally had finally created the one thing that had been missing from the club, a regular weekly meeting. Formed initially to discuss matters to do with the rally entries it gradually grew into a general ‘Noggin and Natter’ and this soon became a habit and weekly meetings became established and were held on Thursdays at the old Breakspear Arms in Ruislip. The start of something good?
Once the euphoria of completing the 1970 RAC Rally had died down the obvious question arose. How to follow that? The previous year’s service crews, determined not to be done out of their fun, provided the answer by producing two more Imps and an Escort. Now we had a full team and the backup to go with it. The club’s success in the ‘70 event had attracted many more useful and enthusiastic members so there was no problem fielding additional service crews.
Our car, by then up rated to 998cc was to be co-driven by George Harris. The two additional Imps were supplied and driven by Adrian L’Estrange and Andrew Slaughter. Adrian was to be joined by high performance driving instructor Norman Tipping. Andy had been racing saloon cars in South Africa and was working in the UK for a few years, he was to be co-driven by Don Caisey. John Williams’s Escort completed the line up co-driven by Graham Samuel. Four cars in the world’s most prestigious rally! Heady stuff.
Once more the club involved itself in money-making
activities
running raffles etc.,
and chasing the sponsors
who had supported us the
previous year.
I was unable to persuade Uniroyal to cough up enough tyres for three cars so we
were rather pleased with ourselves when we managed to
talk
Semperit
into
this sponsorship. With hindsight it was not such a good idea because these
very hard tyres
were
absolutely
useless in cold conditions.
Club members
who were
not
directly
involved
were encouraged to buy maps to lend to the effort.
I
was pleased to be able to
contribute the
prize money from our second in class on the Welsh Rally
earlier that year.
Once more
Grange Garage paid the entry
fees for the
Imps
(over £200)
but the club paid the team entry.
After Harry Poxon’s pioneering success feeding all our
crews in the ’70 rally the wives decided they would
also look after their men so this year we had two chances of a
good meal.
Armed with a
Dormobile
the girls (pictured left to right,
Sue
Caisey, Terry Smith, Pam Samuels and Stella Chamberlain) set off
alternating
with Harry’s
‘caff’
to make meals for all the crews at
most
of the thirty time controls around the UK.
We were the envy of all the other teams not only for the
wonderful fare they produced but for the company of four very attractive young
ladies. On occasions it was quite difficult for us even to get near the van and
we had to push our way past the many other hopefuls. Harry and the girls made
it as far north as Aberfeldy, luckily Harry had not attempted to take his
caravan further north to his scheduled stop at Grantown-on-Spey because of the
deep snow.
Harry later reminisced about the hearty comradeship apparent between the various service crews. He was amazed at the willingness of others to help no matter how much trouble. Our service crews did not think twice about helping members of opposing club teams. And likewise we knew that help would always be on hand. One of our service crews had trouble in Wales and was helped by spectators who stood by them during the ten hours it took to make the necessary repairs to get them mobile again.
Harry was our ‘Father Figure’ and was much respected both
as a person and as Club Secretary.
To quote his final paragraph on the rally notes “I am sure that a
lasting impression of all who went is of friendship which united the party and
produced the determination of every one of us, that those four cars had to be
got to the finish, friendship among the 32 people of widely assorted ages, walks
of life, professions etc.,
enduring discomfort and even hardship, all with a common objective which other
people would regard as sheer lunacy.”
He also kept those at home up to date by telephone, assuring them that reports of our retirements were unfounded. The organisers seemed to have it in for Adrian as he was regularly left out of the results and reports. After the rally Harry noted that Adrian’s car was by far the least damaged with barely a scratch whereas John’s Mexico had suffered a much modified front end, Andy had shunted and had been shunted and my car was not very pretty on the co-driver’s side.
In convoy the Imps set off for the start in Harrogate. Andy had bought an engine from a specialist engine builder (the only engine we had not prepared ourselves). It blew a head gasket at Watford. I towed the car up the M1 but on the way we attracted the attention of the police who seemed curious about these two little cars travelling rather fast and very close together. As the police caught up they moved from side to side of the lane trying to see what was going on so Andy crept in the same direction to block their view. Eventually we were pulled over. After explaining our plight to the police we were allowed to continue but not until the copper remarked “You’re a bloody fool for towing him at that speed and you’re a bigger bloody fool for letting him”. Nice guys. Once free of the police we were able to get going again but after a while I noticed a strange yanking on the rope and saw in the mirror that Andy was trying to steer with one hand whilst donning his crash hat with the other. We had a deadline to meet.
Frantic phone calls were made to Chryslers Comps
Dept. from Watford Gap and gained the promise of a used engine from a works car.
(Rosemary Smith’s Tulip Rally car?).
Harry, with his caravan, picked it up from the Coventry
factory with only a quarter of an hour to spare before it would have become
strikebound. MCAC luck was holding. Des O’Dell’s (Chrysler Competition
Manager) comment about
my
misuse of
the
clutch by towing
Andy’s car
was unprintable.
Luckily, because the scrutineering was inside a hall, the cars had to be pushed through so no one noticed that an engine was useless. Someone had found a garage willing to let us complete the engine swap and crews worked in shifts late into the night to change it.
At the start on Saturday morning it was snowing and did nothing but snow from then on. Heavy snow was the order of, not just the day, but the major part of the rally.
In Yorkshire,
on top of Sutton Bank,
we
joined a long queue to start
the stage. There was a hold-up. Snow was constant, heavy and
horizontal. After a long wait
I
got out of the car to go to find out what was going on only to
find that
I
had parked on the very edge of a ditch and
I
fell straight down into about five feet of soft snow.
By the
time
I managed
to clamber out of the ditch the car was full of snow so both George and I got
wet as well as cold.
I
never did find out the reason for the delay.
Loads of stages were cancelled, but we still had to drive through most of them. On one of these stages Andy and Don slid into another beached car and later another car slid into them leaving them with both front and rear damage. They were losing oil fast and they only had first and third gears. Later in Scotland they handed in their road book and retired having missed some stages. After some discussion about the damage they had sustained George and I, knowing the stages had been cancelled, persuaded them to get their book back and told the service crew to bypass the oil cooler (“who needs an oil cooler in this stuff?”) and get underneath and adjust the mounting of the gear lever. The shortened Imp was restored to full health.
Snow blindness became a problem not previously experienced. Four powerful halogen lamps reflecting off the snowflakes left the crews with flickering spots before the eyes. Not an ideal situation considering the 1,000 miles left to go before a much needed night in a proper bed.
Snowploughs were everywhere. It was very intimidating to meet these huge blades rushing towards you in the dark when you are constantly slipping and slithering around the road trying desperately to make haste. Having driven solidly for some thirty six hours I found myself hallucinating and stopped very suddenly. George woke up wondering what we had hit, to find me complaining that I could not get past an enormous snowplough that seemed to straddle most of the road. George said “what snowplough”. George took over the driver’s seat and I slept. (I’m still sure it was a snowplough).
At Machynlleth a lot of work was required on
our
car, primarily welding of the alternator brackets and sump
guard.
Despite wonderful work by the service crews
this put
us
behind time and
we
were penalised 24 minutes for leaving late. A mile later,
trying to catch up,
I was caught out by black ice and the car took up flying for what
seemed an eternity. Eventually it came to earth further down the hill on its
side but
the
landing
had been
cushioned by some small trees and shrubbery on a raised
terrace. Amazingly there was no broken glass but the nearside was very crumpled
and the road book had split open and pages were everywhere. By the time
we
had clambered out (isn’t a car door incredibly heavy when
opened upwards?)
having trodden all over each other and the road book, the engine
had cooked itself as only an Imp engine can.
Others had been similarly caught out at this point so many hands were available to heave the car off the wall and it dropped onto a track beneath the right way up but wedged across it. In bumping it around I managed to get a knee under the bumper and was heard to blaspheme as the chromed metal bumper had carved out a big chunk of what was, until then, quite a useful knee. The engine still worked but devoured water. From that point on every stream (and there are a few in Wales) was visited to replenish water supplies. Very kindly, a good friend, Charlie Woods, who had already retired his Avenger from the rally, followed the Imp closely for the remainder of the rally and kept topping up the radiator at every junction or traffic light. Reduced revs and a loosened radiator cap plus all Charlie’s help got us through with George having to do most of the driving whilst I staunched the blood and continued practising blasphemy. Sadly Charley died some ten years later whilst still a young man and was greatly missed by his many friends.
The route was similar to 1970 but with the start, finish and halfway at Harrogate. Through the customary Yorkshire forest stages and on to Kielder (40 cars still there the next morning), up into Scotland starting in the Pentland Hills and on to the mountainous area of the Grampians almost as far north as Inverness before, thankfully, turning south. A visit to Prestwick Airport TC followed by a number of stages in Ayrshire took us across the border at Carlisle into the Lake District.
T
o our surprise there was little
snow in the Lake District but the route took us through the mountains
at
dawn on the Monday morning. There had been a very severe frost
which
had
created black ice and the very steep descents of the Hardknott
and Wrynose Passes were absolutely treacherous with a strong camber always
leaning the wrong way and occasionally towards a very nasty drop.
I held my breath and gingerly
aimed
at any patch of road that looked slightly less shiny than
the rest but found this difficult with both fingers and toes crossed. Adrian
states emphatically that he has never been so scared in his life and when one
remembers that he has been shot at by terrorists in various bits of Africa that
is no small statement. Andy, being a South African, had never seen snow before
this event and was not a happy rally driver so Don tied the tow rope to the back
of the car and tried to use his body weight to keep the car on the road. When
he regained consciousness they were almost at the bottom.
This might give a hint of the degree of commitment every member
of the team was prepared to apply to achieve the coveted award. A couple more
stages took us to a very welcome night in bed at Harrogate on the Monday night.
Many of the stages in Northern England and Scotland had been cancelled just in order to keep the rally on schedule. Wales was much easier, simply raining (what’s changed?). Through the five Clocaenog stages and on to the Great Orme where we were told that the hold up was due to an earlier competitor going through the wall and into the sea. Later this was denied but it did heighten the tension at the time. Then to the frightening drops of the various Penmachno stages, better in the dark when you don’t see them, followed by all the classic Welsh stages of Dovey, Hafren, Radnor and a few over the ‘yumps’ of Mount Epynt.
After the Speech House and Reddings stages in the Forest of Dean we travelled to London after which a few Mickey Mouse stages on the way north took us to the last of the 77 stages (each done once only) at Clipstone and the completion of over eight hundred competitive miles (This years Rally of Britain has 19 stages!!! and 391 stage miles). Finally back to Harrogate for the finish and to claim our club team award. Des O’Dell was spitting blood for not entering the three Imps as a works entry. Much celebrating followed, not just for the crews but for all the MCAC members who were so heavily involved for those frantic five days and three nights. Each had given up much in order to partake and each had contributed to the success. With less than half the cars finishing the event, the determination of the MCAC crews brought all four of their cars home. Congratulations to all concerned.
104 finishers out of 231 starters. All four MCAC entries had finished and gained awards.
Competing Cars:-
No. 169 John Williams/Graham Samuel Ford Escort Mexico 68th
No. 154 Keith Chamberlain/George Harris Sunbeam Imp Sport 77th
No. 202 Adrian L’Estrange/Norman Tipping Sunbeam Imp Sport 97th
No. 203 Andy Slaughter/Don Caisey Sunbeam Imp Sport 100th
Service Crews:-
Bob Armitage David Baker Tom Baker Nigel Blatchford Sue Caisey
Stella Chamberlain Jim Embury Alan Collingwood John Fiske Bob Frame
Nick Gove John Hargreaves Goff Holland Derek King John Lacey
Malcolm Limrick John Musgrove Harry Poxon Norman Sirrett Pam Samuel
Ray Smith Terry Smith Barry Tinsdale.
The Powysbrooke Trophy for best RAC Rally MCAC awarded to John Williams and Graham Samuel
The Kensington Cup awarded to the RAC Rally club team.
The Donegall Prize Awarded for odd reasons. The Marquise of Donegall was the then president of the MCAC. An award of 100 Swiss Francs was accepted by Keith on behalf of the team.
Lombard Club Shield (3rd Club Team)
Pictured from left to right are Adrian L'Estrange, Norman Tipping, Keith Chamberlain, Andy Slaughter, George Harris and Don Caisey with the Lombard Club Shield (3rd club team). In addition, John Williams and Graham Samuel won the Lombard Club Trophy (1st club team) with Brent Vale Motor Club (Ford Escort Mexico).
In addition to Keith's fine article, Adrian L’Estrange has also transcribed the notes of Don Caisey made back in 1971. Although similar to Keith's report above, it does show an alternative viewpoint.
'Staying the Course’
by Don Caisey. transcribed by Adrian L’Estrange. 1971 RAC International rally. Andy Slaughter and Don Caisey – Sunbeam Imp Sport 898cc. No. 203 – Class 1
Our rally almost ended at about 1100 on the Friday before the start. We were travelling in convoy with Keith Chamberlain and George Harris, and Adrian L’Estrange and Norman Tipping also in Imp Sports on the M1 when our engine blew-up about 5 miles north of Watford. Fortunately for us Keith, being Keith, decided to tow us to Harrogate as he was sure something could be done there. En route we stopped at the Watford Gap service area for a coffee and from there Keith and Andy phoned Chrysler Competitions Dept. at Coventry and Des O’Dell the manager kindly offered a replacement engine. Harry Poxon who joined us at Coventry towing our catering caravan was re-routed to collect the engine and meet us at Harrogate.
We arrived at scrutineering at the end of a tow-rope and to our joy found that as this was to take place indoors all vehicles had to be pushed into the hall to avoid the accumulation of exhaust fumes. So we detached the tow-rope, pushed the car through scrutineering and reconnected the rope at the other end of the hall. We were then towed to a garage that John (Williams) and Graham (Samuel) had arranged and set to work changing engines.
The job was finished just after midnight with the aid of just about every MCAC member present in Harrogate. This was the second example of MCAC teamwork in a month (the first being the all-night working party to prepare our car for the Dukeries Rally which was our ‘shake-down’ event for the RAC Rally).
Saturday morning duly arrived and while I caught up with the inevitable paperwork Andy and a couple of the service crews put the finishing touches to the Imp and cleared the engine change with the officials.
The first few stages were uneventful apart from nudging a straw bale at Harewood House. Our first real excursion came several stages later when the Imp went straight on at a right-hander. However the inevitable spectators appeared miraculously from the darkness and lifted us back on to the track. Coming to a right-hand hairpin we were obviously going to go straight on so Andy declared that he would try the handbrake. Instead of going in a straight line we spun off the track to the accompaniment of screams from the spectators! Once more we were lifted back and I prevailed upon Andy not to try the handbrake trick again.
As we continued so the weather worsened and eventually conditions became chaotic. On our way to stage 11 we passed ‘The Girls’ (our 2nd catering crew) attempting to push their catering van up Sutton Bank. None of us realised that it was another 5 miles to the top and, not surprisingly, they had to give up the struggle and spend the night where they were.
On the road leading to the stage we had our first major ‘happening’. Going down a 1-in-4 hill on packed snow we started to toboggan and, rounding a corner, we smashed into the back of a Mini that had smashed into an Escort that had smashed into a bank. We thought our rally was over but somehow we extricated the car from the mess (it was so slippery that two of us could push the car sideways) and, with most of our lights still working, we continued. At the start of the next stage we learnt that it and the next were cancelled and that we could go directly to the next main control at Leeming Bar where lateness had been extended by one hour.
The rest of the night is mostly a blurred memory of pushing and lifting ourselves and countless others up, over and round hills, ditches and abandoned cars. On one spectator-less stage there was a deep snow-filled ditch beside the track. After passing several cars stuck in the ditch we suddenly shot into it ourselves. Once again we were in luck for we hit the far side of the ditch and bounced back almost on to the track. With a slight heave against the rear of the car we regained the track and were able to continue.
We finally arrived in Perth and had a very welcome breakfast in ‘Harry’s Diner’. This was our first real rest since the rally has started the previous morning and it was at times like this that we really appreciated the MCAC organisation. While Andy slept I watched the service crews reshaping the front of John’s Mexico. This was achieved by the simple technique of tying one end of a towrope to the car, tying the other end to a telegraph pole and reversing rapidly away!
The next section took us to the
Potarch Inn near Stonehaven and although there was plenty of snow the sun was
shining and there were no blizzards. At the Potarch we had time in hand (!) so
Derek (King) was able to give the car a thorough check. Between two stages in
one forest we decided to check the water level as the car showed signs of
overheating. As Andy eased off the pressure cap it was blown out of his hand by
the force of water pressure. We searched in the snow for ages but were unable
to find it. There was nothing for it but to continue and hope to find a service
crew with a replacement. We tackled the next stage without the cap with the
engine misfiring as the water slopped all over the plugs and leads. At the end
of the stage, to our delight, one of the marshals produced a very second-hand
cap which more or less fitted so that little drama was overcome.
Eventually we arrived at Grantown-on-Spey and whilst Dave and Tom Baker and John Lacey crawled under our car in about four inches of snow, we retired to the hotel for warmth and refreshment. Grantown has good memories – it was the first time all four MCAC crews had been together since the start and we had great fun exchanging stories.
We left Grantown in good spirits as we were heading south again and were to meet again in Aberfeldy. However the end of the next stage changed all that. We duly completed the stage but as we were waiting for our time to be recorded the next competitor crashed into the back of us. This time we thought our rally must definitely be over. Andy’s neck was very painful (a displaced disc we later discovered), the engine had been pushed forward and the oil cooler was split. When we were eventually able to start the engine it sounded very sick and we then discovered that the only gears left to us were first and third. We limped off the stage and down the road to our service crew. Ray (Smith), Geoff (Holland) and Malcolm (Limrick) were as upset as we were when we told them our story and as there was little they could do to help us they agreed to follow us most of the way to Aberfeldy where we hoped to patch up the car sufficiently to get it home. This meant that we would miss three stages and would therefore be excluded. There was no alternative as to attempt the stages without second gear would be virtually suicidal.
Andy drove to Aberfeldy whilst I slept; it was the first sleep either of us had managed since the start. Forty miles and about 2 gallons of oil later we arrived at our goal. When told that we had retired Keith replied that we couldn’t as we had not had a sub-committee meeting on the subject! Also as the last three stages had been cancelled it did not matter that we had missed them! So while we sat in the warmth of ‘The Girls’’ van the service crews did a tremendous job in putting our car to rights. They bypassed the oil cooler and, miraculously, managed to find all our gears again.
We eventually left Aberfeldy not quite able to believe that we were still in the rally. The organisers had given a free choice of route to Prestwick as all the original route was blocked with snow. They suggested that we might get through if we went via Perth and Sterling. I was driving whilst Andy slept when suddenly there was a terrible smell and the car filled with smoke. In an instant Andy was awake with the fire extinguisher in his hand: fortunately he didn’t let it off. We stopped and investigated. The smoke cleared and we then discovered that the fog lights no longer worked and that the fault was a burnt out relay. These were our only remaining decent lights as since our first smash our main beam headlights crossed and hit the road about 10 feet in front of the car and our surviving spotlight was at a most peculiar angle.
Andy took over the wheel as he tends
to drive slightly faster than me! I navigated us to Prestwick using an
Esso map. After Prestwick the route took us through Dumfries and Galloway and
then through the border counties to Carlisle. All the stages were extremely icy
and everyone had great difficulty climbing the hills. On one stage competitors
had to be pushed off the starting line even though the track was level! On
another stage a gang of forestry workers were helping the cars up one of the
hills. When it came to our turn Andy was pleasantly surprised at the ease with
which the Imp went up. All was explained at the top however when we discovered
two of the forestry workers sitting on the engine cover! At Carlisle both of
our catering units were operating and we had time for a good meal and a wash.
We left Carlisle and headed for the Lake District where we were pleased to discover a complete absence of snow. We tackled four very enjoyable stages with breathtaking views over Keswick and its lakes and then set off for the final stage near Coniston. To get there meant crossing both Hardknott and Wrynose passes. In good weather these can be quite exciting but on this occasion, with sheet ice on the downward sides, they were literally terrifying. Somehow we got over then without sliding off the road. And so after the last of the Lake District stages it was an easy main road run back to Harrogate for the finish of the first half. Only 124 out of the 231 starters made it back to Harrogate so it was with great satisfaction that all the MCAC competitors and service crews gathered at the Russell Hotel.
With the absence of snow in the Lake District there was hope that Wales would also be snow-free. However, to our horror we awoke the next morning to find snow falling steadily. It was with some apprehension therefore that we left the starting ramp for the second time and set off for Wales via the Bradford Sewage Works stage. At Charnock Richard John Lacey gave us a good spanner check but we were somewhat disturbed to find that Keith had trouble with a leaking header tank. The first Welsh stages were in Clocaenog Forest. There were thousands of spectators but no snow: this was more like stage rallying!
After Clocaenog we went to the Prestatyn control where ‘The Girls’ were dispensing food. We had a few jobs that we would have liked to have had seen to but the service crews were very well occupied with Keith and John who both had alternator problems. So we simply topped-up with oil and water and put the car into Parc-fermé. It was at Prestatyn that the commentator, after regaling the crowd with stories of all the leading rally drivers, was rather taken aback by a small boy who said that his favourite driver was Jackie Stewart!
After Prestatyn there was the very enjoyable all-tarmac stage round The Great Orme at Llandudno and then we headed towards Dolgellau and the main control at Machynlleth. Here Keith and John were still troubled by their alternators and when we actually left Keith was still there although he should have been running some thirty minutes ahead of us. He eventually overtook us again but at the Builth Wells control we again left before him. This time his car was in serious trouble, enveloped in clouds of steam and neither of us expected him to finish.
The next stage was a very slippery Epynt and then it was a long section down the A40 through Brecon and Abergavenny to a control at Speech House in the Forest of Dean. Andy slept during the A40 run and I slept during the Speech House special stage! For about 10 miles on one of the roughest stages I was completely oblivious as to what was happening and only awoke when we finished the stage. It isn’t necessary to be brave to sit beside Andy, just very, very tired.
After Speech House there was a long run without stages to the next main control at Mill Hill. We should have gone via Gloucester but a monumental traffic jam caused us to divert through back roads ultimately joining the proper route near Cirencester. I had my ‘official’ sleep period on this section and when I awoke near Oxford I was amazed and delighted to see Keith in front of us. How they kept that car running I’ll never understand! It must surely rank as one of THE events of the rally. At Mill Hill we had a good service session and some very welcome food. Several members turned out to see us and as the control was manned by the Mid-Thames Car Club we really felt among friends.
We left Mill Hill on the last lap of the rally. Rosemary Williams and Frank Booys were spectating at Knebworth and Les Cottam at Woburn. The rest of the rally was uneventful for us but one of the saddest sights of the event must surely have been the abandoned car on the very last stage. To have got so far and then retiring must have been heart-breaking. We were followed to the finish by ‘The Girls’ in their van and by Harry in his Fiat so at least we could have been towed if necessary. We stopped just before the finishing ramp so that I could have the privilege of driving us over the line – a gesture on Andy’s part that I very much appreciated.
The scene at Harrogate was absolutely marvellous and I don’t think I shall ever forget it. We had won the award for the 3rd Club Team, the first time this had been presented. Not only that but John and Graham were in the winning 1st Club Team. Somebody produced champagne and the cars and everyone in the vicinity were well and truly treated.
231 Starters – 104 Finishers
Footnote: Having transcribed this narrative from typewritten pages produced by Don Caisey just over 32 years ago I have noticed that neither I nor Norman have got any mention whatever of the (few) problems we had during the course of this memorable event. Suffice to say that both Norman and I owed a great debt of gratitude to Dave (Baker) who worked for many hours welding-up the weak points on the body and to Keith and many others who provided so much help and expertise that we got our car to the finish in more or less the same state that it started. I also give praise to the late Norman Tipping without whose skilled driving such a (relatively) trouble-free event would not have been ours.
Adrian L’Estrange 28.06.04
'1972 and beyond'
1977 RAC rally Escort Of Graham Samuel and John Williams
