Outlook


A year in the life of a rally man


Thanks to the support of sponsors PSL Marketing' Services, of Blackburn, Pcndle District Motor Club press officer Geoff Brown has just completed his third year of forest rallying, achieving results in 1990 far beyond his expectations. Here Geoff gives an account of his exploits.


IT may seem rather negative to say that I began the year with the sole intention of winning a ISOOec class award on a round of the BTRDA (British Trials and Rally Drivers’ Association)


Clubman’s championship. However, 1 do Lend to be


brutally realistic about what 1 can achieve within my very limited budget, rather than dream of the one-off spectacular do or die effort that may leave us bathed in glory or out of rallying hav­ ing wrecked the car. That award came sooner


than expected, on the very first round of the champion­


ship, the Lakeland Stages, based in Carlisle. Myself and Kevin Sut­


cliffe, my co-driver, were stunned. I hadn’t done an event for three months, though a lot of mental prep­ aration had gone into that e v e n t and e v e ry th in g seemed to click from the start. That second in class was


repeated on the next round in Shropshire, although having led all day we lost the class win on the last stage. How things change. We


began the year wanting any class award, now second wasn’t enough. We hadn’t been able to get a new


event, very enjoyable but very t ig h t for the class places. 'Pen seconds covered the top eight crews for most of the rally. Yet again one misLake cost us the top spot. With so little between the


to Devon for the only night event of the championship, and one that ran in blind­ ingly dusty conditions. Though we had now been able to fit the new engine, giving us 10 per cent more power and an 8000 rev. limit. That was a hard-fought


engine installed due to a component shortage and the old one began to weaken as the rally progressed. Going into that lasL stage we knew the second place man was coming up fast, he was only 11 seconds behind, having taken great lumps out of our lead on the previous two stages. I spun the car to a standstill on a hairpin and that was it — second again. The third round took us


every time but were never beaten by the same oppo­ nent, and with three events and three good scores under our belt, we were building up a useful lead. Then things started to go


top runners, and the lead changing all Lhe time, one slip would be fatal, and we made it! Kev reads the stage to me from maps and was giving me a flat out series of twists. He knew there was a tight one ahead but 1 got there before he did! We survived but it cost us 10 seconds and we lost the class by six to a local driver. We were finishing second


in the next rally on the Scottish Borders, starting in Kelso. An ignition failure stopped the car before we got out of Kelso. That cured, we completed the


Home thoughts from abroad


as he passes me by on this Swiss mountainside. We ordinary folk of all nationalities can get along just


think he has any desire to put one in me. The funicular-car driver gives a friendly wave of the hand


1 DO not wish to put a bullet in him — and I do not


ERIC HALSALL ponders the lessons from a recent trip to Switzerland


line; we have no cause to disagree any more than we do with our own neighbours. It is the politicians who start wars and disputes between


nations — and we ordinary folk who are expected to fight them and live with ’em. Perhaps nations do not give enough thought to their choice of representatives! However, as you will gather, 1 am starting to write these


stupid to think that, because you are British, you are superior.


just as there is for county pride. I am proud to be a Lan­ castrian when I meet other county types. Other people are just as proud of their nationality as we — and we have got to appreciate this, especially the yobbos


Yes, 1 know there is a lot to be said for national pride,


you cannot get to know people if you travel “en-bloe" in Joe Blogg’s coach.


who continually disgrace us on the football trail. You have just got to get among people to know them and


the people of that country. That way you don’t have to go into the shops to buy your


That way you see the country, but you don’t get among


food for mid-day picnics, and you have all your evening meals organised without having’ to ask what type of food is


included the countries of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg and Swit­ zerland, 1 have found that so-called “foreigners" are no different to you or 1 — except in the language they speak. But one must get among them to know them, and it is


notes on a Swiss mountainside high above Lake Geneva, having travelled through Belgium and France and having found that folk are friendly, whatever their place of origin. Indeed, in all my travels on the Continent, which have


ness — and we’re all a little “queer” to other nationalities, but we can get on if we take the trouble to understand the other fellow’s point of view. As they say in Yorkshire: ‘There’s nowt so queer as folk” —‘particularly so the French sailors who made the return crossing of the Channel so doubtful, and the French farmers who are jealous of our efficient production of sheepmeat.


exactly enhanced by the way the crowd’ behaved on board the ferry.


• Maybe the French have some cause to keep us out! □ Having said that, my pride at being British was not


discussion was the truth about the Loch Ness monster. People are different throughout the world — thank good­


have been ripped off for three or four times the amount but for the helpful ways of the shop assistants. At the top of the Brenner Pass in Italy, the main topic of


foreigners. A French-speaking policeman outside Bastle, revolver hanging on hip, showed more than professional interest in our holiday plans, and politely asked that the car be moved from its obstructive path. No one is “out to get” the unsuspecting visitor. In Vevcy, when I got my money “mixed up”, I could


mon language of helpfulness, akin to" the dismantling of customs investigations. My passport was only needed, quite rightly, to leave and to get back into the United Kingdom at Dover. The people in authority are not there to persecute


available. My grammar school French is not adequate to converse, though useful to read. But language' is no barrier. Ordinary folk speak a com­


Nottinghamshire’s Sher­ wood Forest. But worse was to come,


wrong. The next round was in


first section, got about 10 miles into stage two when the engine seized.


the year and a lot of cars were having coolant or fuel feed problems. We kept going but on stage four the engine gave up.


Improvements to the


cooling system were made to protect the rebuilt engine but on the Welsh round the engine failed again. Now we were in trouble, exactly the same type of failure but the engine hadn’t overheated.


seven rounds, with the best five scores to count. We had one more round to go, desperately needed points, but with the mystery engine fault I had no confidence at all.


The engine used in the


early part of the year was rebuilt in an effort to play safe. I built it in a very detuned state to minimise


The championship is over It was the hottest day of


the risk of failure. We went into the final round with 20 per cent less power than we’d become accustomed to and the roc. limiter set down to 7000. It felt so slow it was unbelievable. I’d also raised the gearing to cope with the long straights in Yorkshire’s Dalby Forest which sapped the power even more.


enough to net us third overall and top in our class, a welcome reward after our recent problems.


Another second place was


ago now and I’m certainly glad I stuck with the sport.Q


ing was running as course car on a Pendle DMC night rally in late ’80. I hit a rock hidden in grass, smashed the front suspension and spent a very cold November night in the car wondering what on earth I’d got myself into. That seems a long time


My introduction to rally­


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