Part 17 - A HERO Debut + Drifting For Oldies

 

A Dry and Dusty Wales

It is March 2022.  Historic Rallying is back with a full timetable, and with a nod to the environment, I'm pleased to say with a Net Zero Carbon agenda on the HERO events.

For our upcoming HERO Challenge One, the total estimated carbon emissions for the entire event will be offset through carbon capture programmes.   The programme is called Net Hero...and they are encouraging everyone to further offset their car's day-to-day carbon emissions by contributing to the carbon offset schemes affiliated with Net Hero.

Dexter, our youngest son, was persuaded to take the navigator's seat, especially as it meant being taken out of the last day of school in order to travel from Essex to Flintshire in North Wales in time for scrutineering.  

The week prior, our children's "learning-to drive-car", an old Ford Focus, finally gave into old age when the seals on the steering rack failed in a big way.  After four and a half years of replacing worn out parts, I finally called a halt:  We had replaced all the brakes, welded the sills, replaced springs, sundry suspension components, as well as the regular service items, as well as two sets of tyres (one set having completed just a few hundred miles).  The steering rack was the last straw!

As Dexter's driving test was coming up in about 6 weeks, we knew we ought to find something to replace the Ford fairly quickly.  I had something fairly sporting, but affordable in mind, his mother had something safe and boxy in mind.  We needed to find a compromise that would also appeal to a young man whose idea of a cool car is a 1990's JDM coupe set up for drifting.

I found a stylish, economical hybrid 2-door coupe with a 5* NCAP safety rating (at rather more than our budget) at a dealer half-way to Flintshire.  This would be an ideal place to take a break for lunch.  Despite wanting this to be a surprise, I couldn't contain my enthusiasm, so Dexter knew we were going to take a look at a car on the journey to Wales.  Can you guess the make and model?

He was very doubtful that he would like it, expecting the car to be some kind of Toyota Prius - not a cool car in the eyes of a 17-year-old whose pin up cars are Lamborghinii (or anything with a NA V12).  

We had set out from home early in the XJ-S, fully tanked and ready to go.  Fuel prices were stratospheric, so a little more pressure in the tyres and a little less pressure on the accelerator meant an economical cruise up the M1 and M6 (everything is relative in a 5.3litre V12 - 24 mpg was a great result!).  

We stopped in Rugeley for a test drive of the proposed replacement for the Focus.  Dexter was immediately smitten with the dark red leather interior and the rakish, modern lines of the gunmetal exterior.  The only problem was the price.  It was beyond our budget; but when did that stand between a man and a good car?  Dexter kindly offered his savings to fill the gap and I had a word with his mother.  In my mind we had as good as bought the car, but that would have been too easy.  Better to wait for a while and let Dexter sweat!

So, without further ado, we had rally business to take care of.  The remainder of the trip to Flintshire was uneventful and we arrived at scrutineering in good time to find the car park at The Beaufort Park Hotel overflowing with classic cars and spectators.  As always, the HERO arrangements were slick and Dexter was soon pouring over the road book in preparation for the day ahead.  

An Original and Very Lightweight Lotus Elite

Jaguar SS100

Austin Maxi  - From The 1970 London to Mexico City Rally
Driven by the amazing Bron Burrell, reunited with the same car.

 

A Stylish Italian, A Finely Engineered German and Two Plucky Brits, Side by Side

During the previous week, HERO had held a Zoom lecture on HERO Rally navigation; hosted by sisters Seren and Elise, whose youth belies their experience:  They are two top competitors.  Dexter appeared to have absorbed most of the 3-hour session including the complicated (for a driver, like me) timing adjustments to be made during a regularity section; so in short order he had marked up the road book and we made our way to the bar to join the other competitors.

The next day dawned dry and bright.  In their wisdom HERO had seen fit to have us start at number 95, right at the back of the pack, so we had ample time in the morning to catch up with other crews and admire other cars from the past.  One weary Jaguar MkII had made it to scrutineering, but steadfastly refused to start the following morning - it appeared that the engine had had enough and seized during the night after cooling down from its trip to Wales.  It sat forlornly in the car park whilst the remaining rally crews departed.

Despite the best efforts of the HERO support truck, this Jaguar was not
going anywhere.

Running at the back of the pack has some advantages when your navigator is still learning the ropes:  Due to the low speeds on the regularity sections, we could see the course closing car following a few hundred metres behind.  If we strayed off the correct route, the closing car would disappear, prompting a hurried consultation of the road book and trip meter.  Despite a few mis-turns and overshoots we weren't doing too badly.  Your driver was also a little rusty too, so we were tending to run a few seconds slow or fast, but never quite on time.  It was only later that we found out that the course closing car had a novice navigator too!

As the morning wore on, we started to find a good rhythm and Dexter was doing agile mental arithmetic to correct our due times along the route.  His youthful brain meant that we were steadily climbing up the leaderboard and by the morning coffee halt we were 31st overall.  Lots of fun was had on a seriously challenging karting track.   The warm and dry conditions didn't seem to suit the car as well as the cold and wet on the last event, especially as the big Jaguar was on fairly narrow M+S winter tyres offering diminishing grip as the laps went on.

By lunchtime, we had completed a couple of tests at a local cattle market on dry, dusty and smooth concrete offering even less grip.  Cars were sliding all over the place and struggling to stop.  In the Jaguar this meant we could indulge in a little light drifting around the cones.  No doubt the rally prepared Ford Escorts were more spectacular, but even with a few degrees of oversteer in the long XJ-S, I felt like a drift king!  

Drift Jag?

Dexter kept up the good work on the regularities and we cleaned (arriving at the due second) four sections and were within 2 seconds of the target time in seven more.  This excellent string of navigation meant that, almost unbelievably, by teatime we were 8th in the overall standings.  We were already back on the rally when this interim result was posted, so we were completely unaware of our position.  Nevertheless, news of Dexter's debut had filtered through to the HERO PR department.  Motorsport pundit, Tony Jardine rushed over to Dexter at the final halt for an impromptu interview, asking how it felt to be chasing a top 10 finish on his HERO debut....we thought he was joking!

The final regularity section was entitled "Sting in the Tail"...and so it proved.  We missed a turn and although we realised soon thereafter, we were on a single track road with nowhere to turn around.  Nevertheless, the correct route is always better than a good time, so we eventually managed to backtrack and find the missing control point (at the back of someone's house in deepest Wales).  The episode cost us about 2 minutes of penalties in total, dropping us to 14th overall in the final results, and taught us to trust the trip meter.

At the finish, dinner was served and the awards presentation started.  Much to our surprise and delight it was announced that we had finished 1st in our class and picked up the team award to boot!  Dexter was justly pleased with how the day had turned out and to be returning home with two pieces of glassware for his (soon to be) trophy shelf.

The rally was won by John Lomas in a 1936 Riley Sprite.  He was a very popular winner and proved that any car can win these events.

Dexter had an excellent start in his HERO rally career, so I have booked him for the remaining HERO challenges in 2022.  Graham, my regular co-pilot has taken the opportunity to team up with another driver in a VW Golf GTI to do some of the longer events on the calendar, but will be back in the comfort of the Jaguar later in the year.

Hustling the Big Jag Around the Cones

P.S.  To Dexter's even greater delight, we did buy the car in Rugeley - so now he is the proud owner of a 12-year-old Honda.  We now have far too many cars on the drive....