At precisely 8.54pm on Friday 30^th January, PRX 720B, the Morris Mini Cooper S of the Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team roared off the podium in Reims town square and headed for Monaco. The build up to this moment had been simply amazing. Every year more and more spectators, press and rally fans turn out for this event. At scrutineering and later when we were parked in Reims city centre ready for the start it was sometimes difficult to move around the car for the crowds wanting photo opportunities.

As the Mini pressed through the town and out into the countryside we were cheered by thousands although as the night turned into the bitingly cold wee small hours the crowds thinned. After some initial nervy moments Bill and I settled into rhythm. We hit all our controls points without incident and the crew refueled us and provided much needed food and drink. At sunrise we started to feel the effects of being up for 24 hours and fought sleepiness with coffee. This is always a difficult time as concentration can slip and it’s easy to make elementary mistakes. However we managed to keep a clean sheet as we pushed south. Mid-morning changed to afternoon and we were back in the Alps; this year the Concentration Run went all the way to Monte Carlo. Make no misteke, this event is brutal for both man and machine.

Eventually we found ourselves at the tripmeter calibration section at Entrevaux. We carried out this essential task without incident. On previous events this has been the end of the day but this year we faced a nasty sting in the tail of this section – namely a special regularity stage over the infamous Col de Turini. The service crew (Adam elected to do the majority of the driving and deserves special mention) who had driven valiantly to keep up with us changed our tyres to studded snow covers and Bill and I raced for the stage. By the time we reached the start it was dark. We stormed up the mountain keeping very good time but were slowed a little by patches of dense fog at the summit. Bill kept us on the pace. Now it was time to head for Monte Carlo. After a jarring descent down some of the most difficult roads (cart tracks is a better description) in the Alps we raced into Monaco. There was a time control at a hotel before we reached the finish. As we picked our way through traffic misfortune struck and we found ourselves jammed in 4^th gear. Somehow Bill managed to get us across town by slipping the clutch but we were late over the finishing podium on the Quai Albert we gained a time penalty. This was a disappointing development at the end of a fantastic drive and the team was feeling low. We had been up for 36 hours and were in desperate need of sleep. We decided to turn in and make a plan over breakfast

To be continued…

Yesterday on a bright but chilly morning, the Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team set off for France.  The early part of the week was spent on last minute preparations and attending to a million and one organisational details. Then it was time to go. Unlike previous years the Channel crossing was uneventful although PRX 720B attracted numerous admirers as usual. The team arrived at their hotel in Reims around 5.00pm and enjoyed a relaxed dinner together and savoured the last few hours of relative calm before turning in early. There will be little sleep for the next few days and sustenance will be mostly ham and cheese sandwiches eaten on the fly.

At the time of writing (early Friday morning) the team are getting ready for technical and administrative scrutineering later in the morning. After this process is complete they will prepare for the evening start. The first car will depart from the podium at Reims town square at 7.00pm and our car, number 328, will leave about an hour and half later. After heading south on the nearly 24 hour “Concentration Run” they will hit their first service point at around midnight. Then they face the long drive to Monaco. The Concentration Run is unusually long run this year and goes all the way to Monaco and has a nasty sting in its tail: before the exhausted get to the Principality they will have to tackle a special regularity stage over the much dreaded Col de Turini.

Now, after it’s nearly time to see how the months of planning will pay off.  Tomorrow we will cover the progress made.

To be continued…

The Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team comprises:

Bill Richards: Driver
John Morrow: Co-Driver
John Griffin: Service Support and much abused Team Manager
Adam Cooke: Service Support