Feb
15
BWRDC Blog – Rallye Monte Carlo (Part 2)
Monte Carlo- Part 6 Day 5: Friday 20 January – Day 3 of the rally
(from Twitter) Well here we are in Monte Carlo 
OMG – we are in Monte Carlo!
Before I say ANYTHING about the rally I have to tell you we are in a great little apartment in Cap d’Ail, next door to Monaco, with an amazing view overlooking the sea. There is an infinity pool which looks really tempting too and I have to keep reminding myself it’s only 12 degrees. I am also quite excited to be just round the corner from Nigel de Wallens (Cat – an old friend of mine who I haven’t seen in a few years) who it would be very nice to catch up with if possible 
Back to the rally – we all thought we would be outside the top 60 on Friday and be able to park the car up and watch a bit on Saturday and Sunday. All the crews would like to get some sleep and it would help the budget. Equally we are all really excited to be here
Today’s stages have been overshadowed by the amount of road mileage we have all had to do. The whole rally has moved 4 & 1/2 hours south, which meant packing our bags, cars, service truck and loading up the trailer with my GT as we are using the recce car. We headed out to the stages first to make the ice notes, followed by the rally crew. Meanwhile the service crew were in Valence waiting for the rally crew to come back in from the stages, and then had to stay behind to pack everything up. The service guys headed south on the autoroute, while the rest of us had to follow the rally route taking us east and then south via Sisteron, Digne-les-Bains and Nice.
From the start of SS14 to the TC in at Monte Carlo the time allowed for the rally crew was 4h45!! It’s not often that appears on a time card. The total distance from the end of the stage was 238.67km. It’s now gone midnight and we have just eaten dinner. Fortunately they weren’t ham and cheese sandwiches, which is all we’ve been managing to eat! Big thanks go to Stefan’s dad Andrew who has been doing all the cooking and sandwich making – he has kept us all going.
Tomorrow’s two stages are run twice but happily the first car is not due until 13:15 so we will all get some rest.
One thing is now on our minds – the Col de Turini!
Monte Carlo - Part 7 Day 6: Saturday 21 January – Day 4 of the rally
(from Twitter) View from the balcony http://lockerz.com/s/176372388 (Cat – the balcony of our apartment in Cap d’Ail)
What a day!! Two amazing stages, really what you think of as typical Monte stages. Bend after bend, sheer drops, low stone parapets and sweeping hairpin descents into narrow valleys. The scenery is simply stunning. You can see why it grabs people to come back year after year.
The spectators have been amazing today. They have walked miles into the stages to stand there for hours. There was a 4h 23min gap for them to wait to see the cars twice through the stages. To park anywhere near the stage they had to be there well before the T-cars (us) went through, and we were driving through 2 and 1/2 hrs before the stage was due to start. As we approached the first stage, there were cars parked all along the narrow road for about three miles. People were still driving in and turning round to come back down the extremely steep hill to try and park. Then to get anywhere to view more than just one corner they had to walk a long way up the hill a few km into the stage. Some had obviously been camping out in cars or motorhomes since the night before to ensure a good spot. Any car passing through was guaranteed a cheer, even our 1.2 Clio which must have seemed woefully slow. By the time we went through the stages for the second time it was dark and lots of fires were burning like beacons on the hillside and we were nearly blinded by flash as they took pictures of us. In the digital age it’s hard to imagine that most of them won’t get binned, and we think they were taking pictures of any car they could see!
We had a late night last night by the time we’d finished the long run into Monte Carlo and found our apartment. We were all so tired we were laughing at the silliest things. Eventually we got to bed at 03:30. Luckily the schedule – decried by many as “not proper rallying” – meant we had a much later start and could catch up on our sleep somewhat. So, yes I agree, there is too much road mileage, but if you had to do it they have worked the schedule out pretty well so you finally get some sleep just at the point when you think you can’t take any more!
We set off for the run out to the stages about 11:00. When you get to a certain point on the road into the stage there are Gendarmes everywhere stopping the public driving into the stages, but the T-cars have passes which allow them to breeze right through. It’s a weird feeling driving up to an arrival control with no-one there to take your time card!
After we had done our passes through the stages we stopped at the end and walked back into the final hairpin to watch the first few cars go through. The first car through was a pre-00 driven by Jean Ragnotti, who in typical crowd pleasing style was on the handbrake 20 yards before the corner!! The drivers who followed may have been quicker but none were better to watch.
It was quite sad to be driving down the stages for the last time knowing that was the final stage of the rally for us. The crew don’t really need us to check the last stage as it is a final 5km showcase close to Monaco and we need to leave for home as soon as we can in the morning. We’ll miss out on the after party I am sure they will have. It’s a shame because it would be a great way to round off what has been a fantastic experience. Louise and Stefan have done a great job to get this far, driving the whole rally virtually on sight as their recce notes simply were not up to the job. They will leave the rally having learnt a massive amount. It really is a completely new level with so many things to take on board. As a privateer team on a limited budget they have achieved something amazing. Our fingers are crossed that nothing goes wrong for them tomorrow and that they enjoy every second of the final day.
As for us, we’ll be heading north.
Monte Carlo – Part 8 Day 7: Sunday 22 January -·rally – Day 5
(from Twitter) We’re now on the DFDS ferry from Dunkerque. Made it in 11 hours dead from Monaco but picked up a speeding fine on the way #fail
The final day!!
In reality the final day of the rally for us was Saturday, but of course Louise and Stefan still had to get through the “Power Stage” while we were on the motorway heading for home. No ice notes required on that stage when it’s 17 degrees in Monte Carlo…
In the end Louise and Stef did what they had to do to get round and finish the rally. What a fantastic achievement for them, a privateer team on a miniscule budget.
Meanwhile it was a 100mph dash for us, up the Autoroute du Soleil and the Autoroute des Anglais. Apologies to France for shattering your speed limits. We had a lovely stop en-route to catch up with Nigel De Wallens for an hour – he fed us enough coffee to get us to the first fuel stop.
While we were blasting past Reims we took the opportunity to have a quick look at the old Reims-Gueux Circuit d’Essais. It’s been sympathetically kept alive by the friends of the circuit (http://www.amis-du-circuit-de-gueux.fr/).The place is full of ghosts. It was used for racing from the 20′s to the late 60′s/ early 70′s and was on the very first Grand Prix calendar in 1950. Race winners included Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Jack Brabham, Jochen Rindt, Denny Hulme and Peter Collins among others. Now it’s just the old pit buildings and timekeepers on one side of the D27 faced by the grandstands on the other. It is well worth a side trip if you are ever passing.
Ignoring our stop at Nigel’s and the side-trip to Reims, the trip to Dunkerque took 11 hours. Sadly the trip back from Dover seemed to take nearly as long! We had to stop for a nap halfway and eventually got home about 02:30. The round trip was a total of 1924 miles (the Alfa went on the rally trailer from Valence to Monaco), plus the rally mileage we did in the Clio, where we followed the rally route (for all but three stages) and road sections. What an amazing experience it has been and a lot of fun along the way. Big thanks to Louise Cook and Stefan Davis and the crew Andrew, Steve and Gary for the opportunity and for making us so welcome – and well done to all.
A final word – the ice note crew are available for the 2013 Monte Carlo rally!