Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Wednesday 30th January 2013, Common Section Pt1


At the close of Wednesday we have now completed an additional 4 ZRs. The final Team GB standings  after ZR 10 are as follows:


69th (was 71st) - Roberts / Tomlinson - Fiat

125 (was 157) - Vines / Moss - Mini Cooper S

129 (was 126) - Ring / Cave - Datsun 240Z

132 (was 130) - Ostle / Brack - Mini Cooper S

172 (was 142) - Mustarde / Thorp - Alfa

201 (was 217) - Richards / Morrow - Mini Cooper S

RTD - Imp - O'Nions,/ Wilkinson

We started out from Valence from Valence again toward the next night halt at Gap on a beautiful warm sunny morning. The news was that much of the anticipated ice and snow had melted and that we would be treated to one of the least snowy Rallye Monte Carlo Historiques I have ever known.

ZR7 - Col de Gaudissart / La Chapelle enV. We had news of ice, but it was suggested that much of it would have gone by the time we got there. In the event there was a substantial amount of ice which caused some folks to have a difficult time. We passed a Healey 3000 and and Alfa digging themselves out of snow banks - 81st here.

ZR8 - St Barthelemy. Icy in places, but passed without incident - 95th.

ZR9 - Chillanne / Col de Menee. Had to be driven very hard, twisty on the way up, but great corners for sliding the car round - 61st

ZR10 - Col d'Esperaux - Extremely twisty everywhere, lots of large fallen rocks lying in the road. Very icy over the top, several cars in snow banks digging furiously. A very difficult stage - 97th.

As we came into final service before Gap we had left hand indicator and front headlamp not working. Corrosion had got into the indicaor bulb holder and the headlamp connector block behind the front grille. All easily resolved.


In the Mini standings Wednesday results are:

- 68 (was 51st) - Picquier

- 125 (was 157th) - Vines - New Class 11/1 leader

- 132 (was 130th & Class 11/1 leader) - Ostle

- 155 (was 141st) - Arnal

- 163 (was 149th) - Nakagawa

- 158 (was 165th) - Hart

- 198 (228th) - Burnier

- 201 (was 217th) - Richards

- 209 (was 227th) - McAlpine

- 257 (was 269th) - Gary

Pictured here are my service team of Nigel Chetwynd and Lisa Thornton, with co-driver Peter Moss fixing the lights on CRX, and secondly with Ginger Ostle and Isabelle Brack anmd Minis in Gap Parc Ferme.

Fixing the left hand headlamp and indicator near Tallard
Gap Parc Ferme - with Ginger Ostle and Isabelle Brack

 Photo: Lisa - Queueing to get through Gap Control

 Anthony and Tessa Harts Mini in Gap Parc Ferme

 Photo: Lisa - Gap MTC - Crossing the ramp

Here a 30 minute video of the best of the days action through the windscreen of CRX89B Austin Mini Cooper S



Tuesday 29th January - Classification Section Pt 2

The final team GB standings from yesterday Classification section part 1 - ZRs 1 and 2

63rd - Roberts / Tomlinson - Fiat

142 - Mustarde / Thorp - Alfa

177 - Ostle / Brack - Mini Cooper S

179 - Vines / Moss - Mini Cooper S

184 - Ring / Cave - Datsun 240Z

213 - Richards / Morrow - Mini Cooper S

The Hillman Imp of Geof O'Nions has sadly retired with gearbox problems


On Tuesday 29thJanuary  we started out from Valence in number order, so at 287 we were well toward the back. The first cars left at 7.30am, and our turn came at about 11.00am. The weather is warm and sunny, and little or no snow on the roads was expected.

ZR 3 - Les Ollieres was a nightmare. A very long, tight and twisty section where it was necessary to push hard all the time. We got the speed for our timing wrong in here and pushed too hard, overtaking two cars and catching a third, so we collected some more penalties. 249th in this one.

ZR4 - Albon / Le Cheylard was better - 104th

ZR5 - St Bonnet Le Froid was completely devoid of snow - nothing at all. It was so dull to drive around in the dry that I nearly went to sleep. Big improvement here - 45th. Top Mini and equal to last years 1962-65 Category winner in a Volvo 122 Amazon.

ZR6 - Lalouvesc / Col de Bouisson was fantastic - I know this one reasonably well. The tricky bit starts with a really awkward downhill hairpin, which is so steep as to be almost like a step, and then you have to drive like the wind through a whole series of extremely narrow a twisty sections to stay on time. Exceptionally pleased to have got a 17th finish position through here, and soundly beat the Volvo, and top Mini again.

At the end of Tuesday after ZR 6 the final Team GB standings are:

71st - Roberts / Tomlinson - Fiat - going really well for the team and leading Brits

126 - Ring / Cave - Datsun 240Z

130 - Ostle / Brack - Mini Cooper S

157 - Vines / Moss - Mini Cooper S

158 - Mustarde / Thorp - Mini Cooper S

217 - Richards / Morrow - Mini Cooper S


In the Mini standings Tuesday results are:

- 51st - Picquier

- 130th - Ostle

- 141st - Arnal

- 149th - Nakagawa

- 157th - Vines

- 165th - Hart

- 217th - Richards

- 227th - McAlpine

- 228th - Burnier

- 269th - Gary


Pictured here are Bill Richards commiserating with Geoff O'Nion and David Wilkinson after they had retired their Imp at Valence with seized gearbox.

Second picture is at St Agreve time control with Vines, Arnal and Richards red and white Cooper S types queing to check in.

David Wilkinson, Bill Richards, and Geof O'Nion

Red and white Minis everywhere - it could be from a different time - 1965?


Photo: Nicolas Nogue.  Pushing hard


 
A comparion of Mini offices - PRX720B of Richards / Morrow above and CRX89B of Vines / Moss below.

St Agreve - service for Bill

St Agreve service for Al, Peter and Nigel

Replica works Saab and Healey

Photo: Nicolas Nogue.  Not so much snow in the Ardeche this year

Photo: Auto-BMC - Gary / Blumenthal

Photo: Mini Spares - Richards / Morrow

Here a 30 minute in car video with extracts of the best of the four stages today.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Monday 28th January - Classification Section Pt1 - ZR 1 and 2

A quick overview - no snow too warm. ZR 1 Burzet went ok, came out 50th. ZR2 Antraigues better, and wound up 40th. Picked up penalties - possible check in too early at Blod - now 170th!

Roof top breakfast for Nigel and Lisa the morning after the Concentration run


Peter Moss wrestling with the Halda gears

Team GB - Mustarde and Thorpe catch 40 winks after the Concentration Run at valence MTC


Photo: Lisa.  Nigel setting up to receive us at Beauchastel service


Photo: Auto-BMC.  Anthony and Tessa Hart driving for Team Auto-BMC


Photo: Nicolas Nogue.  Team GB - Al Vines and Peter Moss pushing on in ZR1 Burzet


Team GB - David Ring and Willy Cave


Bustling service area at Burzet

Here a 20 minute video of ZRs 1 and 2

Sun / Mon 27th / 28th January - Concentration Run

We started as planned at 7.00pm from Reims Centre and set off for the Passage Controls at Sezanne, Bar sur Aube, and Langres. We arrived at Langres around midnight and all was well. The trouble started at Champagnole where snow began to fall heavily. We were running 145 x 10 Black Rocket studded tyres, which proved to be the right choice. Our passage over the Col de la Croix de la Serra in deep snow was interrupted by a small collection of stuck rally cars trying to untangle themselves. We had to wait several minutes before being able to push past. A Volvo 122 Amazon which we had been following closely lost it in the grande manner in front of us and lunged into a snow bank - nearly taking us with him. The Col de Granier, also laden with snow,  was challenging but well ploughed and had an alarming amount of civilian traffic going up and down. The time control at Annecy was thick with snow, and inspite of pushing hard we only had 7 minutes in hand. We got to our final destination at Valence with a clean sheet  and without further incident.


A trio of E-Types at the busy start in Reims


Bar sur Aube Passage Control



The snow starts to fall hard at Champagnole.


Langres Control at about midnight  - the last warm meal until day break. Peter, Lisa and Nigel enjoying their soup



Film: - 'The Concentration Run' - 2013 Rallye Monte Carlo Historique - 40 minutes of fun filled action on the very snowy run from Reims to Valence.




Sat / Sun 26th & 27th January 2013 - Pre Rally Preparation

The Reims Auto Club put on a pre-rally dinner at the Novotel, Tinquex for the teams as a welcome on Saturday night. We had the company of Team GB members David Ring in the Datsun 240Z and David Mustarde in the Alfa Guilietta. As we have a very long day tomorrow it is not a great idea to get too much into the swing of things.

Sunday morning was taken up with washing the car, filling up with petrol and diesel and doing all those last minute things to get everything in its right place for the long night run.

Scrutineering is at the Place des Expositions in the south of Reims, where we go through the beaurocracy of documentation and physical examination of the car. Here we got snagged on a most unexpected issue - the absence of an exterior rear view mirror. My car has never had one, and we have competed in the last two years without the mirror, and this year we were not allowed to start without one. On Sunday in France everything is closed, so we had to make one - see the picture.

At 3.00pm we are sent down to the start from the Town Hall in the centre of Reims town, and finally pushed off at 7.00pm.

The weather has changed significantly, and we set off into a cool night with heavy rain in the forecast. The snows and icy roads had largely all gone.


Team GB at Pre-rally dinner in the Novotel Reims


Make shift exterior mirror - as prescribed by the regs, and French road law - A learning point for next year!



This years Discovery service barge all kitted out and ready to go


Washing the car in the rain - Car park of the Novotel, Tinqueux in Reims




The Mini Spares team of Bill Richards and John Morrow all ready for the off in Monte Carlo



Waiting in the road outside the scrutineering shed at the Place des Expositions, Reims, before being taken down to the city centre by a police escort.


Glasgow starters arriving in a packed Reims starting area outside the Town Hall









January 25th 2012 - Rack, Stack and Pack

Welcome to Team CRX89B blog site for the 2013 Rallye Monte Carlo Historique.

This year our team comprises of old hands Al Vines, Peter Moss as co-ydriver, and Nigel Chetwynd in charge of servicing. We welcome Lisa Thornton to support Nigel in our brilliant Land Rover Discovery service vehicle.

We are once again competing in our trusty 1964 2293cc Austin Cooper S - CRX89B. We are competing as part of a team of seven cars - Team GB Rallye Monte Carlo Historique 2013.

We have spent all day preparing the Disco and packing all our stuff. It is now after midnightf and In a few hours time we shall be leaving for the coast.

The weather has become very unpleasant, with heavy rain onto ice and snow making for some interesting driving conditions.

I have included some pictures of CRX in the ice and snow, team members at our team day January 20th, and our team logo.

End.

The snows of Great Britain



Team GB Logo for 2013 - Thank you Mini Spares Ltd.




Team GB get together pre-event - chez David & Alison Ring



Team CRX89B sponsors - Mini Spares Ltd., Plastics 4 Performance, Mini World Magazine.


Kitting out the Land Rover Discovery service barge - 'Snowy the snowman' keeping an eye on progress.


Queueing in the lanes at Dover waiting for a ship

It has been a long day already, and it is only lunch time.


Offloading ready to do the Halda and tyre calibration runs



Saturday, January 26, 2013

Saturday 26th January, Tyre Calibration in France

We had a good run down to the coast in beautiful sunshine, light traffic and without hold up. Fish'n chips on the ferry and a nap saw us refreshed for the tyre calibration run down the auto route to Reims.

Time, speed and distance are everything on this rally, so it is vital to to ensure that every set of tyres are assessed against the Halda Twinmaster distance recorder.

We incurred a minor inconvenience with a broken wheel stud that was quickly changed, but otherwise all is well and every thing is now set up.

The car is loaded back onto the trailer and we have another 50km to run to Reims for our overnight halt before the start tomorrow evening.

End

Wheel & Tyre calibration - Lisa & Nigel change wheel & tyre assemblies, while Peter attends to adjustments to the Halda distance recorder.


Broken front wheel stud - fortunately we had plenty of spares.


L-R: Willy Cave, Al Vines, Peter Moss, David Ring