A True Test of Men and Cars! (September 2008)
November 6th 2008 sees the start of the fifth Lombard Endurance Rally – the revival of British rallying at its most challenging…..a 4-day event running day and night following the legendary route of the 1971 RAC Rally. It starts and finishes in Harrogate, and over the four days takes in 50 venues across the North of England and the classic Scottish forests. As the rally regulations state, it’s a “true test of men and cars” although the Lombard organisers were heard to comment “gentlemen start your engines and watch your mirrors” when they received an entry form from Claire!
Competing on the Lombard is something new for the team and requires a number of changes from the usual stage rallies. For a start, the Subaru rallycar has been replaced with a 1995 1.3 Nissan Micra……swapping 275bhp for 75bhp! The co-driver is also different……this event sees fellow Subaru driver Rhidian Jones in the navigator’s seat. Although more used to having a steering wheel in his hands than a map (!), Rhidian’s mechanical expertise will be invaluable as the event requires the crews to service their own cars. Service vans, chase cars, motorhomes and helicopters are all forbidden……some say that competitors from the first revival Lombard in 2004 are still lost in the forests somewhere!
Preparation on the Micra is well underway, courtesy of Claire’s dad, Fairfield Motorsport and Pat Jerome Car Care. Car and crew will undergo some secret testing in a welsh forest very soon (!) as competing on gravel is a new discipline……all previous successes have been on tarmac. Keep an eye here for pictures of the new car and the test session.
In the meantime, if you’d like to support the team on the event, please contact Claire. You can also help them to raise money for Cancer Research UK as they compete on the Lombard Rally by clicking on the Justgiving link. |
