An alternative to Rose Pruning!
Retirement is an almost regal state. "You do it if it pleases you". In my case this has meant an enjoyable mix of IAM /Bikesafe training, bowling, Lions club activity , fund raising for Riders for Health, and last but not least enjoying my kit car. When I bought the car from the original builder he talked about the Guild of Motor Endurance and the four events the car had previously entered. Now I know the organisation sounds like a Japanese game show but it is aptly named as the events are typically 1500 miles plus on tough roads. A very good friend, Stuart Logan was daft enough to volunteer as navigator so it was "game on" for this years Espana Santiago Sportscar Challenge.
An experience of a lifetime, technically demanding, physically and mentally challenging, extremely competitive. That's how best to describe this years event.
For specialist sportscars, and with 48 cars entered, we started from Angouleme France on the morning of 17th September. We traversed Aquitane, the Atlantic Pyranees, Sierra de Demanda, Picos de Europa, Sierra de Ranadoiro, Ourense, then Peneda-Guerres to the finish in Santiago Spain. In all some 1560 miles in five days over mainly mountain roads with five timed stages per day and pure track events thrown in. Sounds tough? Believe it!
Our car was my Marlin Sportster fitted with a 2.8 litre V6 Ford petrol engine. Even so we had the lowest powered car in our "over 2 litre" class with 15 cars entered and no less than 10 of them V8 powered. "Oh boy, what had we let ourselves in for"?
Day 1 : Like rabbits startled in the headlights we were flagged off the line. Precise navigation using "tulip" rally route maps was essential for any prospect of success and Stuart was quickly showing considerable skill in his specialist department. The weather over the Pyranees played its part with thunder storms, fallen trees and finally fog providing horrendous driving conditions. Two cars left the road , but we survived and completed all stages on time with just one penalty point awarded by arrival in Pamplona and a start position of 7 going into day two. Beginner's luck or determination? You decide.
Day 2: The Picos de Europa are one of the most beautiful areas of Spain and did not disappoint on a clear warm day. Some excellent navigation and sometimes quick driving saw us with a total of just one more penalty point by the end of the day to move us up to start position 5 for day three. The pounding from the rough mountain roads had taken its toll and that night saw subtle persuasion with a hammer and file to realign our cars exhaust system. From a personal standpoint, the battle against physical and mental tiredness was now fully engaged.
Day 3: If the route was not tough enough, this day saw two real challenges. The first was a navigational error that required us to recover no less than 11 minutes over a thirty mile stretch of mainly single track mountain road. With Stuart's enthusiastic use of the extra passenger side mounted air horn button, and more pace than I care to confess, we made it with seconds to spare. The adrenaline had no time to subside with a timed track event following immediately. We could never hope to beat the many specialised performance cars taking part here but managed a very respectable 15/48 beating the required time and accruing no penalty points. To illustrate the pace of this "special" event, our winning car (a 350 hp Ariel Atom) took two seconds of the outright track record from a standing start to the absolute amazement of the track management! The remainder of the day saw a clean drive with no more penalties and a start position improvement to 4 going into day four.
Day 4: We now enjoyed the beauty of the Ourense region. Stuart was working very hard and had truly mastered the navigational/timing skills. We drove quickly when needed and had learnt when it was possible to ease the load (a little) on both ourselves and the car. Another track event saw us again with no penalty points and a similar ranking, but there was more to come! The event requires all competitors to be self reliant with no back up vehicles and running repairs an integral part of the challenge. We suffered a stress fracture on a front mudguard bracket in the afternoon and lost 12 minutes effecting temporary repairs. Yet more "spirited" pace was required over the remaining 40 miles but we pulled into the stage on time. Another day with no penalty points to enter the final day in third place. That evening saw us searching out a local Portuguese welder to repair our damaged brackets. Typical of the Portuguese nature, he would accept no payment for his work, just delighted to help these eccentric Brits!
Day 5: Quick was just becoming normal by now and we knew that absolute concentration by both of us was needed to hold/ improve our position. The Lotus Elise in joint first place ahead of us was suffering from partial rear suspension collapse, so losing time and having penalty points was a possibility for them. We were both very tired by this time but encouraged each other stay sharp. This was certainly needed as sheep appeared round quite a few mountain bends this day. One incident in the afternoon typified the local's reaction to us: A team of road menders had fully blocked the road as they tipped asphalt from their lorry. Seeing us (braking hard) they immediately shifted the lorry and equipment , waving us through with cheers and encouragement to accelerate flat out away from them. Now would that happen here? Entering Santiago and heading for the last checkpoint we had 6 minutes in hand and all was well till we hit gridlock. Bullying tactics on my part met with only partial success so it was Stuart's skills as a class one car/bike rider that saved us. "just trust me and do exactly as I say" were his opening words. The rest is best left untold but we slewed to a halt at the last checkpoint with exactly 8 seconds to spare to complete the day with no further penalty points. Job done!
We had finished in third place overall , just one point behind the winners and had won our "over 2 litre" class outright by a 5 point margin. Elation overcame exhaustion as we reflected on our achievements at the dinner/awards ceremony that night. A glass of wine or two may just have enhanced the "glow"!
The memories are still flashing back, the scenery, the camaraderie, the waving people as we passed through villages, the pace and a set of tyres destroyed in a week!
Would we do it again? Don't even think about standing in our way, and yes "it really pleased me".
Pete Crowther