The rally was held in bright sunshine with a 50 mile route into the Gloucestershire Cotswolds and the lowland plain around Broadway in Worcestershire.
With Documentation at the Olde Hobnails Inn competitors were provided with much of the route information. The first section defined by thirteen grid references with directions of approach and the final third of the route shown on marked map extracts. The middle route section was handed to navigators on the start line as they left at one minute intervals from 11.30 am and comprised a list of spotheights and map symbols linking the thirteenth grid reference to the start of the marked maps.
Two Historic Rally Car members led the field of five, followed by the modern MG TF 160 of Roger King and two vintage Austin 7s following behind. There were six secret time controls to monitor adherence to the required average speed of 24 mph – and 20 mph for the vintage cars. In addition there were eight passage control boards to record with a 5 minute penalty if missed.
Paul Mills and Nick Cooper in their Volvo Amazon lost only 3 seconds into the first control and went on to win the rally with a total of 105 seconds of penalties. In second place Roger King with Steve Wright missed one passage board for a total of 443. Third place and best vintage were Stephen Kaye and Malcolm Hatfield in their Austin 7 Ruby. John Worthing and John Cadwallader in their Triumph TR2 got themselves in a muddle with the on route plotting and Adrian and Nettie Bradshaw had to retire in their Austin 7 Chummy after overheating on the climb up into the Cotswolds.
After a late lunch at the Hobnails, mugs with MGCC emblem were handed out to class winners. Three marshal crews and all the competitors had enjoyed a relaxed day of motorsport. My thanks to all for taking part in the rally, competitors and especially the marshals.
Click this link to see the results for the event
Bob Blackstock
