World Cup Rally 2001 –  A Midget's View (Part 1)

Sponsored by the Daily Telegraph amongst others, this event was intended for so called ‘show room’ vehicles up to 1400cc’s, although there were classes for diesel and larger cars. Originally it was intended to help sales of new cars and make the spectacle more interesting for the average driver, so that they may see how their car might perform rather than WRC cars, which are all one-off’s and bear little relation to show room models. I decided to try spoil the party and entered my 1967 MG Midget. The rules forced us to use a cast iron manifold, standard engine and standard suspension. The car was thus prepared with a low compression head giving us a mere 65 bhp at the flywheel due to the poor fuel we were probably to encounter.
The event started at Brooklands and went through France and Spain, down into Morocco then back to Spain, Portugal, Spain again and finally the ferry back to England where the rally finished some 3 weeks and 6500 miles later.  Myself and Tom Coulthard set off from Brooklands, car number 16 amongst all the modern machinery. I felt at first that even the road sections were going to be tight with high average speeds for my car - the Midget had a differential giving top speed of 75 mph in order to help us be competitive up the hill climbs we felt we would come across. However, this did not prove to be a problem.
Early on the second day in France came the first four special tests (selectives). These were all either on private tracks or roads closed by the police and gave us a taste of the things to come. Navigation was simple as the route was arrowed and target times set at about 90kph were given. Needless to say that these were not achieved throughout the rally, as the tracks were very rough, especially for the poor Midget. Were these special stages or not? It depends on how you look at it but certainly it was drive as fast as possible.
The way the tests were set out through the event was to give a start position with no precise end, although maximum test length information was given. It was therefore not possible to work out average speeds in advance. Penalties were one second per second during the tests but on road links sections were only 10 seconds per minute for lateness.
From France all competitors had to make their way to Marbella and could stop overnight on the way if they wished. The Midget was set at 5500 revs for 11 hours, stopping only for petrol. It didn’t miss a beat before we stopped in Madrid for a few hours break. Then off to Marbella where the rally reconvened ready to set off once more.
Out from Marbella, four tests were set. The first and third were at a private gun club with a maximum length of 4.82 km and the second and fourth on gravel roads, the maximum length 59.5km. Sheer drops on loose gravel on the first test kept the speeds down but being short it was not a great challenge. The longer tests can only be described as rough, the Midget cracking its windscreen on one of its landings. The road was full of rocks for about half the distance and I just wanted it to be over. Then it was back to Marbella for a well earned rest.
The following morning the rally set off and after a short ferry ride to Tangier a gentle run to Fez was given. The rally then started in earnest. Out from Fez the first test was on tarmac, which proved great for the Midget and we climbed into the top ten. The test was some 20km long, with passage controls on closed roads. Next came a hill climb, again on tarmac and I was beginning to think life would be easy. How wrong could I be?
Nearly a week into the rally we arrived at Marrakech. Two tests to go the following day then a day off. The first was to be the deciding test of the whole rally, 75km of unsurfaced rough piste. Mountain goats would not have walked down it. Certainly, no one thought the Midget would come out alive. Furthermore it climbed to 2500m. When we finally got to the end it appeared we had a remarkably good time but alas, no exhaust. We were later to realise that the back axle had been bent.
Off to the final test of the day. Tarmac again for 107km up a mountain. I was overjoyed when I reached the start to find it had been cancelled, as the police could not close the road. So we growled our way back to Marrakech a mere 160km away, flames leaping from the manifold.
A day off in Marrakech by the swimming pool. I should be so lucky. Both rear half shaft oil seals failed, steering rack loose, front trunions worn out, the exhaust to lash up and both passenger and drivers side bulkheads several inches closer to the seats. Along with much help from other rally crews we managed to rebuild it ready for the next onslaught. I was not the only one in trouble. I particularly felt for the rally backup repair staff, Peter and Betty Banham, Tony Fawkes and Andy Inskip who followed the rally and spent their time patching up the wounded cars when the rest of us ate and slept. So far I hadn’t needed them but I did use some of their equipment and a lot of their advice. Without them many cars would not have returned.
After the day off it was time to get back to the rough stuff. The first test being 41km on some of the narrowest tracks with sheer drops that I have ever driven on. The next test was shorter at only 9km but just as daunting. This was followed by a trek into Agadir. It should be noted that at most of the night stops Parc ferme applied, which meant you had to drive like a madman to get to the night stops, park up, do your repairs and then drive into the control to leave the car for the night.

Andrew Actman

Part 2 will be printed in January issue of Acorn.

The Acorn : December Edition