World Cup Rally 2001 –  A Midget's View (Part 2 cont. from December 2001 issue)

The following day saw more of the same and here on the second test we were to get a puncture but we drove on through the final five kilometres before changing the wheel at the end. The roads were so rough you didn’t really know if you had a puncture or not. Next day – Day 11 – a short one this. Only 415km, which was to end with no hotel halt but a night under canvas in the desert at Merzouga. This was preceded by a 20km dash into the desert with 3 passage controls, the route given by spotting the odd pole in the distance. This was very much like Paris-Dakar, i.e. lots of sand with the possibility of getting bogged down. What was left of my exhaust finally parted company from the car. In some ways I was pleased as I was so fed up with re-fixing it after every control. During that evening at the Bivouac, crew after crew came up to ask ‘was that your exhaust we ran over?’ Yet no one bothered to pick it up. Many drinks later lying under the stars I wondered if I was sane when I felt it start to rain inside the tent. It was raining. They’re not used to it in those parts so water proofing is not thought about. More of the rain later.
In the morning we had a 20km stage back to civilisation at Erfoud, where during a morning break I once again started rebuilding bits of pipe I had managed to scrounge. I was looking forward to the afternoon test on tarmac, which the Midget had proved to be very competitive on. However this was 200km away and our next adventure beckoned. The rains were continuing and I knew from past experience that the roads could soon flood and become impassable. We travelled toward Midelt and the water was getting deeper and deeper until we finally came across a queue of traffic headed by the clerk of the course at a river crossing. The water level was higher than our car.
A passage control was set up and the following test cancelled and instructions were given to drive straight to Fez some 300km away. There was nothing to do but wait for the water to subside and then go for it. After several hours we, along with the rest of the rally, chose first gear, slipped the clutch and made a bow wave at 5500 revs to ensure that water was not sucked into the engine. We emerged at the other side to great cheers, as the Midget was the lowest car. Great thanks to Paul Carter and Jeff Deering who waited on the other side just in case we needed to be rescued. The works Peugeot in front of us flooded. The air filter for the cars is at a low level and although the engine was switched off immediately the damage later took its toll.
We set off through more smaller floods until we reached Midelt. The centre of town was under water and the main road through was washed away, a rally Toyota Corolla sat in the middle of it, not going anywhere. The rally was set on a muddy route around this town where we were told we would be able to pass. It seemed like every lorry in Morocco, every car and every child was along this re-route. When we stopped children jumped on the car and hands flew inside trying to get free gifts.
Dusk was approaching when we finally saw the centre of town with the raging torrent. There was no way the Midget could get through it. I was soaking wet, irritable and fed up but Tom in the hot seat next to me shouted words of encouragement like ‘Go for it!’ and we did. The locals were standing on the opposite side of the torrent shouting directions as most of the road had collapsed. Halfway across, the water was pouring over our knees and the engine started to die. ‘Whatever you do, don’t stop!’ shouted Tom as the exhaust burbled beneath the water. The kids came to the rescue and gave us a shove. All of a sudden the Midget roared out the other side, much to the surprise of everyone, especially myself.
We stopped at the nearest garage and let out some of the water but the seats were soaking. Then we drove to Fez for the next three hours, by which time it was total darkness. On arrival we were overjoyed in that we had been one of the few leading crews to get through without a tow. Some of the leading crews were towed and should have received a penalty but the organisers in their wisdom decided to neutralise the rally from the morning stop, thus meaning we had gained nothing for our efforts.
After a good night’s sleep we then had a run back to Tangier the following day, then back to Marbella where the following day was supposed to be a day off. The rally organisers decided to re-scrutineer during this day off, before the rally set off for Portugal, to ensure that all the cars were roadworthy and their exhausts intact.  Tom set off in one direction to find exhaust pipes (not easy on a public holiday) and I went off in search of suspension parts. It was a lovely surprise when I reached the hotel to find the car on four axle stands and the front and rear suspension stripped by other competitors ready for the rebuild. We made the scrutineering with a half-hour to spare.
The rear passenger side half shaft was rubbing against the axle case following our bending of the axle but I thought it might last the trip. We set off the next day on a convoy run to Badajoz some 420km away. Everything was okay until all of a sudden along a straight piece of road the half shaft parted company with the axle taking with it the rear brakes. The result was a lot of smoke and a small fire at the back. We rolled to a stop, having no brakes, and started the rebuild. The nut holding the stub axle had worn through the thread so a hasty repair with the help of the rally sweep was affected by drilling the nut and inserting the pin. This lasted the rest of the day.
When we reached Badajoz we decided to try and straighten the back axle. The axle was removed, wedged in a drain and a body press used to affect the repair. As luck would have it the hotel had a mig welder and the securing nut was welded to the axle case. This meant the rear oil seal was u/s and oil leaked from the differential on right hand bends from here on in. Also, the new shock absorbers we had fitted failed and meant we had to do the remaining days on rear springs alone. Great thanks to Peter Banham and Betty. Peter’s skill with the body press and his flair for innovative ideas had the car stripped and back together in 2 hours.
The next 2 days had stages used on the Tap rally, including a 14km stage at Arganil and the Fafe stage with the famous jump. It was time to preserve the car so jumping was out and our strategy was to try to maintain position. On tarmac stages we were able to catch the car in front and with 2 stages to go he was only 43 seconds in front. We went for it and nearly overtook him but remained 15 seconds behind when we reached the end of the competitive sections at Santander, 17 days after we had started.
For us this was the end of the rally but for the works Peugeot there was still one more crisis to overcome. Although it was one over a week since the floods in Midelt, the motorway cruise from Santander to Bilbao was too much for the Peugeot and a rod went through the side of the engine. This was almost certainly as a result of the water damage. They were in 2nd position and luckily for them the boat was delayed for some three hours. During this time the rally mechanics plugged the holes with filler and jammed a broken piston into the bore to run the engine on three cylinders. The oil pump was completely smashed and Peugeot delivered a brand new one to the dockside at Portsmouth. Miraculously the car ran and made it to the finish at Brooklands for the finish.
What an adventure! We finished in 8th position on what was by far the toughest event I have ever been involved with. At the prize giving we were awarded a true grit award as most of the crews thought it unlikely that the Midget would ever finish, let alone in the top 10. The final results were as follows:
 

1.	Donie Keating/Nick Condon	Volkswagen Polo
2.	Barbara Armstrong/Alyson Marlow	Peugeot 206 LX
3.	David Johnson/Robert Johnson	Proton Satria
4.	Andy Dawe/Simon Sparey	MG ZR
5.	Paul Carter/Geoff Dearing	Vauxhall Nova
6.	Shirley Greenaway/Andrew Johnson	MG ZR
7.	Richard Butler/Tobin Gordon	Renault Clio
8.	Andrew Actman/Tom Coulthard	MG Midget
9.	Nicky Porter/Malcolm Sinclair	Mitsubishi Spacestar
10.	Stephen Hodge/Jonathon Soames-Waring	Vauxhall Corsa

Andrew Actman

The Acorn : January Edition