|
Rallye Sunseeker 24th February
Leaving Kent & Surrey in flurries of snow, the Elcombs, the Dawsons, Daren Hall and Sarah, Chris Scudder & Chin were pleasantly surprised to find the weather to the South bright and sunny, if a bit chilly in the shade. Roger Sawyers had his Croydon hat on today, being the Passage Control Chief. We had three Passage Controls to man, with a timetable that might mean a bit of an overlap in the afternoon. As Croydon were a couple of people short, Chris moved on up the road to assist Phil Sullivan and Jerry Rogers with their PCs fair exchange for the amount of marshalling they have done for us over the years. The first two controls were close to stage finishes, as the competitors joined the highway to go to service or the next stage. There we had to collect time cards for phoning in to HQ to keep the results really up to date. A couple of us would do a bit of traffic control, slowing Joe Public to help the rally cars out onto the road. Gareth Hurford-Jones and Emma turned up at the second control to help out, which let Mark Dawson take Daren's Sarah off into the woods for a bit of........ spectating! The third was a well-known pull-in off the road at the entrance to a caravan park, just down the road from Avon Park, which was used a good number of times during the day in various guises and is well known to Andy & Viv E and Gareth. Whilst a PC isn't exactly an exciting post, you do get to see all of the cars close up and with the crew a little more relaxed than at the stage start or finish controls. It's also a good chance to have a quick chat to acquaintances or celebrities and ask them how they are getting on or how they managed the damage to the car! Tony Jardine wasn't particularly forthcoming about his excursion, but Louise Goodman and Maurice Hamilton were quite chirpy, albeit running near the back of the field. Quite often a crew might use a bit of the space near us to change a puncture or check the car over before continuing. We were pleased to be able to provide plenty of water to one Escort Cosworth early on who had pretty severe problems, and even happier to see him through our last control later. 7Oaks member John Van Camp made it through the rally, ending up 12th in class in his Group N Mitsubishi, but he wasn't saying much either! How about a few words for your plans this year John? (My e-mail address etc is at the front of this issue, John - ED) Surprisingly, we encountered little heavy traffic congestion on the roads this year and were able to convince the few members of public that tried, that driving into the stage the wrong way wasn't a very good idea. The police seemed pretty relaxed too, and weren't aware of any traffic problems. The most noticeable thing was the sheer number of Subaru Imprezas that were running around spectating. We only saw a couple of the " Wally Brigade" in tarted-up Novas or similar. You all know the types, revving up, booting it in 1st & 2nd and then having to jump on the anchors, thump, thump from the sounds, baseball caps on backwards just what you need for good PR! Shame some of these clowns can't spend their money on proper competition if they think they are that good. Mind you, the first bit of that sounds like competing at North Weald doesn't it! So, from 77 starters we saw 52 cars through our last control, with only a quick squirt along the seafront to go before the finish. The Elcombs shot back into Bournemouth to drop off the signage and last lot of paperwork, whilst everyone else started off for home. A long day, but satisfying in the knowledge that we had played a part in the smooth running of a serious event. Andy Elcomb |
