The Paperclix Jersey Rally 2007

12th/13th October 2007 - Report by Brian Cammack

I figure that it is time to treat you to a rally report of my own; well it is not too often that the bragging rights of an overall win come my way.

For those of you who are unaware or who have not heard the truth, the 2007 Jersey Rally actually started in 2006 for Simon and I. At the time of placing our entry in late June we where blissfully unaware that an alledged road traffic offence from 2006, which received no more than a verbal warning from the Clerk of the Course would lead to our entry being placed at the bottom of the reserve list instead of being seeded in the top ten. Yes the S__T did hit the fan with the Motor Sports Association, who in my opinion helped to bring the sport into disrepute, and a solicitor or two, and the Jersey Police all involved.

The fact is that one man decided to carry out a vendetta. Unfortunately it got a little out of control, grew arms and legs and with some help from website rumours there where suggestions of illegal recceing last year as well. The 2006 rally was the Escorts first, so fresh was it that we arrived a day late on the island not to mention a bit short of sleep. So this year, with a year of development behind the car and the recce sorted for the weekend before the rally we where feeling confident and well organised. Such a shame that our getting a run was in doubt until 30 minutes before the rally start.

However, start we did, slotted in behind car 13 with No. 80 on our doors. Ahead of our Mk11 Escort there where lots of ……..Escorts!!, with an odd Cosworth FWD at car 1, an Aston Martin at car 6 and a Focus at car 7. Cowards!!

The stages on Jersey are in the main quite short though very tight and technical. They are run in pairs, thus keeping road closures to a minimum with a short service before you head back for a repeat run and another run, and yet another. So yes, you do each stage four times, long before which you have found the limit, though with a total of 32 stages it is wise to leave a little room for error, if you can find any (room that is).

It wasn't long before the Jersey stages began to take their toll and the first casualty would be Chris Le Bonniec in the No. 1 Escort Cosworth who was sidelined when he hit a rock and damaged the suspension. Berian Richards, running at car 3 in his Mk11 would lose time with a detour into a field on stage 2, which also saw the start of a gear selection problem for Simon and I, but how serious was it? Should we change it or stick with it? The service time was only 20 minutes so we decided to make preparations for a change if needed after the next loop. As we tried to leave the service area the cause of the problem became more apparent; we had no reverse gear. So, now there was the added pressure of knowing that any small mistake could be very costly.

Stages 3 and 4 passed without serious incident for us and the other leading crews but once back in the service area it was all hands to the pump for our gearbox change. We would use four penalty free minutes of our lateness and now had to contend with lower ratios but the car felt good and results after stage 2 showed that we had a lead of 17 seconds. I will spare you Simon's comment, suffice to say that he was quite pleased. Second overall where Stuart and Theresa Fossey in their Mk11 with No. 2 on the doors, with Tyson Flath / Daniel Channing at car 23 a further 4 seconds adrift in their Subaru Impreza.

We had two more runs at these stages called St. Saviour and St. Martin without incident for us though Berian would be off again on stage 8 whilst another fancied driver, Steve Fleck in his MK11 would retire with manifold failure. Other drivers seeded in the top ten that where not making the grade where Dave Appleby, Aston Martin and Paul Cooper, Ford Focus which left Tyson Flath in his Impreza as the only interloper in the Escort party.

As a result of our gearbox change we found ourselves running behind Tyson on the road, no bad thing as he was currently laying third overall. That however was all about to change on the first run through St. Clement, the first of the Friday night stages. Tyson would plant the Impeza into a bank on a square left about a mile into the stage. Fortunately their OK board was waved at us and there was just enough room to pass, though the resultant time loss would cost us a dozen seconds or so. One of the big losers was Dave West who was given a notional time, dropping him from 5th to 10th with roughly a minute extra time penalty.

Stage 9 was the first run through the Victoria Avenue spectator stage which ran up and down the main promenade. With many man made chicanes and kerbs through car parks this stage would not be a favourite with the drivers, and how it complied with the Blue Book in its layout I am not too sure. However it was certainly an organisational achievement and brought the rally to the heart of Jersey and a reported three thousand spectators.

These stages would be repeated all evening though the Victoria Avenue stage was reversed and the final run through St. Clement was cancelled as the time ran out on the "road closure order". Following the demise of Tyson, stage 9 would be the last that we saw of Berian as his Head Gasket failed, so the overnight leader board read as follows.

1st Car 80 Mauger / Cammack Escort Mk11 53:28
2nd Car 2 Fossey / Fossey Escort Mk11 54:44
3rd Car 4 Baudains / Ollivro Escort Mk11 55:46
4th Car 16 Leonard / Leonard Escort Mk1 55:53
5th Car 12 Le Bailly / Touzel Escort Mk1 55:54

The Saturday stages would follow the same format though all during daylight hours and two of them, St. Ouen and Trinity where almost long enough to get your teeth into.

The first stage of the day, Bonne Nuit was damp and therefore slippy in places before it moved onto a very fast section along the coast road. A lock up approaching a junction early on in the stage made us a little cautious and on the fast section our low gearing saw us on the rev limiter for too long, all of which resulted in a net loss of 7 seconds to the Fossey's. Let battle commence!!

We made up for it, taking back 8 seconds on the first run through St. Ouen but after service could we do a better job on Bonne Nuit 2? We where just one second down on the fastest car, but that was not the Fossey's who lost about 10 seconds with a spin. After twenty stages our lead was now 1 minute, 28 seconds over the Fossey's with Jeremy Baudains a further minute and 5 seconds behind. Surely it would take a mechanical failure or bent panels to stop us now.

A measured approach was required as Simon and I have learnt from bitter experience that winning the Jersey Rally is not that straightforward. Three years ago we retired from third place when a very solid church wall intervened on stage 28, and five years ago (which was the rally's 20th anniversary) on my first attempt, we retired on stage 31 when leading and the cambelt let go. This year it would be the turn of others (see James Greenwood's report) to run into difficulties. Stephen Leonard would also retire the gaffer taped Mk1 from fourth place to leave just three of the top ten seeds and 37 of the 81 starters to cross the finish line.

In 2003 we where caught out by a combination of circumstances which included a bad pace note. With this in mind it is the first competitive run through a stage that is more likely to catch anyone out and thus the first runs through the final pair of stages, Grouville and Trinity would require extra caution. Though we didn't know it at the time, Grouville turned out to be a damp squid as the leading crews beat the bogey time. Trinity though was a different matter as it proved to be very slippery in places with traction at a premium. Fortunately for us there was no need for heroics, but for the brave who had the traction a rise to fifth place for another crew who started from the reserve list was on offer.

Thirty of the planned thirty two stages where run and although the Clerk of the Course may not have enjoyed our victory it seemed to be popular amongst the other leading crews. Thanks are due to the numerous members of our service and catering crew who all played a vital role. The final top placings where as follows.

1st Car 80 Mauger / Cammack Escort Mk11 130:06
2nd Car 2 Fossey / Fossey Escort Mk11 131:22
3rd Car 4 Baudains / Ollivro Escort Mk11 132:49
4th Car 12 Le Bailly / Touzel Escort Mk1 133:42
5th Car 76 Terry Barette / Dave Price Escort Cos. 134:26
6th Car 27 Dave west / Kieth Hounslow Pug 306 Maxi 134:52

Brian