First trip of 2015 for Mr and Mrs Clampit

[martinjdover]

930 miles and an average of 23mpg (seemed to be a headwind whichever way we went), 7 nights and many counties later we returned home to Poole. No campsite fees as we wildcamped in some lovely locations in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and The Peak District.












photo libre

Saw one other demountable a Navara with Suntrekker in the Cotswolds.

Reason for the trip - cousins 50th Wedding Anniversary in Cambridge and my 60th birthday pressie - driving rally prepared Mk2 Escorts in Yorkshire, and visiting lots of friends - sorry we failed to hook up Mark.

Even got to do some greenlaning in Leicestershire on the way home.

All in all a great, if tiring trip.

[Peaky]

Looks like you had a good trip Martin & a drive in a Mk2 as well
Your seed of car 4 is pretty good ! Where did you come overall ???
How often did you put a smile on your face when it was Sideways ???

Andy

[richc]

Ah mark2 2 escort, my 1st car , took us from brighton to the mountains many a time when i was a student, mine was the 1300 estate though, still went sideways well though

Glad you enjoyed leicestershires lanes, good couple of fords (the water type) not far from me

Rich

[martinjdover]

Andy

I rallied Mk 1 and 2 Escorts back in the late 70's early 80's all over the UK - interestingly including Seaton Ross Airfield in Yorkshire. What Jan got me for my birthday was a driving experience rather than an event which was held at Seaton Ross so number 4 does not relate to a seeding but just to the car allocated to me.
There were eight on the course and I'm pleased (should that be relieved) that I was fastest on all the timed runs. This was a disappointment to a chap who currently races Porsche's so he's used to sideways action.

Martin

[Peaky]

Martin,

So a fastest time then ? That's good to hear
I'm off with a mate to the Manx National at the end of next week. We run a WRC Subaru which will hopefully be seeded in the top 12 with a bit of luck. If we get a top 10 result then we'll be happy as the competition is very strong with it being a round of the National tarmac championship. At least we'll be wife free for a few days with some decent rallying action & a few beers to wash it down
Where did you rally up North ?

Andy

[Bookend]

It looks like you had a great first trip.

[martinjdover]

Andy

My best result in a "real" event back in 1978 was second overall and first in class in a Mk2 Escort 1300 (tuned to give 125bhp but not a lot of torque). This was the era of RS1800's, TR8's, Avenger Tigers and Cooper S 1430's so I was rather pleased with myself. The 2.1 litre RS2000 I was driving on Friday was much more forgiving and had bags of torque and a really nicely set up chassis - made me think for a second I'd like to do it again (but only for a second - sense prevails). Though historic rallying does rather appeal.
I've never driven one of the new generation 4WD rally machines but Kev Rowledge, who I know, has rallied Subaru WRC and Focus WRC as well as RWD Escorts and says that the Escorts are a lot harder and more physical to drive.

Martin

[Peaky]

Back in the day with the 'old school' cars eh ! I see your friend Kev likes the 'Twigs'. We must be 'Softies' being into the Black stuff You need a Big pair to be driving in-between those trees that don't move !! We regularly go to Mull for the Mull Rally in October & when we do finish, it's normally in the top 3. Our driver is John Cope, you may have heard of him ? He's been rallying for the last 30 odd years in various cars & has been running a 99 S5 for the last 12 years. We just cherry pick a few chosen events these days & the main aim is to enjoy the craic & keep the car in one piece

[martinjdover]

Andy

It has become so b... expensive to be competitive these days, Kev's cars cost him circa £100k each but they are the mutts nuts. The Sunseeker down here (will be called something else this year) costs £850 to enter - that's a lot for a days sport and is far, far more than I pay for a year's Land Rover 4x4 trialling (in a vehicle that has been highly competitive for 10 years and has cost a total of £4000 including tyres during this period). I had to rush home as I had an event yesterday which I'm pleased to say went rather well and was so different to the rally driving I did on Friday.

Martin