Wales Rally GB

[bumble-b]

Getting out my wellies, dusting off my bobble hat, removing the mushrooms from my thermos flask. Just need to google to find out where Wales is!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5Zkqw-GZY

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Every village needs an idiot.

[bumble-b]

Never been? Want to know what it’s like and where you can be a safe spectator? This link is a useful place to start.

https://www.walesrallygb.com/spectators/rallyplanneronline.php

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Every village needs an idiot.

[andy thornton]

Remembering back to the 80s when following the Lombard RAC rally for the whole 5 days and nights,Standing for hours in a welsh forest for ages with snow and ice with Audi Quattro,s and the rest of group B cars driving the forrest stages that we struggled to walk on,Bloody freezing temperatures ,sleeping in car ,dining on little chef food (pancakes with syrup and ice cream)yumyum. You can,t beat it.

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Former RS Edition owner

[yorkirs]

Agree Andy

This in the day was a real manhood test just following the event in your own car.

Followed it for full 5 days, slept in car, woke one night at 3AM by police officer knocking on drivers window to ask if it was my car,( think about this sir……car covered in mud, driver & passenger 1/2 asleep in sleeping bags with bobble hats on ??? walking boots under car by door due to smell, car stickerede up for rally, K40 CB aerial on the roof )

Suspect as we were all in a pub car park they wanted to dust off the breathalyser. Sorry officer far too important to be drinking this week.

Yes by 0800 bacon butties all round

A great experience even as a spectator and truly character building

– navigation / map reading.

– Car repairs – Punctures, broken head light, suspension issues

– Getting on with your co-pilot

All with no gps, mobile phones, just a map, CB radio, Plug in map light, A schedule from Car & Car Conversions and a spare pair of socks & undies.

Not sure I could do this now, but well worth it at the time to see group B monsters on the loose stuff.

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May the Ford be with you

 

 

[andy thornton]

Yes forgot about no mobiles or gps -no broadband either ,How did we cope.Rally,s are only daytime events coz the drivers wan,t to be home by teatime not running no 150 after 149 other cars have destroyed the course.

Three of us in a mk2 rs2000,Must of had no sense of smell back then.

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Former RS Edition owner

[andy thornton]

We started off at a nightclub left at 2am headed to Chatsworth House and bacon butties ready for when Tony Pond went out on first stage.Aaahh memories.

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Former RS Edition owner

[robroy]

me and my mates used to follow this , we were a bit too keen to hit the pubs so we only managed 1 stage a day ?

[bumble-b]

Good memories guys. My best was in 1969 when a fellow club member entered his Mk1 Cortina GT in what was the “RAC Rally” as a private entrant and financed it all himself. As a few of us were also rallying Cortinas at club level we volunteered to be the support crew. Driving and living in a cramped van full of spares trying to get to the service areas on time was hard but great fun. We kept the car going, doing repairs/servicing on the roadside, in the dark when it’s pissing with rain or snow. Gave a great feeling of achievement seeing it finish in one piece. Can’t remember where it finished, I know it was in the last 10 or so. Who cares! Great fun. That was the last year Cortinas participated. From 1970 onwards it was all escorts. 1972 was a good year when Roger Clark and Jim Porter won it. First time for a British crew and I think first win for an Escort. Well that’s me rambling on again. Good days of road rallying when pace notes didn’t exist just an OS map and off we go.

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Every village needs an idiot.

[andy-k]

I’m loving the memories here, did the RAC as a spectator from 85 for 7 years, then as service crew and the biggest thrill was chase car driver for a police team in 93. Valuable lessons in overcoming adversity, managing sleep deprivation, the value of hot food and the warm bed in a B&B after 3 nights sleeping in the RS2

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Edition, FPM 375

[Author]

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