L E J OG 2007 - Event Report.

Anyone approaching the start of LE JOG with an air of confidence about their performance over the following four days may have reconsidered their lot as they arrived at the Lands End hotel on Friday 30^th November. With winds strong enough to pin occupants into their cars and rain stinging the skin of those able to get out of their cars, the British weather offered up a gentle reminder that it forms part of the challenge awaiting crews as they tackle the 1500 mile Land�s End to John O�Groats Reliability Trial and Tour.

With the welcome dinner out of the way, and old acquaintances renewed, most crews opted for an early night to conserve their energy for Saturday, and the challenging run from Lands End to Telford. Naturally the test at Lands End got the crews fired up for the start of what was to become a challenging day for a number of crews, as they made their way eastwards through Cornwall. �I�m enjoying it so far, just getting use to the car really� said Fred Winter, as he left the Main Control on the edge of Bodmin Moor. A first time entrant, he was driving the Volvo 144 of his son Chris, a veteran of four Le Jogs who had opted to take to the maps. Unfortunately, the father and son�s enjoyment was short lived when the radiator on the Volvo developing a fault towards the end of the Exe regularity in Devon. However, a frantic call to local friends who were on standby to strip parts from their own Volvo 144, and they were soon back on track.

The night section through Wales can bring about both excitement and trepidation in varying degrees depending upon how cars and crews are coping. With the excellent Caerwent facility (much of it obscured by torrential rain) providing an eye opening start to the evening leg the battle was as much with the elements as it was the route. Standing water, coupled with the driving rain, led to the eventual demise of the electrical system in the 1936 Bentley 4 � Special of Allen/Ellis. Water was also thought to have been a contributing factor the wheel bearing failure of the 1275 Cooper S of Newman/Mulkerrins.

Suffering a more terminal end to their event were the Dutch crew of Karel Kolkman and Roeland Heuff, who rolled their Citreon ID20 Estate, and ended up on their roof in a field �I just turned a corner, not fast, about fifteen miles an hour and went on the bank on the inside. It was sloping away from me, and over the car went.� Explained Kolkman, adding with a smile �The farmer said to me �That should not be in my field� - Did he think I did it on purpose? �  

With a full four hours sleep behind them the crews tackled the �easiest� day of the rally on the Sunday with a run from Telford to Newcastle. Though the shortest day of the event the morning run saw four crews drop out as the route crossed the Peaks and crews made their way to the Pennines - retirements included the Healey 100/4 when navigator Polly Multon took ill at Littleborough. An unfortunate way to finish the event.

As they tackled the route over the Pennines the focus of attention for most crews was the forthcoming ford at Stanhope. While a regular feature on Le Jog when the route heads east, it is still one of those sections which can test car and crew to the limit. Crews arriving at the ford were greeted with a crowd of sixty or so spectators eagerly awaiting them. For most, if not all of the crews (this writer included) the news that the test was to be abandoned due to very high water levels was a welcome relief. Also welcome relief was the run into Newcastle�s Gosforth Park Hotel, which allowed crews a night to relax before the final push to John O�Groats (Editor�s note � Final Push! You still had half the event to go!). Sadly however Newcastle saw the retirement of one of the two remaining Minis, namely the 1275 Cooper S, driven by Ken Baynton and navigated by son Phil. Having hit some standing water at speed the blades from their cooling fan were ripped off, leading to cooling problems.

While the first two days had provided the wet weather, Monday morning provided a distinct chill, but with clear skies for the run north to Scotland. The morning regularity run around the grounds of the National Trust�s Cragside Hall not only provided arguably the most picturesque regularity of the event, but certainly the most compact. Crews were kept on their toes as the route wound its way around the grounds of the hall, with the occasional patch of black ice serving as a reminder that caution is sometimes the better part of valour

The second of two tests early on Monday afternoon saw a few startled faces as the test took crews on an elevated service road (complete with crash barriers) through the middle of a farmer�s shed populated with a few hundred head of cattle. The startled faces were on the competitors as the cattle took it all in their stride.

With a mid afternoon lunch halt under the Fourth Rail Bridge providing a welcome respite for the crews, minds turned towards the push north to Aviemore, and the evening supper halt. With a couple of �No turning off� roads used as regularities the navigators had one less thing to worry about, while the drivers had to contend with patchy ice on the roads as the route made its way past Perth and onto Aviemore. The final regularity before the supper halt, the run from Kingussie to Coylumbridge proved to be very entertaining with sheet ice on those low lying section of road catching out a number of drivers, though all made it without serious damage.

The inspired use of some very good quality forest roads in Milbuie Forest, to the north of Inverness provided plenty to talk about at the Evanton rest halt an hour later. With the forest laid out in a grid formation the navigator could concentrate on timings with the phrases �90 Left� and �90 Right� being the only instruction required. While obviously a driver�s playground, one five-way junction did cause problems to a number of crews leading to some confusion, and excursions into the undergrowth. Speaking at Evanton Services Duncan Stonier said of the experience �It was chaos in there! At that junction we tried a couple of routes, including heading off into the trees, but eventually we went straight on and the road got narrower and narrower, until we came across two cars stuck on the road ahead of us.� Taking a drink from a well earned coffee he added with a smile �At that point I thought �Something�s gone wrong here�� �   

Come 6am Tuesday morning and tiredness was setting in for most crews. Although the opportunity to rest was not far away at the Lybster breakfast halt, there was the small matter of the final navigation section, Glen Loth.  Starting in rain, crews experienced sleet and snow and then snow on ice as they reached the highest pass on the navigation section. This was followed by the delights of sheet ice on a very treacherous descent.

While the Lybster breakfast halt is seen by many as the �We�ve made it� point on the event, this year a short �They think it�s all over� regularity on the run to John O�Groats made sure the drivers and navigators had to stay alert during the final run in�..and so the event finished as it began; howling winds, stinging rain, but the difference of course was the warming malt awaiting you after crossing the line.

Eric Richardson

(photos: Mike Johnson)