Skyelarkin’ about!! by "Maltings"
What a fantastic day! And yet again the sun has shone for us. The Cuillin Hills were perfect in the glow of the sunset and even at 10.15pm there was still light in the sky. We’re told that it’s not often like that here, so do remember that when you tell people about Skye .- they may be disappointed. Having a day’s break has meant the opportunity to see a lot of people really enjoying life. I hope you made the most of your time on Skye, and didn’t need to spend too much time car fettling on what was intended as a day of relaxation. Skye has been good for entertainment on the networking front, too. Here is a prime selection.
Yes, it was the same chap.
3.15pm, Portree Square, Tuesday Traffic Warden to John Wood, Chief Marshall: You can’t have these dayglo arrows on the lamp posts all over the place like that: you’ll have to take them down. JW: Why? TW: You should have applied for Planning Permission.
9.00am, Portree Square, Wednesday Traffic Warden (who happens to be German, but speaking his best English) to Competitor: You can’t park here. Competitor (who also happens to be German, and speaking his best English): I am not parking here. I am only unloading my baggage. Traffic Warden (still in his best English): Are you taking the piss out of my accent?
Yes, the competitor in question thought it was very funny, too.
News from the Backroom Marshals, the Results Team and other Support Staff have their tales to tell, too. Here are one or two. Conscientious Marshal to Hywel Thomes, Results Manager: "Hywel, I realised after he’d gone on his way that I made a mistake on a competitor’s timecard at the last regularity timing point. I put him down for a Wrong Departure, but actually he didn’t at all." Think about it.. Hywel did.
Cost conscious and efficient to the last.
What have red and white barrier tape and a carrier bag with an old book in it got to do with saving money and driving up productivity? Well. The ever-resourceful Results Team, billeted in their first floor office at Talisker Distillery had a bit of a problem. Getting the results up from the Driving Test would normally have meant a sharpish run down the stairs, around the back of the building and back again. But: open the window, dangle plastic bag on end of length of barrier tape, weighted with an old book inside to stop it flying around, and an instant labour-saving timecard transport system is created twixt yard and room. A high-tech solution might have involved generators, scanners and a radio link, plus two months’ development time. Net cost of this solution: 25 pence, development time: five minutes. Neat.
Planning ahead Not known for letting opportunities pass him by, Mark Appleton, Deputy Clerk of the Course, seized his moment on the Talisker helicopter yesterday and while most of us were admiring the landscape far and wide, he was looking at roads. Better than maps, of course, given the perfect visibility that we enjoyed yesterday. If you join us for next year’s Classic Malts, you will find out just what it was that Mark was so excited to have discovered.
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Going for Gold!
Still on Gold Medal course is Jayne Wignall and also John Blanckley. These two crews are currently level on penalty points, 66 apiece, having pulled ahead of Newman/Newsham by eleven penalties. Other crews with a chance still of a Gold Medal are Jan van Geen / Julianne Straatman (Triumph TR3A); David Ingram / Norman Gault Jaguar 3.8 Mk2) and Graham Whittaker / Bill Currie (1934 Wolseley Hornet Special)
Time out
Dennis Cardell (trying to decide if he had time for a swift one before retiring for bed): Let’s see - it’s 11.20. Oh, no - that’s GMT. It’s really 12.20. The knob’s fallen off my watch and I can’t change it." Not bad for the event’s Chief Timekeeper?
Letting rip!
Out for the first time on a competitive rally, Nichola and Dennis Vernon have entered their 1974 BMW 3.0CSA, with Nichola at the wheel. "You know, the most exciting thing for me is the race circuit driving tests. I didn’t think I’d enjoy that beforehand, but it’s rather like Jekyll and Hyde - quite scary really - I was roaring around at Little Ferry hauling the wheel around everywhere: it was great!"
Gold no longer
Stan Williams and Tony Davies’ campaign for a third Gold Medal in a row was ended on Tuesday by being beaten on the Talisker Driving Test by - a 1936 Morris 8. The crew of the 8, Simon Moffett and Simon Reed, had already noted they were consistently beaten by faster machinery when tests were running uphill, but that their more nimble manoeuvring was useful on the flat and downhill. At Talisker, combined with a stalling incident on the start line for the Alvis, they set fastest time out of their class, and knocked Stan and Tony off their Gold Medal position on Class Improvement. Undaunted, Alan commented, "We’re really focused on the Marque Team Award. After the Corkscrew a couple of days ago, we’ve got a bit of a deficit to make up, but we’ve been eating into it day by day, and it shouldn’t be so impossible to come out on top in the next couple of days - so Triumphs watch out."
Cars and Crews
Lady Pauline Harris, navigated by Ann Locks (one of four all female crews on this year’s Classic Malts) is here once again in her ex-works Austin Healey 3000, driven in its heyday in turn by David Seigle-Morris, by Paddy Hopkirk (to 2nd place in the RAC Rally of 1962), and by Timo Makkinen and the Morley brothers in 1963. It is thought to be the only team car that survives. Anne and Pauline are currently heading the Ladies’ Award, which is helping make up for a rally last year affected soon after the start by mechanical problems.
Puddleduck
The car that took away the Stan Williams / Tony Davies’ chance of a third Gold Medal in a row is not the most obvious rally car, but is fast becoming a favourite, featuring in one or two of HERO Director John Brown’s photographs. It is none other than a 1936 Morris 8h.p. Series I, driven by Simon Moffett and Malcolm Reed. The pair describe themselves as "complete amateurs" as far as rallying goes. As for the car, Simon points out it cost him "£10 in 1967... and several thousand since!
Changing seats.
One of our old hands from the Motoring News Championship days of the 1970s is Richard Iliffe. But though he still keeps his rally driving hand in from time to time (usually acting in an official capacity in the modern Rally of Great Britain as driver of the Course Opening Car), he has opted this time for the navigator’s seat.. Chris Mitchell bought his 1969 Jaguar E-Type a few years ago, and after tackling a couple of the Norwich Union events decided it was time for something a little stronger, so called up old friend Richard. "He doesn’t seem to have too many complaints about my driving so far", commented Chris. They’re still on track for a bronze medal, so maybe Richard did manage to absorb a little about navigation from the driver’s seat all those years ago.