Rally
We bring you the news from one of the world’s finest historic rallies.
Steve Bannister is a shy potato farmer from northern England. He’s also an astonishingly good rally driver who, late Seventies, threatened factory Ford drivers Mikkola and Waldegaard when they dared to tread in his back yard, the North Yorkshire forests. At 61 he’s still at it and still a legend to many. The lines of age are now showing on his face – akin, almost, to the page of an Ordnance Survey map which his co-driver, in fact all 80 navigators, must use on this year’s Roger Albert Clark Rally.
No recce-ing, no pace notes. Just good old fashioned ‘blind’ maps, for crews contesting one of the world’s finest historic rallies. It recreates the Lombard RAC rallies of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties and is for two-wheel-drive machinery only from said era. Clever use of Seventies RAC winner Roger Albert Clark’s name keeps the evocative title going. Ford Escort Mk1s and Mk2s, Porsche 911s, Lancia Stratos, Talbot Lotus Sunbeams, Datsun 240Zs, a period-livered Tony Pond DTV Chevette HSR (later rolled), Saab 96s and, stealing the show, a French-plated 1968 Citroen ID 19 are all on the entry list.
So, too, former WRC ace Gregoire de Mevius, current WRC co-driver Stephane Prevot, Le Mans and American Le Mans Series winner Guy Smith and reigning British historic rally champ Julian Reynolds (out within five miles of the start – the RAC always did claim big scalps early on).
On it goes down to lesser-funded clubmen and women who simply fancy a big adventure. Kim Baker and Sasha Heriot, complete strangers three weeks previously, are in a Peugeot 205GTI. “We met by chance and discovered we’d both always wanted to do this event – we’ve had to beg, borrow and steal from so many people but here we are,” beams Heriot.
Many have tipped Bannister to win outright, but he faces one of his toughest ever opponents in 27-year-old Martin McCormack. Tipped for international stardom, McCormack keeps Bannister honest on Friday night (Bannister suffers a puncture near the end of one stage) and throughout Saturday to set up a nail-biting Sunday showdown.
We’ve had to beg, borrow and steal from so many people but here we are.
After three days chasing the Roger Albert across the north of England – sleeping cramped and cold in the car (just as I did aged eight) and braking carefully on early morning ice – comes one of the big stages, Wauchope. The walk in, it says on the Forestry Commission sign, is via ‘Hell’s Hole’. The wail of BDG engines makes it seem like Heaven, particularly with the eerie, frosty mist that lingers. McCormack, though, is seemingly dancing like the Devil here and, starting the gruelling, final 17-mile Kershope stage in fading light he has edged two seconds clear.
Bannister gambles for a tyre with less bite but harder sidewalls to protect against punctures, but knows it probably wasn’t his undoing in the end, McCormack eventually finishing 17 seconds clear. “I had a spin at the last corner – it was a quick one, but I knew then it was lost,” says Bannister, the lines in that face having now taken on a somewhat heartbroken appearance, the energy all gone.
McCormack is the absolute gent in victory. “I know it’s not the rally in terms of Britain’s round of the WRC anymore but in many ways it is the rally. It’s one of the biggest wins of my career. It’s an event that’s in the spirit of an original classic and I’ve done it against Steve Bannister and he’s phenomenal.”
The Roger Albert Clark Rally will run from 8-10 November in 2013.