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Tag: Rally

ON THE BUCKET LIST: Lovett Porsche 911T Wins 2015 Trans-America Challenge

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It was ‘California dreaming’ for Peter and Zoe Lovett when they crossed the San Francisco finish line as overall winners of the Endurance Rally Association’s Trans-America Challenge, as it’s their second long distance rally win this year.

Competing in their 1973 Porsche 911T for the 22-day rally across Canada and America, the Lovett’s also won the inaugural Road to Mandalay Rally back in February behind the wheel of another Porsche.

The pair had been hot on the wheels of the longtime leaders Phil Garratt and Kieron Brown in the 1977 Triumph Stag, constantly in the top three since the off. When the Stag had mechanical problems on day 17, the Lovett’s took the top spot and finished with an overall total of 0:09:07.

In second place was Paul and Sandra Merryweather in the 1974 Mercedes 450 SL on 0:10:05, with Philip and Yvonne Haslam in the 1954 Jaguar XK120 DHC right behind them in third place with 0:10:11.

The 1927 Bentley 4½ Le Mans of Martin and Olivia Hunt won the Vintageant Class, while there were also class wins for Marco Halter and Claudia Engelhardt in the 1963 Ford Falcon Coupe, and David and Jo Roberts in the 1968 Triumph TR250.

Two special ‘Spirit of the Rally’ awards were presented during the prizegiving at the iconic Fairmont Hotel. The first went to Malaysia’s Hok Kiang Sia and Eric Kuan Rong Sia who had battled through the rally in their 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II, the biggest car on the event.

The second went to Richard Martin and Travis Cole who started the rally in a 1936 Alvis Speed 25 but ended up on a recovery truck on the first day. After a few days in a rental car, the crew purchased an unprepared Datsun 240z in Duluth and then set about having parts and spares delivered to each hotel they stayed at to create a rally car by the end of the event. Now a fully prepared rally car, the Datsun will be the car of choice on next year’s Rally of the Incas.

ERA Rally Director Fred Gallagher said: “This has been another superb event with a fantastic mix of cars, crews and driving skills. Our Clerk of the Course Kim Bannister planned a brilliant route which offered iconic scenery, competitive tests and challenging terrain – everything you could hope for in an event such as this.”

Around 40 vintage and classic cars arrived at the San Francisco finish line of the Endurance Rally Association’s second Trans-America Challenge, having crossed 15 states and travelled 9,500 kilometres by its end.

The route has used testing roads and enjoyed spectacular views as it has used America’s roads less travelled, while still finding time to visit iconic locations such as the Battle of Little Bighorn site and Mount Rushmore.

The cars involved range from a 1927 Bentley 4½-litre to a 1977 Triumph Stag, and the crews include the world’s oldest rally navigator – 97-year-old Dorothy Caldwell.

The Trans-America Challenge is the Endurance Rally Association’s third rally of 2015, with two more to follow. The Alpine Trial for pre-war cars takes place early September, while the Sahara Challenge is revived for October as a shakedown for next year’s Peking to Paris. The next Trans-America Challenge will take place in 2018 with an exciting new route.

To find out more about the ERA’s events, visit www.endurorally.com.

ON THE ROAD: 97 Year Old Navigator Takes on Trans-America Challenge

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The Trans-America Challenge is to play host to a woman who is believed to be the world’s oldest rally navigator. 97-year-old Dorothy Caldwell will be participating on the Endurance Rally Association’s 5810-mile rally with her son Alastair in a 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III.

“When we lived in England, my family was into racing – my brother did it, and then both of my sons in New Zealand. The first rally I did with Alastair was in Suffolk in 2011. It seemed like quite a simple thing to me, so when he asked if I would navigate for him on the first Trans-America Challenge back in 2012, I said I would! Since then, we’ve been to Burma for a rally and I’m about to leave for the second Trans-America Challenge as we speak.”

Dorothy’s son Alastair is a former manager of the McLaren Formula One team. He insists his mother has never attempted to ‘pull rank’ from behind the map. “We’ve never had a cross word on a rally, it’s a team effort and we work very well together.”

As navigator, Dorothy – who was awarded the prize for “Spirit of the Rally” on the 2012 Trans-America Challenge – looks after the maps, updates and trip meter. It’s a role that requires dedication and a constant state of alert; as the rally navigates a difficult route through challenging terrain. Despite her years, Dorothy takes the arduous role in her stride; and remains sharp and awake throughout regardless of the rally in question.

“I’ll only come if he takes the Rolls-Royce though,” says Dorothy. “It’s more comfortable than his sports cars, and it has air conditioning! I’m the last in my generation now; I’m starting to find it harder. I’m beginning to need glasses for distance, and as I’m in the middle of moving house I think it might be time to ease back a little. So this will probably be my last big rally.

“But Alastair tells me there’s going to be one in New Zealand soon… so I might be back for that.”

The 2nd Trans-America Challenge will begin on Sunday 7th June. The route begins in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and will finish in San Francisco, California, on Sunday 28th June. There will be 45 participants in cars ranging from a 1927 Bentley 4.5 litre to a 1973 MGBGT.

For updates on Dorothy and the progress of the Trans-America Challenge visit www.endurorally.com.

ON THE BLOCK: Rare Lancia Quartet Anchors 20th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

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A class of exotic rally cars will defy convention, common wisdom and concours orthodoxy at the 20th anniversary Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance on March 15, 2015.

“Rallying is extraordinarily popular across Europe,” said Bill Warner, Founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “Today American motorsport fans are seeing the appeal of rallying. A big part of that is because rally cars are spectacular. They’re the triathletes of motorsport.”

The traditions of rallying date to the dawn of the automobile. Rallies are the direct descendants of the original city-to-city races of the early 20th Century and of long distance open road races like the fabled Mille Miglia.

World Championship rallying requires complex strategic and tactical preparation. Most special stages – the scored “races” against time over closed roads – are done day and night in any weather. The key element in rally strategy is tire selection. Competitors face ice, snow, wet and dry pavement – sometimes no pavement at all – and often all these conditions during the same stage. The length of a traditional World Championship rally stage is 60 kilometers – 37 miles.

The grueling 13-round international World Rally Championship season opens in January with the fabled Monte Carlo Rally and concludes in November in Britain with the RAC – Royal Automobile Club – Rally.

“The Monte Carlo Rally is the most famous rally,” said Warner. “It was first run in 1911, the same year as the inaugural Indy 500.”

A quartet of significant, championship-winning Lancia rally cars from the Jacksonville-based Campion Collection will anchor the 20th anniversary Amelia Concours World Rally Cars class.

The Campion Collection’s 1969 Lancia Fulvia was the progenitor of the 1972 Fulvia that won the Daily Mirror RAC (Royal Automobile Club) Rally, final round of the 1972 International Championship for Manufacturers, ancestor of the World Rally Championship. The elegant Fulvia launched a Lancia rally dynasty that dominated the final decades of the 20th century.

In the early 1970s the hyper-exotic Lancia Stratos, three-time winner of the Monte Carlo Rally and the World Rally Championship, was the first car created specifically to win the World Championship. It was superseded by the supercharged Lancia 037 from the infamous, flame spitting Group B era of the 1980s, the final rear-wheel drive car to win the World Rally Championship. In 1985 Campion’s 037 scored a victorious farewell for the breed winning the 792-mile, 69th Targa Florio rally driven by Dario Cerrato.

Group B cars were banned after the 1986 World Rally Championship, but Lancia introduced the Beta Delta Integrale which became the most successful rally car from the Italian marque. The 037 won an unprecedented six World Rally Manufacturers Championships and scored 46 World Championship victories. The record remains unbeaten. This 1988 Delta Integrale, also from the Campion Collection of Jacksonville, FL, was then exported to Australia and won the 1989 Australian Rally Championship driven by three-time Australian Rally Champion Greg Carr.

Sir Stirling Moss, honoree for the premier Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in 1996, returns to reprise his role for the 20th anniversary Amelia Concours celebration. Sir Stirling finished second in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally, his international rally debut, and won a coveted Coupe des Alpes that summer with a perfect score in the 2057-mile Alpine Rally. Vic Elford, Amelia’s 2012 Honoree, holds the distinction of winning both the Monte Carlo Rally (with a Porsche 911T) and the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona (Porsche 907 prototype) in the same week during 1968!

“Rally cars, like their ancient Grand Prix and Indy 500 ancestors, carry two-person crews,” said Warner. “In a rally, unlike a race, a bad lap can’t be made up because you’re racing against time, not wheel to wheel with other cars. Once a rally stage has begun there are no caution flags, no pit stops. Everything has to be fast and perfect regardless of road conditions, weather, terrain, even local flora and fauna. In a race, sometimes you can out-fox a competitor, but you can’t outwit the second hand of a stopwatch.”

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