Andrew English rallies while Harry Metcalfe hits London and Delwyn Mallett stars at Goodwood
LIÈGE-BRESCIA-LIÈGE rally impresario Malcolm McKay seemed surprised by the competitiveness of the 26 Triumph TR crews entered into this year’s event. I wasn’t. A load of Jaguar E-type and XK owners may have been perfectly happy to swan around the 2200-mile, ten-day route – originally used by the Royal Motor Union of Liège rally for microcars with engines under 500cc – but, as soon as they’d got competition numbers on their flanks, the TR crews went for it big time. TR owners always try harder, dontcha know.
Not that the starters lined up for the first time in front of Liège’s Le Palais des Princes-Évêques were short of opportunities to struggle, running in record temperatures across Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. My TR3A, Yoo Hoo, might know her way to a podium (in the hands of former owner Neil Revington, she won the Circuit of Ireland and Rallye des Pyrénées, among many others), but she boiled over three times crawling up the overcrowded and baking-hot Stelvio Pass behind various mini-buses (why do people think this is a great driving road?). And to further add to the heat, as most old car owners know, you run the heater in the summer, which helps protect the engine but roasts the crew.
My crew consisted of old chum John Smallwood, who’d lost three stone to get into the hip-hugging rally seats, although he still had to sit on a bolster comprising his overalls, Mrs English’s gardening knee-pad and a coat to avoid grating his hip. It gave us the appearance of Little and Large in the car, but it sort of worked.
High temperatures weren’t the only challenge stressing this year’s TR-only event, the fifth time this extraordinary rally has been run. The roads were crowded, the Germans seemed to have dug every street up and placed umleitung (diversions) round them, and some competitors got caught in absolute downpours that instantly turned their thin maps into papier-mâché.
I’d also ask: what’s the point if you aren’t competing? We can all arrange a Continental jaunt, even if local exhaust emissions regulations are starting to outlaw classics from some European towns (Brussels, for example). It’s the thrill of competing in the wheel-tracks of stars such as Pat Moss and Ann Wisdom, who tackled the 1958 original rally in a Berkeley, or ’58 veteran Remo di Cocco – who waved the starters away – that makes the LBL so special.
We struggled with cooling and braking issues for most of the event. In the Authentic Class for cars that could have competed in 1958, Americans Jeff and Jeffrey Givens pushed us hard (especially when
we had to do a master-cylinder change in 40 minutes before the final test), as did Ian Paul and James Butler in a lovely ex-works TR3A.
In the Spirit category, Paul and Jan Gerring in the TRS Le Mans tribute car drove fast and well, but Liz Wakefield and Mike Jones eventually took the honours in a well-prepared TR4A.
I thought anyone who made it over the finish line deserved a medal but in the end Yoo Hoo popped another trophy in the cabinet. We’d finished first overall and, as regular readers will know, this hasn’t been the easiest or cheapest of preparations. When di Cocco handed over the enormous trophy, there might have been something caught in my eye. See www.classicrallypress.co.uk for details of future events.