Triumph 2000
Matt and friends take on an epic challenge, eventually emerging Triumphant
The Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run is a humdinger of an event, not one to be undertaken lightly or without sufficient preparation. It is also very addictive… which is how I came to be sat in my 2000 at Knebworth House at 6pm on the evening of October 7, ready to start the 50th anniversary RBRR. Alongside me were my co-drivers Stephen Cooper and Greg Macleman, while all around us were the 132 other participating teams, in cars of all shapes and sizes, Triumphs the lot of them. The smell of unburnt 98 octane was in the air…
Greg was a newcomer to the event, so took the first stint to acclimatise himself with the car. Stephen had done the event twice before, while I had three successful finishes under my belt, so we both settled in for the miles to come as we gradually made our way north up the A1 to the first control stop at Blyth Services. In, get the road book signed, out and on the road again – the pattern becoming very familiar as we trundled through the night, occasionally interspersed with stops for fuel.
The plan was for the other two to get us to John o’ Groats for breakfast, so I tried my best to get comfy on the back seat and grab a few hours sleep. But the adrenaline of the event tends to make sleep a difficult beast to tame, especially with the roar of the exhaust seemingly emanating from a point directly beneath your weary head. After navigating the twisting turns and undulating topography of the A68 below Edinburgh and eventually the glorious coastal route of the A9 alongside Dornoch Firth and beyond, the A99 took us into JOG. Time for breakfast.
Day Two
Refreshed by the combination of a hearty fry up, a fresh shirt and a quick teeth brush, I took the wheel for my first stint. Travelling in a road train with numerous other crews, we enjoyed the scenery in central Scotland, with Loch Naver, Fort William and Glencoe being particular highlights. The sun was out, the car was running well and our team was feeling good – it was an excellent day of classic motoring. The famed Scotch pies on offer at the Stirling control stop at Morrisons Garage invigorated us further as evening approached. The dull motorway trudge down the M6 back into England was dispatched without incident and by 10pm we’d reached the control
stop at
‘In PC style, we decided to carry on regardless!’
Gledrid Services on the Welsh border – the real fun was about to begin. This is my favourite part of the route and one I’d been looking forward to taking the wheel for. Again we ended up in a long train of cars, but the pace was good, so I didn’t feel like I was being held up at all. My old mate Wayne Scott was in front of me in his father Gary’s tasty GTR4 Dove, so I just settled in behind him as we carved our way through mid-wales. The roads just get getter and better the further down you go and I had an absolute ball on that stretch. But something was niggling away at the back of my mind… the clutch pedal just didn’t feel quite ‘right’ when you engaged a gear. But getting gears was no problem, so we ploughed on
Day Three
Poor Greg got the graveyard shift from the control stop at Westonzoyland Airfield at 3am right down the M5 and A30 to Land’s End for breakfast at 7am. But he did a sterling job under the circumstances and proved he was up to the RBRR challenge… well done that man. After an unplanned but ultimately much-needed team nap for an hour or so, we were on the road again. By the time we reached the control stop at Bude it was impossible to deny that the clutch action was getting worse, as the pedal was getting longer and gears were getting harder to engage. But in true PC style we decided to carry on regardless – if it breaks, it breaks, right!
The picturesque run over Dartmoor eventually lead us to everyone’s favourite control stop at Pimperne, universally known among entrants as the ‘cake stop’. This year was no different and we very much enjoyed a couple of tasty treats, washed down with a welcome cup of tea, before embarking on the final run to the finish back at Knebworth. By this point the trusty 2000 was also suffering from an occasional misfire and, given that the ammeter was veering anywhere from 11-15, we reasoned that an ailing alternator or dicky voltage regulator was at fault. This, along with the aforementioned clutch issue, impeded progress somewhat but we were determined to make it. And make it we did! Albeit while running on sidelights as the late afternoon light faded away. Safely ensconsced in the barns at Knebworth, with a warm meal inside us, talk turned to next time around. Would we do it again? It appears that ‘yes’ is the answer! I’ll have to fix that clutch then… it’s been suggested that the pin retaining the release fork in the gearbox crossmember may have snapped… more soon.
The RBRR has been run as a charitable event since 1990 – the 2016 beneficiary being Guide Dogs UK. At the time of writing our team’s fundraising figure stood at £807, but the fund remains open and it’s not too late to get involved. More details can be found at justgiving. com/fundraising/team83rbrr16 and any contributions would be very much appreciated. I’d love to hit our £1000 target!
matt.george@practicalclassics.co.uk