PETER BAKER
Rallying a 1954 Daimler Age: 70 Lives: Evesham
He’s contesting the Monte Carlo Historique in a 1954 Daimler Conquest
“We leave on January 23 and tow the car to Reims for scrutineering. The first car leaves at 1900hrs on the Thursday evening. It is six days and it’s incredibly tough. It’s often underestimated by UK crews. It starts with a concentration run of 600 miles, which takes you via a series of time controls to Monaco.”
Then it gets tougher
“You arrive in Monaco on Friday afternoon and get a night’s sleep. Then the rally proper starts on Saturday for four days in the mountains. Then you return to Monaco, have an afternoon to rest and then do the famous final night loop which includes Col de Turini and thousands of spectators throwing snow and ice to make it even more interesting. The weather is changing and there could be a fresh fall of snow for the modern Monte Carlo Rally, which is the week before over some of the same roads.”
They are in the secondoldest car
“I think I’ve bitten off more than I chew! We’re the second-oldest car on the event. ‘Doris the Daimler’ is a 1954 car. There’s 281 cars on the entry list. The only car older is an Aston Martin DB2/4, which is a bit quicker than us.
Our car is identical to the Daimler that came 17th on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1954. The organisers have given us the same number as the car ran with in 1954, which is 277. Just getting it to the finish will be a massive achievement. I’ve got the heater working!”
He has a good team
“Well, we’ve got a good service crew and I’ve got a very good navigator in Bernard Northmore. Doris is a fantastic car and it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.”
A finish would be excellent
“The plan is to finish, then if we can get in the top 150 that would be OK. If we got into the top 100, then we would be amongst the top of the International Rally Drivers’ Club entries. We’re entered in their team and they’ve got five or six crews. So we’d like to beat them. We’d like to be the top IRDC crew.”