In-depth details on the coming year’s greatest happenings
WHEN COVID-19 pitched up last year and made itself at home, all rally organisers were presented with the same problems, but none responded in quite the same way as HERO, which has faced down the pandemic with optimism and invention.
Scheduled events were run where possible, and compensation for those that had to be cancelled came in the form of December’s Per Ardua Ad Infinitum (‘Through Endless Adversity’), a swiftly organised, one-day blast based at Bicester Heritage. The drudgery of the national lockdown, meanwhile, was eased by a series of tricky tabletop plotting challenges – tasters that will serve rallyists well when HERO resumes normal activities in May.
The first ‘real’ event on the 2021 calendar is A Novice Trial (21-23 May), also based at Bicester Heritage and providing the perfect introduction to the world of regularities and Tulip books. Old hands, though, will be looking a little further ahead, to the 29th Classic Marathon (4-9 July).
The 2000km route begins and ends in Las Caldas, Spain, but runs across beautiful northern Portugal as well as north-west Spain, mostly on decent tarmac, with legs averaging 350km. It’s not all go-go-go, however: there will be time to enjoy the scenery thanks to the light evenings, and lunch stops will include a visit to the car collection at the Museu do Caramulo, which features everything from tiller-steered veterans to WRC machinery.
The biennial Scottish Malts will be circled on many calendars, too, and the midSeptember date means there’s a good chance that entrants will see Scotland at its best. The weather is certain to be less than friendly, though, by the time Le Jog rolls around – but then that’s the attraction. The traditional winter run from Land’s End to John O’Groats remains one of the toughest regularity rallies in Europe, and the satisfaction of finishing is worth every curse-word-provoking moment.