Autobiography SS2

In order that Timo would recognise me at Nice Airport I had to have a Motoring News tucked under my arm.

 

 

 

Co-Driving for the legendary Timo Makinen (The Tazio Nuvolari of the 1960s) in a Healey 3000 (ARX 92B) on the Spa - Sofia - Liege Rally where we simply ran out of tyres. Timo Makinen was a long-standing favourite in the BMC works rally team; regarded as the fastest and bravest rally driver of his era.

 

Prior to the Liege I had flown Home from the Tour de France recce with a medical problem. And two weeks later my wife gave birth to our twins, Richard Donald Barrow and Vivienne Jane Barrow. The hectic year culminated with a 2nd overall and GT Class win on the RAC Rally with Timo in a 'Works' Healey 3000 (BRX 852B). Together with making numerous 'Works' road books for European Rallies throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

Although the picture does not tell a true story, we were both over tired prior to starting the Liege Rally caused by a last minute 14 day recce which did not prepare us in the best of condition. We arrived back from the recce direct to Liege and did not have time to re-cooperate.

 

 

It's quite amazing that a sports car could be driven so hard on such rough terrain for hours on end against such demanding time schedules, they were built like Churchill Tanks. They were a great testament to the BMC backroom buys who built them. This same picture was used on the front of Bill Price's book entitled the 'BMC Competition Department, Secrets'.

 

 

 

As well as my BMC commitments in 1964, Reg and I won the Motoring News Championship again with numerous Rally wins. In fact it was our best year together, which was an amazing feat when you consider he was then 54 years of age. When 477 TU was wheeled out for it's first event the 1964 Express & Star Rally we won with another convincing win.

 

As I have said previously, Reg was not a Special Stage specialist, we were a bit outclassed and only finished 4th overall on the 1964 Manx Trophy Rally. Reg was much happier driving through tight twisty lanes with loads of junctions to traverse, which he ably demonstrated on numerous occassions.

 

 

 

I also won a couple of 200 Mile Restricted Rallies with my younger brother Peter Barrow in his Mini & Mini-Cooper on Derbyshire

This was Barrow Bros, Plumbers Ltd, on another successful mission in securing another win with brother Pete - 'And he drove the fastest Blowlamp in the West'.

 

 

Unfortunately on the RAC Rally Timo insisted on using German Dunlop SP3 tyres and not the new Dunlop SP44 treaded tyre which all the other Works Teams were using. We led the event for the first two or three Stages and gradually lost out through lack of grip, although we were travelling as great speeds we suffered from loads and loads of wheel spin.

 

 

 

The lower pic is the OUT Control at Oulton Park race circuit it was in the Paddock which was bounded by a 'securety fence' of chestnut pailing. The whole area was shrouded in misty fog and was quite dicy in places with so many cars on the track at the same time.

 

 

 

On reaching Oulton Park which was shrouded in thick fog, Dunlop's Team manager Morris Tourley, confided in me that he was going to tell Timo that they had run out of SP3 tyres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were therefore duly dispatched towards the Lake District Stages fitted out with SP44's. What a fantastic difference these made, it was like bolting on another 80 BHP, we simply stormed up the tracks with little if any wheel spin. As you can see it's a typical November weather and praise must be given to the army of marshals who give up their time and sleep to man all the Special stages in all weathers.

 

By the roadside just prior to the Perth 'IN' Control we were having our rear suspension replaced when Stuart Turner (BMC Competitions Department Team Manager), asked me in no uncertain terms, why we were not leading the Rally and why I had incurred a 500 point penalty for missing a Route Check. He then sidled round to Timo's side and politely asked him how things were going. On his hasty departure, Timo said to me "me try harder tomorrow" this he promptly did with a string of Ftd's (Fastest Time of the Day) on the trot. It turned out that the first 16 cars had missed the same Passage Control due to crowds of people obscuring the entrance, for some unknown reason we were the only car (no 14) to be penalised.

The overnight stay at the Salutation Hotel in Perth was an extremely cold night, I could not sleep through being so cold. So I had my anarak and the bedroom rug on top of the bed to keep me warm. Next morning around 07.15 hrs I was walking along a corridor on my way down to breakfast, and met team mate Paddy Hopkirk, who was wearing a resplendent blue and red striped dressing gown and complaining bitterly that there was no hot water for a bath. Later in the day, between the Stages Timo and I were talking about the previous cold night, I was explaining how I managed to keep myself warm in bed and Timo said, me OK, me leave hot water tap running all night !!!

However, towards the end of the Rally on the Snetterton Race Track Stage, with three Stages to go (60 in Total), a large crack appeared in the overdrive casing losing its oil and the vital use of the extra speed of the overdrive. The mechanics frantically removed the inner gearbox cover to enable them to apply a resin based bandage around the overdrive unit and with the casing removed it allowed stones, mud, dust and oily engine fumes to fly up into the cockpit. The last few Stages on 'Maximum Attack' with the open floorpan was quite frightening. The gearbox consumed about 5 gallons of oil which I was pouring in while on the move in order to reach the finish in London. After a panicky results enquiry by myself, our 500 point penalty was removed, although all the other 15 cars had automatically had their penalties cancelled. We lost by a mere 60 odd seconds finishing 2nd Overall and winning the GT Class Outright.

Have no illusions, Super Stars today get paid mega bucks, I was paid a miserly fee of £50 plus a few Trade Bonuses for the 1964 RAC Rally !

Gratefully received, of course.

After another successful Motoring News season we won the 1964 Motoring News Championship and I think Reg was beginning to suffer health wise. And so it was confirmed, because halfway through 1965, Reg retired through ill health, and I teamed up with Phil Simister once again to finish off the 'MN' Championship by finishing 3rd overall. Phil was an ex-motorcycle TT Rider and naturally he drove his cars in a similar smooth fashion, sometimes a little too smooth, especially when a max-attack was being called for by myself. We notched up a few wins but by the end of 1965 Phil also decided to retire, so I was on the look out for yet another good Driver.

 

 

In between competing on National and 'MN' Rallies during 1965, I spent 14 days with Ian Hall making the Rootes Group Tulip Road Book for the Alpine Rally which Ian and I competed on in a Works Sunbeam Tiger - ADU 311B - The event started from Marseille, France, but ended in retirement with a heavy prang.

I was very proud to be a member of the Works Factory Rootes Group Rally Team.
The Team consisted of Tiny Lewis & Robin Turvey, Ian Hall & Don Barrow, Rosemary Smith & Sheila Taylor and Peter Harper & Mike Hughes.

We all had T shirts with the ' Sunbeam Tiger Powered by Ford ' logo both front and back.

 

Descending the Col d'Allos with Ian Hall in a LHD 'Works' Tiger, please note, it's always the Co-Drivers side that gets bumped. On Pacenotes Ian locked up and we slid at high speed down towards the one and only stone built workmans hut which we hit with a hell of a bang, otherwise it would have been a very long way down, it took us ages to free the bodywork off the wheel ending in instant retirement from the event.

 

 

 

 

I then had the misfortune to be teamed up with Peter Harper on the 1965 RAC Rally in a Works Sunbeam Tiger, thankfully ending in retirement at Bristol Airport Main Control with a cooked engine. There's no way I could have endured the abrasive atmosphere in the car much longer. It must be rated as my most hated memory of ever being in such company.

Just to put you in the picture - I collected the Sunbeam Tiger from the Competition Dept in Coventry and drove to Harper's house, he was all very courteous saying cheerio to his wife but as soon as he got in the car he completely changed, he was very sarcastic about everything that we discussed.

We started the event with the homologated carburetor fitted, which at a pre-arranged meeting point was to be changed for the ultimate carburetor. The engine started playing up about 2 miles prior to the rendezvous and I had to push the car for the last 100 yards off the highway, Harper was not best pleased and decided to take it out of me, and from that point onwards he queried every route instruction I gave him. On SS1 he over drove the car and at the spectator point had a monumental high speed nose dive immediately followed by an overshoot where the engine stopped. It took ages to start the V8 engine and we limped off the stage with steam coming from the front end and the temperature gauge in the red. Thankfully, where at the pre-event meeting I had pushed very hard for a service crew to be stationed at the end of SS1, they discovered the fan blades were still embedded into the radiator which was all replaced and topped up. Just prior to entering the Quantocks special stage we were the last car in a convoy of other works cars and I said we turn right into the forest in 200 yards, all the other cars went straight on, he refused to turn right insisting that I check the M.R. (Map Reference). I assured him I was right because I had been through the same stage just weeks before, he would not budge. Minutes later the convoy arrived back and turned into the junction, he then followed them in, no apology was offered, at the stage start he shouted, 'pass my crash hat' he was in a right rage. Halfway through the stage the engine started to misfire, signalling the failure of a head gasket, brilliant I thought, let's hope it expires on a road section far enough away from a service point.

Up to this point in my rallying career I had always enjoyed the company of all my previous drivers, and then I was paired with Harper, I had never experienced such a total disregard for a fellow crew member, he was so argumentative, arrogant, ill mannered and pompous, I hated his company and I was simply hoping the engine would fail. However we managed to limp into the Bristol Airport service point, where, hallelujah! the engine was declared cooked and done for. Tiny Lewis who was in the Rootes Team driving a Hillman Imp allowed us the use of his house to stay overnight near Bristol. Unbeknown to me Harper had telephoned his girl friend - no names that would be unfair - so lets call her Sally and she apparently arrived overnight which then provided us with transport to get back to London. On the way we stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant and the pair of them created an awkward situation by canoodling with one another and ending up with Sally sat on his lap kissing and cuddling. Highly embarrassed, I topped up the wine glasses, at which Harper looked away from Sally and said 'and you poured the wine just like a plumber too', I could have hit him over the head with the wine bottle.

Many years later at an Ecurie Cod Fillet re-union, I visited the Rootes Group table and spoke with Ian Hall, Rosemary Smith and Peter Procter and I ventured round to Harper and asked if he remembered me, he said 'NO' and immediately turned his back on me. So there you have the answer to my abhorrent feelings to such a distasteful individual.

 

 

 

My younger brother Pete was a good driver and we had quite a bit of fun in putting the local favourite drivers in their place.

 

 

I also vividly remember finishing 7th overall on the Circuit of Ireland with Roy Fidler as private entrants, in a factory loaned 'Works' Triumph 2000, on an event which was 'Plot and Bash' on ½" Scale maps, using a home made cardboard Romer. A miss Plot on these maps could have been disastrous. This was an ex-Spa-Sofia-Liege car and the long range fuel tanks had been removed, the fuel entry point on the rear wing had been plugged with a 4 inch rubber grommet. On the last night we came into Londonderry to refuel, the Time Control was in the filling station. I was busy in the car plotting up the new Route Card and a strong whiff of petrol became apparent, Roy appeared and I asked what the smell was all about, at which he shot to the back of the car and a great argument ensued. By this time I was feeling quite ill, but in true Navigators spirit, I plotted on. Roy knocked on the window and beckoned me to the rear of the car, on looking into the cavenous boot I could see it was half full with petrol. Paddy had prised the grommet off the wing and pumped 10 gallons of juice directly into the boot ! I lifted the carpet and pushed out a couple of floor grommets to start it to drain off. Meanwhile Roy had got Paddy to put another 10 gallons into the proper fuel tank. Fuel was running all over the place and we pushed the car off the forecourt, Roy and Paddy were arguing like 'hell' over the cost of the extra 10 gallons which Roy refused to pay for. We set off in this lethal mobile bomb with all the windows down and with my hand stinging with pain from the fuel. At every Time Control, Roy would wait outside the Control area and shout his 'war cry' of "put your bloody fags out, before we come in". What a night we had, the overdrive stuck in the 'on' position which meant we had a high second, third and fourth gears with no reverse, which added to the pressure of not wrong slotting. It's amazing that we survived to tell the tale, however we finished a well earned 5th overall.

As well as the re-fuelling fiasco we also had no headlights on the LH side, the two guys from the local Triumph dealers had been trying to fathom out the fault all day at every stop. They kept looking in their service manual for possible answers. Anyway, enough was enough and with the last night section about to start. I asked them to simply put a pair of wires from the RH headlight connectors and link them over to the LH, obviously removing the duff circuit ones. Hey Presto - And we had lights all night long, but with the overdrive stuck open, giving us overdrive, second, third and top gears and NO reverse gear !

So having navigated for many drivers in 1965 I hatched a plan to team up with Jim Bullough, as a Driver he impressed me on Road Rallies, mainly because he was always going fast but sometimes in the wrong direction through bad navigation.

Ian Hall and I in his works Hillman Imp, competed on the Jeans Gold Cup rally, also entered were Jim Bullough and Mike Sutcliffe, my intention was to get in conversation with Jim at the finish and hopefully team up with him for 1966. Well half way through the Jeans Gold Cup event, the Imp started to give trouble, Ian new about my plan and so we limped to the finish at Charnock Richard Services on the M6. We sat at a table opposite the entrance and as soon as Jim and Mike came in I asked if they would like to join us and during the breakfast conversation, Jim asked who I was navigating for in 1966, needless to say the rest is now history. So for 1966 we were both over the moon at teaming up together in Jim's immaculately prepared - Peter West - 'Westune' MK 1 Lotus Cortina (JB 222).

Pre 1966 RAC local Press meeting at Westune HQ, Victoria Garage, Tonge Moor Road, Bolton, where Jim Bullough's cars were built and prepared by Peter West and his merry men.

 

 

Jim Clark & Brian Melia attempting to recover from one of many skirmishes they had into the forest scenery.

Jim Bullough and I were in big trouble with sump shield problems and after leaving the Turnberry Main Control we deviated off route to a local garage to effect emergency repairs. After welding into position a piece of steel off a farm implement - I remember one of the guy's saying it was now as strong as a 'brick shothouse' or words to that effect - this deviation delayed us by about 40 minutes and was followed by a long road section which I drove through the centre of Glasgow and on to the next Special Stage. From previous experiences in Scotland I was adhering strictly to the speed limits especially in the 30 areas, because the Police were using new roadside Radar units. However on the outskirts of Glasgow I became very aware of large crowds of people waving flags and hats as we approached, which I thought was most unusual. As we neared the centre of the City the crowds of people became stronger all cheering and shouting. As we travelled down the main street in Glasgow between the numerous traffic lights, something caught my eye in the rear view mirror, this was a full blaze of two headlights and four spotlights travelling at a fair rate of knots coming down the outside lane of the slow moving traffic. As I was pulling up at the red traffic lights, a policeman positioned himself in the middle of the road stopping all traffic and waved this fireball through which was of course Jim Clark in his Lotus Cortina, as he passed us at the red lights he must have been doing about 50 - 60 mph and continued on the opposite side of the road right through several traffic lights in the same fashion. This was a sight to behold and he was in a right flapping state, because someone had given him an eiderdown to stuff in the gaping door hole of his MK1 Lotus Cortina and naturally about a third of it was flapping outside the car. As soon as he had passed us the policeman simply disappeared leaving me to wait for the green lights. Later in the afternoon on the Newcastleton Stage we went off the track and slide into a ditch, this delayed us for about 30 minutes and badly damaged the cross member and steering handlebar, we emerged in the dark with our front wheels pointed outwards. As we left the Stage Finish Control, I caught a glimpse of a Ford service vehicle - their service cars were all adorned with a red fluorescent stripe down their sides - amongst the shrubbery, I dashed across and discovered Ginger Devlin and crew who were pretty reluctant to assist at first. However they managed to pull our wheels in a bit but they were still toeing out a mile. During this operation I asked Ginger why they were still waiting at the Stage Finish, he confided in me that Jim Clark's car was still in the forest, but added that the Road Book and Time Card were still on Time !! And that we have not seen them !! Did we, of course not !!! We eventually arrived in the Newcastleton Service area, much to the distress of Peter West and crew, who upon examining the damage had to change both struts, cross member, steering handlebar and other bits and bobs. I was due to book in at the Town Hall Control in about 15 minutes time when Peter said, "no chance mate, we will be at least another 40 minutes yet". There was only one thing to do under the circumstances, I hailed a Taxi, travelled to the Town Hall in my Dunlop Racing overalls with my Road Book, dashed in and booked in on time and returned to the Service area, I thought to myself, what's good enough for the goose, is good enough for the gander.

However on the British Club scene, competition was getting tougher, and although we won numerous events in the 'MN' series, we finished off the season 2nd overall in the 'MN' Championship and 25th overall on the 1966 RAC Rally.

This famous water colour by Michael Turner shows the gaping hole in the drivers door of NVW 241C which Jim Clark and Brian Melia were driving, it's alongside their team mates Bengt Soderstrom and Gunner Palm in NVW 239C, with a yellow striped clad Stuart Turner of Castrol in the background. This fuel station is somewhere before the event reached Glasgow.

 

Phil Hardy promised for years to show me a picture which he had, it's quite iconic because there is a young looking Tony Mason (Centre) peering over the car roof, my Father George Barrow (With the trilby) is stood next to the car and Phil Hardy (Arms folded) is just to the right. Being flagged away by the Lord Mayor of Morecambe on the Molyslip Morecambe National Rally.

 

 

 

Jim Bullough & Don Barrow - Triumphant Winners

1967 Rally of the Vales - A proper rally with National status. Forest Stages on Saturday afternoon and evening - Radnor, Brecon 1, Epynt 1, Crychan, Brechfa, Llambed, Ystwyth and Rheidol - followed by a typical 200 mile Motoring News Grand Prix night road rally including a Selective over Abergwesyn (from Tregaron) in fog and culminating in two further stages on Epynt also in the fog.

It was our, I say our because it was pure map reading and epic driving in the thick fog over the 13 mile (Devils Staircase) Tregaron to Abergwesyn Selective, that overhauled the opposition. Even more amazing was the fact that I was unaware of the forest short cut in those days which must have added a further 40 seconds to our time - It was some years later that I found out about it - I never had any time or budget for recceing - At one point Jim clipped a grass bank on the right hand side which tipped the car completely onto it's left side, fortunately it fell back on it's wheels and we still put up FTD, fastest time.

All in all about 360 miles, a great event to win - A real Classic!

1967 was the year that we won the Motoring News Championship, BTRDA Silver Star Championship & the RAC Rally Championship, using the same car throughout the year.

 

And in between competing at weekends I was also trying to mould the plastic prototype of my Don Barrow Light - Map Magnifier, however this took some 2-3 years to perfect in what spare time I could find.

I took the very first one I managed to make to show Phil Hardy, a close neighbour, it was about 16:30 hours on a summers afternoon. Afterwards we were standing talking and I was holding the magnifier in my hands behind me when we both noticed quite a cloud of smoke breeze by, we looked at one another and thought no more about it, until it happened again. Then I had a burning feeling on my backside and sure enough the magnifier had burnt two holes through my trousers and onto my skin !

The earlier Map Magnifiers had been nicknamed as a 'Poti' or 'Potties' and I detested folk calling my Map Magnifiers a 'Poti' or 'Potties'. And as can be seen below from a Facebook post by Bob Lyons in 2018 when words can be misconstrued.

Quote from Bob Lyons -

During the caravan road rallying days in the late 1960s, we were sponsored by a caravan manufacturer, a guy called Ken Crewe, who made "The Mini Victor Caravan" specifically built to be towed behind the original BMC Mini. When I was first introduced to Ken, who knew as much about rallying as I did about caravans, and just before our first event. I asked him what I should bring along. He replied " just you'r maps". I said "What about my Poti?" - "No need, we've got one, we're short of nowt !" I took it with me anyway. When he turned up, to travel to the start, intrigued, I asked him "Where's the Poti ?". He replied. "In't caravan, bloody hell, you don,t need a shite already !

"

Brilliant.

During November the Country was on red alert with the odd outbreak of foot and mouth disease appearing up and down the Country, which gradually grew worse as the RAC Rally was assembling at the London start. Everyone was talking about it and were extremely concerned whether the RAC would be cancelled. Low and behold the RAC committee made a decision at the final hour and cancelled the Rally. Everyone was gutted, especially the foreign entrants who had travelled long distances complete with their service crews. So it was a case of 'forget the soft drinks' and head direct for the now over crowded bar. However at about 22:00 hrs the RAC posted a list of 20 entrants who had been selected to perform for the now redundant Worldwide TV crews in Camberley Forest. So it was back to the alka seltzers and an early bed. The following morning 20 cars and crews made their way to rendezvous X in Camberley, it was kept very low key because the organisers obviously did not want any spectators present. Everyone had a single slow speed run through the hastily prepared stage as a recce. This was to be a live broadcast being shown instead of the usual Saturday afternoon RAC Rally. Rallying in the UK was totally banned until part way through January of 1968.

1967 saw the same team of DB & JB have a fantastic year winning numerous events and winning all three major crowns, the RAC Rally Championship, the Motoring News Rally Championship, and the BTRDA Silver Star Rally Championship with 5 Outright Wins in the MN Championship.

 

 

 

 

In 1968 Jim Bullough and I won various events using a very early MK 1 Escort Twin Cam, which gave one or two minor problems, however once solved we became a major force to be reckoned with.

This car was presented to Jim by the Ford Motor Company as a prize for winning the 1967 Motoring News Championship, they then had the damn cheek to invoice him for the full amount some 6 months later. Eventually we finished 2nd overall on the 1968 'MN' Championship and a magnificent 3rd overall! on the RAC Rally of Great Britain as private entrants, in the same car that we had used all year, which by this time Jim had reluctantly paid for. This 3rd overall RAC Rally position enabled Ford GB to clinch the European title in 1968.

Some Prize, some reward!

 

At Knowldale Car Clubs 50th Anniversary re-union in April, 2002, Jim presented me with a package and said that he meant to give it to me some 30 odd years ago, after the RAC Rally. Upon opening it, I was pleasantly surprised to find this original photograph. These were the Trophies that we won, 3rd Overall, best Private Entrant, best Ferodo, best Ford, best Castrol, best Armstrong shockers, best British Crew, best dressed! etc, etc. If you left click on the photograph you can see in greater detail all the awards and a totally undamaged car! This was after a gruelling 5 day/night Rally through 50+ Forest Stages and various Race Tracks including Mallory Park and Silverstone; no doubt the strain of tiredness is showing on our faces.

Having damaged our exhaust system on the very first stage of the Rally on a horrendous gulley and ridge, in fact a lot of cars sustained damage here through landing on their noses and our exhaust system got bent downwards like a banana from the manifold backwards causing the exhaust pipe to hang very low. In the previous forest up in Scotland we seemed to have been dragging the exhaust on occasions and about 22:00 hrs with Twiglees 1,2 & 3 Stages approaching, which I remembered always had very high cambered roads I was desperate to try and make emergency repairs. On the main road we were catching a Lancia service van and I told Jim to pull alongside them, I leaned out and flagged them down. We could not communicate so I waved them to the back of their van and acquired 2 long welding rods from them. Prior to the Stage Start I jacked the car up on my side and with a hammer and posidriver knocked two holes straight through the carpet and floor pan either side of the exhaust pipe, Jim was most miffed at my actions and said "You've just damaged the Carpets" - Crikey! I thought that was the least of our troubles - I bent one of the brazing rods into a U shape, gave Jim a big spanner so that when I pushed the two rods ends up through the floorpan he could start to twist the rods trapping the spanner as a reinforcing bar. So I pushed the hot pipe upwards and told Jim to start twisting the rods, this gave us about 2" more ground clearance. After dropping the car back, removing the jack and opening the door, I couldn't believe it, Jim had partly rolled the carpet back and had it trapped under the spanner. Anyway it worked and we shot through the highly cambered roads with no problems at all, in fact it stayed like that till the finish of the Rally.

 

Peter West and staff from Westune, Bolton, who prepared the Escort Twin Cam, serviced the car throughout the event. Jim also seconded Bernard, one of his own staff from the Bullough's TV repair factory to ensure that the car was kept clean at all times. However, at the Fylingdales Main Control Bernard had just finished washing the car and not realising that Geoff Hood was still working underneath, did the natural thing and slung the bucket of filthy water under the car, all over Geoff, you can well imagine the outcome and I think Bernard learnt a few more choice swear words during the aftermath.

 

Another amusing tale from this RAC Rally happened at 02:00 hrs in the early hours, on the last night at the Selby Fork, Main Time Control when in 4th overall position. It's hard to explain the concentration and determination required to be competitive on this type of endurance Rally. But I will try. We had swapped driving throughout the event with me driving about 50% of the Road Sections. And on exiting either Dalby or Wykeham Forest near Pickering, Yorkshire, we changed over. Jim was immediately out like a light while I drove towards the A1 dual carriageway, time was very tight but just about on and I was quite relieved at seeing the signs for the A1 South. However within a few minutes, this turned to great consternation when I encountered thick fog on the A1. With 35 miles to run in 34 minutes, I just stuck the car on the 'Cats Eyes' and pushed as hard as possible and was frightened to death every time a roundabout 'popped up' out of the fog. By constantly checking the Halda Tripmeter against our scheduled booking 'IN' Time, I could see I was just about getting the upper hand. With 2 Miles to run to the Control I awoke Jim and explained the urgent situation, and that as soon as I stop in the Control area, he should dash in with the road Book and 'Clock In'. Encountering a bit of traffic at Selby Fork, delayed me a few more seconds and on turning into the Control I was faced with a battery of television floodlights. As I stopped, Jim was fumbling around on the floor, "quick Jim, the Road Book's in you hand, whats the problem" I shouted, Jim being quite put out at the urgency, replied "I cannot find my comb", "Hells Bells" I said, and grabbed the road book, dashed in holding my trousers up and booked in 'on time' with 15 seconds to spare, before incurring a time penalty, phewy! Talk about 'Smile please, your on Candid Camera' my bemused face must have looked a pretty picture indeed! We went on to finish 3rd overall and the best private entrant behind the two Works SAABs.

A lovely tale that I recently heard from Roger Hopkins went like this....Roger was spectating at the Windmill pub roundabout near Knutsford together with throngs of other people, awaiting the first cars to pass through enroute for Blackpool. When an Austin 1100 with two old biddies on board pulled up and asked "Are you all waiting for the Queen to pass through here" "No madam, we are all waiting for 'Timo the Supremo' and if I were you Madam I would move along pretty smartish"