Promenade Stages Rally 2002

Promenade Stages Rally 2002

This is the story of a rally- the Promenade Stages Rally 2002, which took place on Saturday the 27th July 2002 at New Brighton, near Liverpool.

Six Photographs of my TR8 in Action

It had taken six months of planning, numerous trips up and down the motorway to and from Surrey and nearly Ł1,000 to get my orange TR7V8 ready to compete on that sunny day in July, all to be dashed on stage 4 out of 10, when I called out a "tightening right bend" to John Gorton, the driver, only to hit the outer kerb at about 80 miles per hour and that was the end of the race for us!

I first competed as navigator on this unusual, closed-road, stage rally in 1982, when I sat in the passenger seat of an under-powered 1.3 litre Sunbeam, the driver being my old model-flying mate Keith Turner.

However, this time I was in a much more potent machine; my 320 brake horse power Triumph TR7V8, which was consuming petrol at the astonishing rate of one gallon per four mile stage!

The rally is held over ten stages of the New Brighton promenade and always attracts a full entry and thousands of spectators. Each stage is run twice before the organisers change the route, therefore making it essential for each car to carry a navigator, who tells the driver what he or she can expect over the next series of bends.

As I am without eyesight, being the only blind person in Britain to hold a motor racing licence, I navigate using tactile maps which my girlfriend, Debbie Plumb makes, by scanning the diagrams with my fingers; sensing the motion of the rally car through the "seat of my pants"!

You can see for yourself stages 3 and 4 by clicking on the link below-

Link to Rally Maps

The TR7V8 had been prepared by Mick Sharples of Hyndburn Vehicle Services, Accrington, Lancashire. While the engine on the first two stages was running a little warm (due to it being a scorching day), both John and I in the cockpit were dripping with sweat. Those triple-layer fire suits and crash helmets, plus the fact that the Perspex windows don't open, make sure that things come to boiling point inside the TR!

We were going well on the first couple of stages, being placed 20th out of 90 cars by the end of stage 3. However, on stage 4, as I called out a tightening right hand bend through the intercom, the TR went wide at about 80 miles per hour and the front passenger wheel hit the kerb with a resounding "crunch", breaking the ventilated disc brake, the track control arm and ripping the intermediate racing tyre to shreds. John tried to get the tR to the finish line, but as we couldn't turn right, our day at New Brighton was over, leaving us nothing to do but to pack up and watch the boats sail down the Mersey, which flows besides the rally route.

Both John, the service crew and myself felt sad, as the car had shown its potential and we had been passing fellow competitors on each stage. We even had to resort to overtaking a Chevette HSR on the inside of a hair pin bend on stage 3!

You can see the results and find out more about the rally by following the link below-