3 Swans 5 petrol stations and an A40

With a name like 'Last Minute' Rallying you grow to expect certain things, but I certainly did not expect the phone call I received at 6 o'clock on the day of the 3 Swans Road Rally. It was Dave B ringing up to say the metro's wiring problems had re surfaced (now fixed, it was a short in the digital clock wiring) meaning the Lada had to be pressed into service, which in turn meant Dave had to drive as the drivers seat is welded in position meaning Nik couldn't drive it and hence why I got a last minute call up to play at Navigating for the night!
After getting over the initial shock and finally arriving at Daves we set off for the start at Bubwith Airstrip Nr Selby but not after having to stop a 5 petrol stations en'route to look for an extra map that was required by the final instructions that had arrived that morning!
After signing on and having our photo taken with the car at the start it was soon time to get started and in no time at all we were heading out on the first section.
The 3 Swans used to have reputation for having some seriously difficult navigation but what we found when we started out was fairly standard road rally fair (phew!) and I was able to plot most of it while on the move (1st time I've really had a go at doing this) These first sections took us North through Elvington and up into Bishop Wilton, this is where I dropped the 1st clanger by opening the wrong Navigation envelope and not realizing till we'd lost a good few minutes puzzling why it would not plot, Doh! With this problem behind us we headed up into Bishop Wilton Wold, which as the name suggests is quite hilly. This is a major stumbling block for the bog standard 1500 Lada engine with its eco friendly carb + rats nest of wires and pipes. This was neatly pointed out when we turned onto an inclined section of road and promptly got overtaken by an Austin A40! What a surreal experience that was! (Dave assures us that the A40 was not standard, but we have our suspicions! J) With the Austin A40 ahead blazing the way we continued down the Wold and onto Milington Pasture which is one of the best bits of road in the country with its double left, right hair pins and twisty undulating bends with a few cattle grid thrown in … Superb!
It was then on towards Market Weighton and east towards Spaldrington Common and Wressle, before a petrol halt in Selby at half way (the same station that had sold us our map too!)
The last half started with some really good not as map roads just north of Selby and onto a road that resembled a river of mud, at this point the Lada decided to take us on a unexpected mystery tour, are we going to visit the ditch/hedge/trees or are we going to visit the field to the left, the angle of the steering wheel did little to influence the direction of the car but eventually it decided that the road was the best place to be … A real "Pucker" moment if you catch my "drift" (oh dear! I'll stop now) anyway after we had regained our composure by joking with the marshals at the next control we headed on towards Cawood and through Bishop wood and into the Gascoigne Wood Mine workings. The use of the tracks at the mine had confused a few cars and tested the confidence of the driver in the navigator (driving into a working colliery isn't usually a good sign on a road rally!) but we were soon greeted by a bunch of nutcases in bright yellow (Marshals) waving us onto a chalk-covered track which twisted its way back onto the public highway and onto the finish at the Delacy Club House.
Very tired but very glad to have finished the event we headed home to get some well-earned sleep.
We finished 23rd with 0 fails 40mins 42 seconds … Not bad for a car that had finished the Preston Road Rally just the week before and requiring no repairs either ! (although the steering was decidedly bent!)
Mike M
&
David B

A 'LAST MINUTE' RALLYING PRODUCTION IN
ASSOCIATION WITH LINCS LOUTH MOTOR CLUB.