Metropolitan Police Motor Club Rally Team Wins in Belgium
The 54th running of the Rally International organised by the Auto-Moto Club de la Police Liegeoise saw Ian James and Bob Stokoe in their Grp A M3 BMW win their class as the BMW proved both fast and reliable on the day. The team were in a strong class with two other M3’s driven by local drivers and a number of Ford Escorts. Ian and Bob were the sole car entry from the Federation of British Police Motor Clubs. This was Ian’s fourteenth appearance for this FIA European Police rally; he can now be counted as a local as his knowledge of the stages is as good as the Belgians.
As with any international rally the preparation of the car is of paramount importance and over the winter the team of Craig Martin and Mark Chard from Dick Lovett BMW had worked hard to lose more weight off the car. Final preparations saw the car visit Baz Cannon of RPM PERFORMANCE / RALLY WORLD in Essex for a final check over and service.
The Federation team met at Dover and travelled down to Liege arriving at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon. Our accommodation had been found by our Chef de Equipe Paul Monk, and 16 team members would be staying in a house close to the stages of the rally.
Wednesday started sunny and we collected the road book from the Royal Motor Union Liege, a famous motor club which used to organise the Liege-Rome-Liege rallies in the sixties. Fortunately the stages were the same as in 2007, but with a few amendments so we had most of the notes already. The stages were fast and flowing which suited the BMW very well, and with a top speed of over 125mph in places. Our main competition came from a Subaru World rally Car (WRC) S10, two A8 Mitsubishi Evo 1X, and a Grp N Lancer Evo 1X of our old friend Franco Arlotti and Alain Duchene from the Motor Club de Liegoise. Last year we beat them by 3 seconds.
Scrutineering is always a nervous time, have we ticked all the boxes? and done everything the FIA wants to be done to the car to make it safe. Next year all cars will need to be fitted with the Hans device, this consists of a harness fitted to the shoulders of the driver and navigator securing wires are then connected to the crash helmet. This apparatus is seen regularly in motor racing and is now being introduced for international rallies for 2010.The device successfully prevents whip lash injuries to the neck in the event of a high speed impact. The cost for both driver and navigator could be as much as £2000! The car and all our equipment passed and we looked forward to a great day’s rallying on Saturday.
Up at 6am for a quick breakfast, although I do not tend to eat very much on the morning of the rally, just a coffee and a small bowl of cereal and that will do me until lunchtime. Into the car and ready for the off, much cranking of the engine and it fails to fire up, a bit of a panic now as we have to be at the start in 45 minutes. Mark and Craig have appeared on hearing our predicament, and after a bit easy start and WD 40 the car bursts into life. We just hope we have no repetition on the rally. A quick blast down the motorway and into Liege for the start. We manage to slot into our place which had been left car by 17 another of the BMWs. Although we were competing against each other for the class award we had been entered as a BMW team so we look after each other as well as being fiercely competitive on the stages. Half an hour for a chat with old friends and then we are off to the start of the first of 16 special stages to be tackled during the day. The weather was warming up and it looked good for the BMWs which like the dry roads as opposed to the wet ones. Franco in his Mitsubishi on the other hand was praying for a bit of rain, but I am afraid he was going to be out of luck.
With engine now warmed up it started first time and we were away from the start following one of the other M3’s at number 15. Into service for a quick check before we were off to the first stage out of a small village called Ferriere, a regroup in the village square surrounded by small bars and an hotel.
The first stage is always tricky as there are inevitably damp roads under the trees and caution is always advisable so as not to throw away the event on the first stage. The fast boys in the WRC cars and 4x4 finished the stage in 5m 11 seconds, Bob and I managed 5m 32. and more pleasing we were 3 seconds up on our rival Franco, and ahead of the other 2 BMWs in the class.
The next stage was a short 2 minute blast through the countryside, a short blast of 500 metres to a tight left hand hairpin, 300 metres to a long right hand bend, and then flat out down hill through sweeping bends in 6th gear, braking heavily for the narrowing of the road and a quick left and right into a village, a second gear right hand bend at the monument of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, and blast up hill to finish on a slippery tight left hander, all done in 1m 55. Four seconds faster than Franco we now had 7 seconds on him after just 2 stages.
The next stage was the fastest of the rally the WRC cars were averaging over 70 mph and reaching over 125 mph on the flowing “A” roads, this was a great stage for the BMW, and we were going to make this stage count and put more time between ourselves and Franco and the M3s. We blasted through the stage at over 117km/H and took another 3 seconds from Franco. He was wondering what he was going to have to do to come to terms with the M3.
By the time we had had lunch and started the second loop we were 25 seconds ahead of Franco and one of the M3s had departed with what looked like lack of fuel or fuel pressure. We were leading the class and third overall. All looked good for a podium place and a class win.
At the next regroup we went to go out of the time control and the engine would not fire up, a bit of “drama” as Baz would say. We pushed the car through the time control and collected our time, and then beside the road started to tweek all those leads under the bonnet which Craig and Mark had adjusted in the morning, as luck has it the car fired into life, and to this day I do not know why it failed to fire up, but we will change much of the electrical bits before the next rally. It was then a blast to the next start time control, we had lost a few minutes, but we arrived just as 18 was about to go in, so we nipped in just on our minute. I did not want to give Franco any glimmer of hope that he could catch us, 10 seconds for 1 minute lateness would have given him the appetite for a battle, but as it was I think he had succumbed to second best by this time in the afternoon. We raised the bar higher with an average speed of over 120km/H on stage 4 again beating Franco by 8 seconds.
We left our final service with a cushion over 4th place Franco Arlotti of 35 seconds, all we had to do was keep it on the road and hope that there were no more dramas. Into the regroup before the start of the final 4 stages. Our minute came up and I went to start the engine, the starter motor was spinning but not engaging the fly wheel! A bit of pushing in gear saw the starter motor finally engage with the fly wheel and we were off on the last loop of the rally. At this point I decided it would be wise not to stop the engine on this final run. Fortunately there were no hold ups and the rally ran to time so I was able to keep the car ticking over until we reached the finish. The last 4 stages were still driven hard, as we were unsure as to whether we would receive a 10 second penalty for booking in late earlier in the event. We had also changed to a medium compound tyre from the soft compound that we had started the event as the temperatures now reached the mid twenties, however the stages were not really long enough to get the heat into the new tyres and consequently we dropped time to Franco on the last stages, but we had enough of a cushion to still beat him at the end of the event by 25 seconds.
All the team got home safely with no major incidents, the motorcyclists from the FBMPC finishing 4th, 5th and 9th in the top ten which was a great achievement. Bob and I finished yet again 3rd overall and winning the Class. A great week well organised as usual by Paul Monk and Robin Tutchings from the Metropolitan Police Motor Club. Thanks also go to the service crew of Craig and Mark for keeping us in the rally, and to the Metropolitan Police Athletic Association which supports the team on this prestigious European event.
The 54th running of the Rally International organised by the Auto-Moto Club de la Police Liegeoise saw Ian James and Bob Stokoe in their Grp A M3 BMW win their class as the BMW proved both fast and reliable on the day. The team were in a strong class with two other M3’s driven by local drivers and a number of Ford Escorts. Ian and Bob were the sole car entry from the Federation of British Police Motor Clubs. This was Ian’s fourteenth appearance for this FIA European Police rally; he can now be counted as a local as his knowledge of the stages is as good as the Belgians.
As with any international rally the preparation of the car is of paramount importance and over the winter the team of Craig Martin and Mark Chard from Dick Lovett BMW had worked hard to lose more weight off the car. Final preparations saw the car visit Baz Cannon of RPM PERFORMANCE / RALLY WORLD in Essex for a final check over and service.
The Federation team met at Dover and travelled down to Liege arriving at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon. Our accommodation had been found by our Chef de Equipe Paul Monk, and 16 team members would be staying in a house close to the stages of the rally.
Wednesday started sunny and we collected the road book from the Royal Motor Union Liege, a famous motor club which used to organise the Liege-Rome-Liege rallies in the sixties. Fortunately the stages were the same as in 2007, but with a few amendments so we had most of the notes already. The stages were fast and flowing which suited the BMW very well, and with a top speed of over 125mph in places. Our main competition came from a Subaru World rally Car (WRC) S10, two A8 Mitsubishi Evo 1X, and a Grp N Lancer Evo 1X of our old friend Franco Arlotti and Alain Duchene from the Motor Club de Liegoise. Last year we beat them by 3 seconds.
Scrutineering is always a nervous time, have we ticked all the boxes? and done everything the FIA wants to be done to the car to make it safe. Next year all cars will need to be fitted with the Hans device, this consists of a harness fitted to the shoulders of the driver and navigator securing wires are then connected to the crash helmet. This apparatus is seen regularly in motor racing and is now being introduced for international rallies for 2010.The device successfully prevents whip lash injuries to the neck in the event of a high speed impact. The cost for both driver and navigator could be as much as £2000! The car and all our equipment passed and we looked forward to a great day’s rallying on Saturday.
Up at 6am for a quick breakfast, although I do not tend to eat very much on the morning of the rally, just a coffee and a small bowl of cereal and that will do me until lunchtime. Into the car and ready for the off, much cranking of the engine and it fails to fire up, a bit of a panic now as we have to be at the start in 45 minutes. Mark and Craig have appeared on hearing our predicament, and after a bit easy start and WD 40 the car bursts into life. We just hope we have no repetition on the rally. A quick blast down the motorway and into Liege for the start. We manage to slot into our place which had been left car by 17 another of the BMWs. Although we were competing against each other for the class award we had been entered as a BMW team so we look after each other as well as being fiercely competitive on the stages. Half an hour for a chat with old friends and then we are off to the start of the first of 16 special stages to be tackled during the day. The weather was warming up and it looked good for the BMWs which like the dry roads as opposed to the wet ones. Franco in his Mitsubishi on the other hand was praying for a bit of rain, but I am afraid he was going to be out of luck.
With engine now warmed up it started first time and we were away from the start following one of the other M3’s at number 15. Into service for a quick check before we were off to the first stage out of a small village called Ferriere, a regroup in the village square surrounded by small bars and an hotel.
The first stage is always tricky as there are inevitably damp roads under the trees and caution is always advisable so as not to throw away the event on the first stage. The fast boys in the WRC cars and 4x4 finished the stage in 5m 11 seconds, Bob and I managed 5m 32. and more pleasing we were 3 seconds up on our rival Franco, and ahead of the other 2 BMWs in the class.
The next stage was a short 2 minute blast through the countryside, a short blast of 500 metres to a tight left hand hairpin, 300 metres to a long right hand bend, and then flat out down hill through sweeping bends in 6th gear, braking heavily for the narrowing of the road and a quick left and right into a village, a second gear right hand bend at the monument of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, and blast up hill to finish on a slippery tight left hander, all done in 1m 55. Four seconds faster than Franco we now had 7 seconds on him after just 2 stages.
The next stage was the fastest of the rally the WRC cars were averaging over 70 mph and reaching over 125 mph on the flowing “A” roads, this was a great stage for the BMW, and we were going to make this stage count and put more time between ourselves and Franco and the M3s. We blasted through the stage at over 117km/H and took another 3 seconds from Franco. He was wondering what he was going to have to do to come to terms with the M3.
By the time we had had lunch and started the second loop we were 25 seconds ahead of Franco and one of the M3s had departed with what looked like lack of fuel or fuel pressure. We were leading the class and third overall. All looked good for a podium place and a class win.
At the next regroup we went to go out of the time control and the engine would not fire up, a bit of “drama” as Baz would say. We pushed the car through the time control and collected our time, and then beside the road started to tweek all those leads under the bonnet which Craig and Mark had adjusted in the morning, as luck has it the car fired into life, and to this day I do not know why it failed to fire up, but we will change much of the electrical bits before the next rally. It was then a blast to the next start time control, we had lost a few minutes, but we arrived just as 18 was about to go in, so we nipped in just on our minute. I did not want to give Franco any glimmer of hope that he could catch us, 10 seconds for 1 minute lateness would have given him the appetite for a battle, but as it was I think he had succumbed to second best by this time in the afternoon. We raised the bar higher with an average speed of over 120km/H on stage 4 again beating Franco by 8 seconds.
We left our final service with a cushion over 4th place Franco Arlotti of 35 seconds, all we had to do was keep it on the road and hope that there were no more dramas. Into the regroup before the start of the final 4 stages. Our minute came up and I went to start the engine, the starter motor was spinning but not engaging the fly wheel! A bit of pushing in gear saw the starter motor finally engage with the fly wheel and we were off on the last loop of the rally. At this point I decided it would be wise not to stop the engine on this final run. Fortunately there were no hold ups and the rally ran to time so I was able to keep the car ticking over until we reached the finish. The last 4 stages were still driven hard, as we were unsure as to whether we would receive a 10 second penalty for booking in late earlier in the event. We had also changed to a medium compound tyre from the soft compound that we had started the event as the temperatures now reached the mid twenties, however the stages were not really long enough to get the heat into the new tyres and consequently we dropped time to Franco on the last stages, but we had enough of a cushion to still beat him at the end of the event by 25 seconds.
All the team got home safely with no major incidents, the motorcyclists from the FBMPC finishing 4th, 5th and 9th in the top ten which was a great achievement. Bob and I finished yet again 3rd overall and winning the Class. A great week well organised as usual by Paul Monk and Robin Tutchings from the Metropolitan Police Motor Club. Thanks also go to the service crew of Craig and Mark for keeping us in the rally, and to the Metropolitan Police Athletic Association which supports the team on this prestigious European event.
