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Carpetbagger Rally 2006

Sponsored by Newlands Holiday Park

Bournemouth & District Car Club

28th/29th January 2006

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The fifth running of the Carpetbagger lived up to the reputation established by the first four runnings of the event, there was a demanding 185 mile route all within a maze of Devonshire lanes. There were two petrol halts, both at Cullompton, and two visits to Smeatharpe Airfield. It was the opening round of the HRCR Historic Road Rally Championship.

There were 59 starters, who were led away from the event's Charmouth base by the 2005 winners Mike Biss/Cath Woodman (Holden Barina).

All the regularities were defined by tulip diagrams. Indicating the intricacy of the route, there were a total of 372 diagrams covering the whole event.

A lengthy run out took competitors to the first competitive section, which started just to the west of Axminster. The route wound its way around the Yarty Valley and over Danes Hill. By the time that the cars had reached ITC3 at South Mill only two crews were still clean of penalties, these were Simon Harrison/Paul Bosdet (Ford Escort) and Owen Turner/Graham Raeburn (Rover Metro).

All had dropped time by ITC4, which was at North Mill, back in the Yarty Valley. Harrison/Bosdet did best losing a minute, while Turner/Raeburn dropped two. Biss/Woodman had been delayed behind a non-competing car early on and lost time there.

After the first visit to Smeatharpe, the section ended at ITC21, which was besides the M5, just outside Cullompton, where the first petrol halt was taken.

By First Petrol Harrison/Bosdet held a lead of two minutes over Turner/Raeburn. The leaders' only issue had been when a marshal hadn't filled in the correct box on their time card and Bosdet had then been looking at the wrong target times for a couple of sections. Biss/Woodman had had a frustrating time; they had been held up at various points by one lorry, two trucks and a car, then had to stop to adjust their car's clutch. Meanwhile, in fifth place, Leonard/Jones felt that they had lost too much time with wrong slots.

The 2004 Carpetbagger winners Michael Pedley/David Pedley were using a borrowed Escort; they were the leading HRCR contenders in seventh place despite having severe braking problems.

Doug Kingsley/Ben Greenfield (Peugeot 106) were well down the order after getting stuck on a white and lost 20 minutes before getting out, having cut some sections, they were continuing. Valentine/Valentine were in sixth, but had suffered an excursion when the power steering belt had popped out and they slid off the road on a left hander; they had been towed out by Andy Baker/Patrick Cooper (Peugeot 205). Valentine/Valentine, along with Alyson Acreman/Byron Jones (Subaru Impreza), went wrong in Smeatharpe and ended up on the grass.

There was already a lengthy list of retirements, many due to the icy conditions. An off, that had holed the radiator, stopped the Rover Metro of Jamie Turner/Andrew Dadswell after only ten miles, while hitting a telephone post had accounted for the demise of the Escort of Martin Betts/Richard Hage. The scenery had also claimed the Proton Compact of Ian Orford/Bob Jones.

A variety of mechanical issues had been encountered as well. Clutch problems after 20 miles had caused Rob Reynolds/Nick Clarke (Peugeot 106 Rallye) to withdraw. Paul Mount/Bob Hargreaves (Toyota Celica) had run out of fuel ten miles short of the halt and alternator problems were the cause of Matthew Maidment/Garth Powell (Peugeot 205) not making Petrol. A failed head gasket caused the retirement of Simon Robison/Perry Roe (Mitsubishi Lancer E2) when they were going well early on.

The second regularity started near Tiverton Parkway Station and ran, via 123 tulip diagrams, to ITC28 just outside Sampford Peverell. Petrol was then taken for a second time at Cullompton.

At Second Petrol the top six positions were:
1. Simon Harrison/Paul Bosdet (Ford Escort) 14m43s
2. Owen Turner/Graham Raeburn (Rover Metro) 17m09s
3. Mike Biss/Cath Woodman (Holden Barina) 25m35s
4. Frank Evans/Dan Spittlehouse (Proton Compact) 27m06s
5. Martin Leonard/Phil Jones (VW Golf) 27m27s
6. Pete Valentine/Mick Valentine (Rover 214) 28m59s

The constant changes of direction and dips followed by crests were taking their toll. Valentine/Valentine and Matt Fowle/Peter Joy (Peugeot 106 Rallye) had both withdrawn with the navigators feeling unwell, the same cause, but for the drivers, had stopped Dick Appleton/Robin Maclachlan (Mini Cooper S) and Paul Ross/Andy Oakes (Hyundai Accent). Keith Jenkins/Stan Appleton (Saab 96 v4) were also suffering from mal-de-nav, however, by visiting all of the MTCs, they were classfied as finishers, but had cut most of the route.

Also out by this point were Andy Lane/Paul Robinson (Ford Escort) who had hit a pot hole which caused a puncture, they then found that they didn't have a spanner that fitted the studs.

There were 17 ITCs in the final section that took the route back to the rally's base at Charmouth, this included a second visit to Smeatharpe, this time with two laps of the airfield. The regularity started between Stoneyford and Dulford and wound its way to finish very close to where the first regularity had started at Axminster.

The major retirement of this final run was the Vauxhall Nova of local favourites Phil Harris/Andy Ballantyne, which suffered a clutch failure.

Although much time was lost, the top four positions remained the same, with Harrison/Bosdet coming home with a 2m22s victory margin, while Turner/Raeburn kept their deficit to the leaders steady through the final section. Setting aside their earlier delays, Biss/Woodman were the quickest over the last regularity.

The highest placed HRCR Contenders at the Finish were Pedley/Pedley, who survived their brake issues, to claim eighth place overall on what had been a disappointing night for the Historic crews.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Simon Harrison	Paul Bosdet	Ford Escort	18m 51s
	2	Owen Turner	Graham Raeburn	Rover Metro	21m 13s
	3	Mike Biss	Cath Woodman	Holden Barina SRi	28m 39s
	4	Frank Evans	Dan Spittlehouse	Proton Compact	33m 42s
	5	Andy Baker	Patrick Cooper	Peugeot 205	34m 21s
	6	Paul Harewood	Nic Jones	VW Golf	36m 08s
	7	James How	Phil Luxton	Peugeot 309	36m 31s
	8	Michael Pedley	David Pedley	Ford Escort	38m 14s
	9	Martin Leonard	Phil Jones	VW Golf GTi	41m 35s
	10	Alyson Acreman	Matthew Maidment	Subaru Impreza	42m 25s
	11	Worth Birkhill	Dave Harris	Vauxhall Corsa	43m 26s
	12	Paul Mount	Bob Hargreaves	Toyota Celica	48m 58s
	13	Richard Cann	Mark Sheppard	Citroen ZX	49m 33s
	14	Pete Johnson	Andy Berry	Vauxhall Corsa	50m 12s
	15	Paul Hollingam	Mark Collings	Vauxhall Astra GTE	51m 15s
	16	Steve Massey	Richard Mills	Peugeot 205	58m 20s
	17	Mike Saywell	David Coles	Peugeot 205	59m 23s
	18	Paul Heal	Matt Heal	MG ZR	61m 01s
	19	Neil Gould	Paul Taylor	Renault Clio Sport	65m 41s
	20	Ian Mepham	Ian Collings	Peugeot 106 Rallye	73m 14s
	21	Chris Jenkins	Tony Brooks	Austin Mini	77m 19s
	22	Gordon Popperwell	Brian Jaggs	Ford Escort Mexico	85m 19s
	23	Graham Yates	Richard Arnold	Peugeot 205	87m 07s
	24	Bill Wyatt	CROW	Triumph TR4	90m 49s
	25	Doug Kingsley	Ben Greenfield	Peugeot 106	110m 21s
	26	Andy Fields	Rob Fields	Peugeot 205	119m 46s
	27	Graham Yates	Richard Arnold	Peugeot 205	159m 48s
	28	Mark Butler	Peter Barnard	Peugeot 205	185m 22s
	29	Robert McClean	Susan McClean	Rover P4 100	210m 55s
	30	Graham Child	Kevin Ablitt	Ford Escort	219m 21s
	31	Jamie Patten	Adrian Patten	Nissan Sylvia	219m 43s
	32	Tim Daltry	Paul Fillis	Ford Escort RS2000	321m 29s
	33	Rob Aslett	Gus Hyne	Peugeot 205 GTi	411m 38s
	34	Matt Endean	Jason Carter	Fiat Uno	424m 10s
	35	Keith Jenkins	Stan Appleton	Saab 96 V4	1007m 00s

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