Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Rally Director: Philip Young
Clerk of the Course: Martin Clark
Start: York
Finish: Cheltenham
Starters: 110
Photographs: M&H Photography
Winners: Matt Fowle/Peter Joy (Peugeot 106 Rallye)
The Revival Rally 2004 was designed to re-create the challenge of RAC Rallies of the 1950s and 1960s, to add to this feel the organisers had included items within the format which would link their event with by gone RACs - the start was in York, the Finish was in Cheltenham, many of the test venues had been used on Britain's premier rally 20 to 30 years ago and, the icing on the cake, they had secured the approval of Lombard to use the company's logo on the rally plates.
On Thursday 25th November 110 starters eagerly awaited the off. Ahead of them on Day One lay 14 hours of competition in Northern England, including 17 selectifs.
One of the main talking point at the Start was how the works built MG ZRs would fare, ex-British Rally Champion Gwyndaf Evans and BTCC drivers Anthony Reid and Colin Turkington were handling the cars. It soon became apparent that, although the early selectifs used such venues as Wass, Boltby and Oliver's Mount, the Revival had more in common with road rallies than stage events.
When crews arrived at Carlisle it was the road rally drivers and navigators who were to the fore and it was no surprise that Owen Turner/Andrew Dadswell held the lead. Gwyndaf Evans, who had the highly experienced Pauline Gullick navigating, was second just seven seconds behind. Jamie Turner/Graham Raeburn had led initially, taking fastest time on the first three selectifs, however rear brake problems saw them fall down the order to 19th place at Carlisle.
A regularity section on Thursday night through Keilder caused problems, only eight crews found TC20 - an erroneous tulip was later given as the reason for this control being scrubbed. Notable amongst the retirements on the first day were Tony Fall/Willy Cave (broken steering arm after an off) and Iain Freestone/Rod Maclean (broken differential).
Top Ten Positions after Leg One: 1 Turner/Dadswell (Metro) 50m42s; 2 Evans/Gullick (MG ZR) 50m49s; 3 Biss/Woodman (Holden Barina) 50m57s; 4 Whitehurst/Atherton (Peugeot 106) 51m01s; 5 Fowle/Joy (Peugeot 106) 51m13s; 6 Day/Chalmers (Mini) 51m42s; 7 Hawkins/Tullie (Peugeot 106) 51m47s; 8 Parkinson/Duerden (Astra) 52m25s; 9 Brown/Petit (Nova) 52m37s; 10 Cotton/Cotton (Citreon AX) 52m41s.
Day Two took competitors from Carlisle to Chester via 16 selectifs.
Evans/Gullick took the lead on the first test of the day, Sleetbeck; third fastest overall, they took 32 seconds off Turner/Dadswell. Their lead would last until the eleventh selectif, the first attempt at the Leyland Test Track, there they were penalised for a wrong test and given a maximum penalty, this put them ten minutes off the lead. Things had also got worse for Turner/Dadswell, they went off the road in Warcop, the fourth test of the leg; they would have been out of the rally but for the assistance of Owen’s brother Jamie, he stopped and pulled his sibling's car back onto terra firma - Jamie dropped a minute, Owen took a maximum but was still in the event.
The lead now passed to Mike Biss/Cath Woodman in their Holden Barina - an Australian Corsa, they took four selectif wins in the day and retained the top spot until the night halt at Chester. Only two seconds behind was the Mini of Chris Day/Ric Chalmers, who had taken the fastest time on the Leyland Test Track.
Top Ten Positions after Leg Two: 1 Biss/Woodman (Holden Barina) 1h42m17s; 2 Day/Chalmers (Mini) 1h42m19s; 3 Whitehurst/Atherton (Peugeot 106) 1h43m35s; 4 Hawkins/Tullie (Peugeot 106) 1h44m25s; 5 Fowle/Joy (Peugeot 106) 1h44m40s; 6 Cotton/Cotton (Citreon AX) 1h46m01s; 7 Johnson/Hounslow (Proton Satria) 1h46m18s; 8 Winstanley/Metcalfe (MG ZR) 1h46m20s; 9 Parkinson/Duerden (Astra) 1h47m03s; 10 Wilson/Caunt (Citreon AX) 1h47m04s.
The third and final leg took crews on a major tour of Wales. From Chester the route went south and west, eventually reaching the Mid Wales Activity Centre, then it was south and east via Epynt and Caerwent to the official finish at Aust Services on the M4. It was to demonstrate what endurance rallying should be. For two days competitors had attempted to keep on the pace, now it was the point at which they would have to make a break - and rain was falling in bucketfuls.
It didn't take long for the first major development. On the first selectif of the day at Llandegla, over night leaders Biss/Woodman's had a massive spin and went off the road, they were pulled back on by Turner/Dadswell but this process took 26 minutes, they suffered a test maximum and all chances of a win were gone.
Day/Chalmers now had there Mini at the front of the field. However they hit problems when a carburetor pipe broke between tests, they managed to fix it with assistance from the ever present Owen Turner and, in a magnificent spirit of sportsmanship, by their rival for the lead, Carl Hawkins. Despite this problem the Mini pairing maintained their lead until they ran out of fuel on the first Epynt test, Spencer Leach (Car 101, Astra) supplied them with petrol, but they lost a minute and first position.
RAC Rally veterans Don Whitehurst/Terry Atherton took not only the fastest time on the Mabion Forest selectif but also the lead, they were to keep it for just one test as they slide off the road at a junction and took a maximum. They fought back during the evening to secure third place at the Finish.
Pete Tyson/Neil Harrison were moving up through the field after they’d picked up a test maximum at the test Streatlam Camp on Day One; they had been in 26th position at Carlisle, but were inside the top ten when their Mini's clutch failed on Mabion Way, they cut to the Finish and were classified in 58th place. Gwyndaf Evans was in 21st place at Chester but took fastest time on eight of the Day Three selectifs, unfortunately a wrong test on Caerwent 2 meant that he dropped to 22nd at the end.
With Epynt behind them, crews headed for the final two tests in the maze of road within the Caerwent MOD base, Day/Chalmers were back at the front. The top five positions at that point were:
1 Day/Chalmers (Mini) 3h08m29s; 2 Hawkins/Tullie (106) 3h10m46s; 3 Whitehurst/Atherton (106) 3h12m12s; 4 Fowle/Joy (106) 3h12m19s; 5 Wilson/Caunt (AX) 3h15m50s.
Caerwent 1 was 10.65 miles long and their were 99 tulips for the navigators to interpret. Day/Chalmers struggled through the test, the Mini suffering with a severe misfire. At the end of this selectif the positions were:
1 Hawkins/Tullie (106) 3h32m42s; 2 Fowle/Joy (106) 3h33m07s; 3 Day/Chalmers (Mini) 3h34m46s; 4 Whitehurst/Atherton (106) 3h35m08s; 5 Wilson/Caunt (AX) 3h36m20s.
Caerwent 2 was slightly shorter but its 7.36 miles were defined by 68 tulip diagrams. Matt Fowle/Peter Joy, who had experienced Caerwent on a number of occasions previously, took fastest time and more importantly were one minute forty-two seconds faster than Hawkins/Tullie. With the last throw of the dice Fowle/Joy took the lead for the first time, there was no better time to hold it.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Matt Fowle | Peter Joy | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 3h 47m 15s | |
2 | Carl Hawkins | Iain Tullie | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 3h 48m 32s | |
3 | Don Whitehurst | Terry Atherton | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 3h 49m 54s | |
4 | Christopher Day | Ric Chalmers | Mini Cooper S | 3h 50m 06s | |
5 | Kevin Wilson | Paul Caunt | Citroen AX GT | 3h 50m 42s | |
6 | David Johnson | Keith Hounslow | Proton Satria | 3h 52m 39s | |
7 | Mike Biss | Cath Woodman | Holden Barina SRi | 3h 54m 17s | |
8 | John Cotton | Gill Cotton | Citroen AX | 3h 56m 37s | |
9 | Graham Parkinson | Andrew Duerden | Vauxhall Astra | 3h 57m 00s | |
10 | Doug Brown | Alan Pettit | Vauxhall Nova | 3h 58m 19s | |
11 | David Winstanley | Terri Metcalfe | MG ZR | 3h 58m 59s | |
12 | Robin Eyre-Maunsell | Peter Scott | Citroen AX GT | 3h 59m 31s | |
13 | Nigel Gray | Christine Gray | Vauxhall Corsa | 4h 00m 31s | |
14 | John Flynn | Richard Wise | Citroen AX GT | 4h 00m 42s | |
15 | Andrew Actman | Robert Ellis | Daihatsu Sirion | 4h 00m 59s | |
16 | Michael Corns | Colin Francis | Peugeot 106 | 4h 03m 46s | |
17 | Jamie Turner | Graham Raeburn | Rover Metro | 4h 06m 16s | |
18 | Malcolm Grubb | Steve Grubb | Vauxhall Nova SRi | 4h 08m 18s | |
19 | Andy Bown | Nigel Wakeling | Peugeot 106 XSi | 4h 09m 02s | |
20 | Freddy Camp | Bob Rutherford | Ford Puma | 4h 09m 28s | |
21 | Spencer Leach | Andy Hilder | Vauxhall Astra Sport | 4h 10m 20s | |
22 | Gwyndaf Evans | Pauline Gullick | MG ZR | 4h 11m 19s | |
23 | Sophie Robinson | Catriona Rings | Volkswagen Polo | 4h 11m 36s | |
24 | Robert Evett | Paul White | Vauxhall Nova SRi | 4h 11m 44s | |
25 | Stephen Cooper | James Savage | Suzuki Swift | 4h 12m 51s | |
26 | Paul Ashton | Richard Blomley | Peugeot 205 Rallye | 4h 13m 06s | |
27 | Dave Smith | Pete Johnson | Vauxhall Corsa | 4h 13m 19s | |
28 | Christopher Rees | Malcolm Heymer | Vauxhall Corsa Sport | 4h 16m 05s | |
29 | Garry Preston | Mike Sones | Mini Cooper S | 4h 16m 39s | |
30 | Jane Edgington | Gary Edgington | Citroen AX | 4h 17m 53s | |
31 | Paul Merryweather | Mick Briggs | MG ZR | 4h 23m 59s | |
32 | Steven Powell | Alan Thomas | Volkswagen Polo | 4h 24m 53s | |
33 | Roger Stanford | Paul Train | Skoda Felicia | 4h 27m 24s | |
34 | Neil Wilson | Tony Davies | Ford Puma | 4h 27m 48s | |
35 | Rory McNeile | Peter Hopkins | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 4h 30m 18s | |
36 | James Matthews | Matthew Green | Skoda Felicia | 4h 30m 46s | |
37 | Ian Langridge | Jim Haywood | Rover 214i | 4h 31m 02s | |
38 | Ronnie Roughead | Ian Canavan | Toyota Yaris | 4h 31m 39s | |
39 | David Maryon | Kenneth Powell | Peugeot 206 | 4h 33m 40s | |
40 | Trevor Skinner | Laura Skinner | Nissan Micra Jubilee | 4h 35m 13s | |
41 | Don Kettleborough | Fiona Leggate | MG ZR | 4h 35m 16s | |
42 | Nick Pollitt | Andrew Lees | Peugeot 206 | 4h 35m 37s | |
43 | James Campbell | Thomas Campbell | Proton Satria | 4h 39m 48s | |
44 | Roy Gravestock | Tim Ball | Vauxhall Nova SRi | 4h 40m 04s | |
45 | Edward Robinson | Adrian Robinson | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 4h 40m 12s | |
46 | Philip Bingham | Duncan Williams | Proton Compact | 4h 42m 27s | |
47 | Charlie Campey | Faye Campey | Peugeot 106 XSi | 4h 43m 25s | |
48 | Geoff Lobb | Chris Holliday | Vauxhall Corsa | 4h 47m 04s | |
49 | Andy Glossop | Chris Taylor | Ford Puma | 4h 49m 55s | |
50 | Stephen Hodge | Jonathan Soames-Waring | Vauxhall Corsa | 4h 57m 37s | |
51 | Pete Jagger | Seb Marshall | Peugeot 205 Rallye | 4h 59m 48s | |
52 | Terry Douce | Philip Douce | Vauxhall Nova | 5h 02m 18s | |
53 | Richard Tuckey | Dean George | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 5h 11m 19s | |
54 | Roger Stevens | Michael Stevens | Seat Ibiza | 5h 11m 30s | |
55 | Alastair Barnes | Simon Ayris | Vauxhall Astra Sport | 5h 12m 39s | |
56 | Trevor Turkingdon | John Henderson | MG ZR | 5h 18m 34s | |
57 | Tim Warburton | Stefan Arndt | Peugeot 205 Rallye | 5h 24m 22s |