Storms Fail to Halt Rally Aces
Andy Lane and Iain Tullie claimed victory on Le Jog, which took place from 5-8 December. The Volvo 123GT crew led home the PV544 of Dan Willan and Martyn Taylor, and was one of three to achieve Gold Medal status. Stephen Owens/Nick Bloxham (Porsche 911) and Simon Mellings/Richard Crozier (Rover 216S) did likewise.
The 66-car entry tackled a route by Clerk of the Course Guy Woodcock and assistant Graham Dance, who both drew praise for coping with problems including the closure of the Forth Road Bridge.
Strong winds greeted competitors at Land’s End, with Bob and Sue McLean leading off at 7:30am in their Rover P4. The first morning took crews out of Cornwall, before they headed north to a halt at Chepstow and a complex leg at Caerwent Military Complex. As the field tackled the lanes through mid Wales, Lane/Tullie started to assert their authority on proceedings. Along with Mellings/Crozier, they were the only ones to clean the first Time Control section.
The testing conditions persisted as the route crossed the Pennines, with Tim Lawrence and Alan Pettit having to push their MGB out of a waterlogged section, before an overnight stop at Slaley Hall.
The final part of the event was based on the east coast of Scotland, with Dance putting in two testing controls that led to many crews dropping time. Lane and Tullie held on, despite being pushed hard all the way by Willan/Taylor.
Owens, meanwhile, was locked in a battle for the season-long HERO Cup with Paul Crosby. Each helped the other to stay in the rally – Owens lending Crosby a clutch cable, with Paul later returning the favour by replacing the coil on Owens’ 911. In the end, Crosby won by a single point.
