Revesby Abbey Lombard Classic Rally 2024

For me the weekend started with a most challenging game of car tetris. The plan was to load the Renault turbo 2 on to the trailer, the Delta Integrale on to the transporter and put the Talbot in the car park ready for driving from Boston Bowl to the meeting at the abbey, all very simple. First the Ferrari had to me moved from the workshop to the car park, the Talbot could then be moved from the workshop to the car park, this allowed us to get the mustang out of the way and put that in the workshop, once that was in the Ferrari was moved in behind it. We could then get the integrale out and on to the transporter, which allowed access to the Renault to put that on the trailer. It was all very simple but would have been a lot easier if Russell had been there but he is off with a bad back - get well soon mate.

The Talbot is the only one of the three that is road legal - it's old enough to be tax and MOT exempt so that was the one that I drove there. It was quite uneventful but a bit noisy thanks to the straight cut box - the transmission makes more noise than the engine. The brakes were absolutely hopeless, I think it has racing pads in the front, they don't work when cold and on a drive like that you can't get them hot. Apart from that it was splendid and rather good fun to drive.

We got there at about 10:30 I guess, the rest of the gang were already there, some of Josh's friends were there including Ben Doughty, one of the other Fiesta Junior drivers and his girlfriend, it was really good fun, Malcolm had one run to show Josh the ropes, I reckon Josh must have done 5 or 6 runs throughout the day, he seemed to be constantly jumping in and out of the car.

The only concern the car gave us apart from the brakes being heavy was a slight loss of coolant, it looks like the water pump is weeping a bit. It's not over heating but we will need to keep a close eye on it, these things don't get better if left. One of the headlights is now secured with masking tape, that's obviously not good, it needs gaffer tape. While watching Josh attempting to set the world land speed record through the viewing area we all thought we heard a little noise as he went through the gate at the end. He had contacted the gate with the mirror but so slightly that only the paint was damaged. I'm glad about that, it would have been a long walk to retrieve a mirror.

I think it's fair to say everybody had a fantastic day although Malc said he didn't really enjoy it, they were running the short course - the slippery bit and he found it a bit of a handful, he always prefers the faster tarmac bits. Some of the other cars went very slowly through the viewing area due to some really big bumps there, the speeds Josh was doing worked much better, he just flew over the bigger bumps which helped his spine stay intact.  Sunday will see the course extended to the full 1.8 miles, it should be a lot better and the Integrale should handle it well, the Audi Quattro that was out on Saturday seemed to cope pretty well with the conditions. It should be good, despite the ridiculously early start.

Sunday was a stark contrast to the Saturday, it was a lot busier, a lot more cars there and the good weather had deserted us. Josh still got loads of runs in without incident, Malc sadly had less luck when it came to going out in the integrale. The bloody brakes didn't play ball again and he only just got to the start when they locked up - infuriating, I was 100 per cent convinced we had fixed that. It's always difficult when you cant get the things hot in the workshop but the fault seemed different this time to what happened last time. Russ had found the system was pressurised at the reservoirs, there was no pressure there this time. I now believe we are looking at one of two scenarios - either the handbrake cylinder is faulty and not returning pressure or a collapsed brake line is holding the fluid - I will know more when I have had a proper look on Thursday. I was rather reluctant to start taking things to bits on Sunday, the car is worth over a quarter of a million quid, quick bodges are not the way to go. I think it's going to end up being the handbrake cylinder, when we think we have fixed it we will take it to a private airfield owned by Malc's mate and give it a proper and thorough testing.

The weather was really horrible by mid afternoon and the course had become even more slippery, most drivers were packing up and going, it was not possible to get Josh out of the car, we did try but every time he got out he got straight back in again. Every time anybody asked if they could have a ride Josh kidnapped them and had their seat belts done up before they finished their sentence. He was quick all day and the car ended the weekend almost intact, just a headlight had come loose, a switch pack had detached itself from the dash in a desperate act of self preservation but that was about it. Oh and the small amount of paint removed from the door mirror in Saturday's small incident involving a gate post. I think in snooker they call it a kiss, I call it flukey.

I think it's fair to say a lot of lessons have been learned for next year's event, it's the first time the owners have run such a thing and I think maybe Tim at Lombard may have expected certain things be done differently. It's a complex thing organising something like this but with good luck and a fair wind next year will be so much better, I know the owners are keen to do it again and make whatever changes are needed.

Talking of a lack of communication, what happened next was rather embarrassing and somewhat inconvenient. We had loaded the Lancia back up once I had made an executive decision that it wasn't going to run - Malc was on the course in the Renault so he couldn't make the call. We had the trailer hooked up ready so when he came back he could drive the Renault straight on. With both cars strapped down and all the checks done I left Nick and Paul in the transporter while I went to make sure the Sunbeam was good for the drive home, it had been given a proper schooling all weekend. It was then that I noticed the fuel gauge was worryingly low and that the spare fuel cans were on the back of the transporter. I didn't have Paul's mobile number so I set off after them in hotter pursuit than Rosco P Coltrane after them Dooks and flashed my lights. I think paul took this as an invite to move off and no amount of swearing seemed to make any difference. I just hoped that the gauge was reading low and that there was enough fuel to get the 15 miles or so home. Was there buggery. It stopped, in the pouring rain about 8 miles from our destination, or about 6 miles from the nearest petrol station. I phoned Malc and he got in touch with Paul who spent the next 20 minutes desperately finding somewhere to turn the 32 foot long rig round. He got back to me eventually and after a refill and a quick reversing of the trailer we had no further incidents and made it back to where the cars are kept. Then all we had to do was get the Lancia with the sticky brakes in to the store room, much easier said than done. Never before has so much piss been taken by so few, I would like to especially thank Rob for his special brand of "encouragement"  - most of you will have seen Rob but would never know him if you pass him in the street - he operates a telehandler at Silverstone motor racing circuit and has recovered most of the F1 greats at some time or other. It's fair to say he's been there when most of the major crashes have happened, the blokes a feckin jinx. I hope he was a bit more sympathetic with them than he was with me, bloody bloke. It was all good fun, we got the job done, it was a long, hard day, I was glad when it was over. Now I am looking forward to the next one. It's an illness.

Not many photos but plenty of vids to come on my BostonBikeBits youtube channel. i have also put up a video somebody else took of the longer stage that was used on the Sunday, Josh was piloting the car at the time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ktD4u-lfLk&t=3s