JARDINE AND HAMILTON FIRST IN CLASS
*Sportinglife.com Skoda team defy black ice and freezing fog
ITV’s F1 analyst Tony Jardine and the Sportinglife.com Skoda Rally team played a winning part as top class rallying rediscovered its roots with the difficult and challenging Roger Albert Clark Rally. Partnered by Maurice Hamilton from BBC Radio 5 Live, Jardine took a podium finish following four days of non-stop action over 220 stage miles.
The team, supported by Kuhmo tyres, finished first in class and 19th overall despite numerous set backs which summed up the challenge of the RAC Rallies of old. On Monday morning, as Jardine and Hamilton came to the end of yet another punishing special stage this time in Twiglees forest in Southern Scotland, a rear shock absorber tore away from its mounting. They then suffered a second knock when a drive shaft failed in the afternoon.
The stages were so demanding that by the eighth stage of the rally half of the field had been decimated. With the service team working miracles, Jardine and Hamilton were able to finish the third day at the top of their class in the standard showroom Skoda Fabia. There were further dramas on the final day (Tuesday). Shortly after leaving the overnight halt at 5:30am the media duo took a wrong turning in the dark and fog and became stuck in a ditch while trying to make a u-turn in a narrow country lane. Once again the service crew came to the rescue by towing the Skoda back onto the road.
“It was one of those things,” said Jardine. “The road book instructions were not clear and we were in total darkness. If it hadn’t been for the quick actions of our mechanics, who were following, we might still be stuck there! It was typical of the team effort evident this weekend.” Later in the day, there was another unplanned hitch when Hamilton accidentally set off the Skoda’s on-board fire extinguisher. “I couldn’t believe what I had just done,” said Hamilton.
“The button for the horn is mounted in the centre of the dashboard so that both the driver and co-driver can use it if necessary. We were on a road section between two stages in the Kielder Forest when a motorist in front moved out of our way. I reached across to peep the horn in thanks – and hit the fire extinguisher button which is mounted just below the horn.
Next thing, there was foam everywhere around our feet! It was a sort of bizarre champagne moment but the real thing was to come later.” Reminiscent of the classic RAC Rally, the Roger Albert Clark retro challenge attracted over 70 entrants including the newly crowned British Rally Champion Mark Higgins who stole this year’s Roger Albert Clark title from defending champion, and former World Rally Champion, Stig Blomqvist. Running for a second year, the Roger Albert Clark Rally drew hordes of spectators, including stars such as Malcolm Wilson, Ford WRC team boss, and Skoda’s WRC superstar Colin McRae. “It was a fantastic sense of achievement to finish such an incredibly tough event,” said Jardine.
“We had fog, ice, mud, sunshine – everything. It was an arduous event truly reminiscent of the way the RAC Rally used to be and this result is really due to a fantastic effort from everyone on the Sportinglife.com Skoda team
