RALLYE MONTE CARLO HISTORIQUE 2023

[Keith Bennett]

Good to his word, Ivar has sent me the seven photos captured by a professional during the later (icy) stages. We had difficulty establishing electronic contact between his hotel and Bennett Towers, so the lovely receptionist Mélissa worked some magic and they appeared this morning.

As for Fraser and Barrie, we did not see them after finish. Our A40 is now on a transporter on its way back to Oslo. Bjarne and I fly back from Nice on Sunday.

Here are the pictures. Use the winter ones where we made position 41.= of 284!!! Vikings on snow! Ivar

Above: as always, the mark of a good navigator is one who keeps his head down, watches the maps like a hawk and shouts out the up-coming bends and perils to his driver without spending time gazing out of the window. Remember this is a left-hooker, so Ivar is sitting higher whilst Bjarne is buried in his paperwork. At those kind of speeds and on those kinds of road surfaces, a couple of seconds' hesitation can prove disastrous.

Sadly, I never did receive any messages from Fraser and Barrie but Chris Mockridge was very kindly monitoring them during the rally. I hope I'll get some news from them in due course.

So there we are - 2023's Historique is officially over. Two A40s kept the marque alive and for that we should be grateful.

[Keith Bennett]

The Fraser (and dad) has landed!

First full day back in the UK and processing what has happened! Our Monte Carlo experience was an epic voyage to say the least. We met so many great people who helped us along the way. The event was not all plain sailng and we were amazed by the kindness of people who had never met us before who were so willing to help us.

Mechanical issues: our clutch slave cylinder seal sprung a leak on the concentration leg after we climbed the hill out of Saint Andre Les Alpes on the final stage towards Monte Carlo. We managed with the help of a passing support crew to get it bled through enough to reach Monte Carlo. There was then an anxious 12-hour hunt for parts which eventually yielded success with around 20 minutes to spare, thanks to the Auto BMC team who had a compatible mini part. The repair was done in a car park on the way to Valence!

The clutch problem meant we missed a few special stages on day 1 which decides where you start on the rest of the rally. As a result, on the common legs we started near the back of the pack which meant a lot more of our driving was done alone and in the dark!

The rally was so full-on and relentless but an experience of a lifetime to be able to do it with my Dad. Most importantly we finished which was our aim.

(Derek, I will be in touch soon re some parts soon! as it was a rough few days on the car, but thanks for the emergency timing chain cover and gaskets the week before we left !)

Many congratulations from us all! Hoping to post some more on this amazing story soon . . .

[fraserh]

Thanks to everyone who followed our progress in the Monte, it was one heck of an experience ! Car back in Edinburgh now and we are almost ready to talk about next year ! Thanks to everyone who helped along the way, Derek Minter for parts, Keith Bennett for connecting us with Chris Mockeridge, and John Varney whos help was invaluable. We completed the rally but elected not to go out for the last stage on the Cold De Turini. This was simply a common sense decision as my 80 year old navigator was exhausted after the weeks driving and given we were always starting at the very back of the pack this meant driving alone on what is a pretty treacherous stage. Given there were a few minor grumbles with the car as well, we felt this was the safest option, but we will be back ( with a bit of luck) next year !

[scotty]

Well done to everyone, keep the flag flying.