Clydebank to Monte Carlo 2012

[p5tgc]

The 2012 Monte Carlo Rallye Historique set off from Clydebank on a wet , cold and miserable Sunday afternoon. Not nearly as many entrants as last year for the "Full Monte", but quite a few classics turned out for the local runs which the organisers had laid on to boost the event.

A few photos are available on this link for those interested.

photobucket.com/p5tgc

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Looks like the perfect Rally starting conditions

I hope it improves on the way down

[frazzletc]

On Sunday, I was entered for the Blythswood Run, part of the Monte Carlo Historique event, which meant that the car was on display at Clydebank college for the afternoon, and then there was a road run, with a tulip roadbook for directions, from Glasgow, along a particular route, all the way back to Dumfries. I set off from home at around ten o' clock, and met some friends who'd come up in an A40 from Lancashire, in Dumfries. After a getting petrol, and a couple of delays, we arrived at the GTG arrival point in Glasgow, on South Street, where we met up with another couple of friends who'd travelled up in a Lancia Stratos replica. At this point, we signed various forms to state that both ourselves, and the cars were fit to participate, and we were handed a packet of stickers to put on our cars, so we could be easily identified as part of this run.
We arrived at Clydebank College at two, at which point, we went off to find something to eat, and when we came back, we did our best to get plenty of photographs of the cars at the display. The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant, and it was really quite special, driving into the complex, surrounded by crowds of people!
I was last on the start list for the particular run that I was doing, and my mate Adam was navigator for this trip. The run took us rather a contorted route through the streets of Glasgow, along the M8, onto the M77, then on to the A726, back onto the A77, then the A76, into Dumfries, finally stopping at the Cairndale Hotel. It was an absolutely fantastic experience, driving off the start ramp, along absolutely packed streets of people who'd turned out to see the cars coming though. We got friendly cheers and waves through the whole city! We managed to arrive ahead of six other competitors, including my friend Richard with the Stratos, which was rather good really! We missed the M77 exit off the M8, so went into the city centre, then back onto the M8, where we soon found the junction that we should have gone off at. We pushed on a bit, but just tried to maintain steady, but brisk progress. I think a few modern cars, who were travelling fairly slowly, were quite surprised to see a Rover 2000 overtaking them, with various modern Audis and BMWs. We only caught up on one competitor, a Triumph Spitfire, on the A76, who we overtook. When we got the hotel, and the Spitfire owner arrived, he seemed convinced that my car was a V8, or at the very least, a TC. :lol: :oops:
We received a very good reception at Dumfries, and the other drivers were all very friendly! I will definitely do the event again next year, as it's an awful lot of fun, and although not a competition, there's a real atmosphere! The car performed faultlessly, with the exception of a slightly sticky front caliper just after we set off from the start ramp! Thankfully it didn't resurface! The route really played into the P6's hands, with lots of fast A-roads, and some good corners too! t
Since my friends had travelled a reasonable distance just to get to Dumfries and Galloway, they decided to stay in a travelodge in Dumfries overnight, so that we could tour around as a group today. We went to look at my P5, heard it running (more on that shortly), then went for a run to Kirkcudbright, around the coast to Gatehouse (where we met another P6 on the road, a 3500S) where we had some lunch, the over the moor road from Gatehouse to Laurieston, over to Loch Ken, then across to Castle Douglas, from where we all went back to my house. My friends went home at around six o' clock this evening.
Overall, a highly enjoyable couple of days, and I would recommend the Blythswood Run to anybody! My apologies that the photos are not in the correct order! I can put photos up of the other cars if desired?