It`s 1:30 am and I`ve just got back from the Malcolm Wilson with Huw in the Saxo,time for a cuppa, wind down and check the e-mails.Ther was one from Rallyco-driver asking if I`d be interested in going to Belgium to do a tarmac event,I replied yes. Monday morning I had a call from Steve Titmuss,who was after a co-driver at short notice to do the Rally Hannut in Belgium,two calls later everything was sorted.

The schedule was, I had to be at Steve`s house at 6:00 am Thursday morning,then the ferry Dover-Calais 12:15 and we arrived in hannut at 7:30 ish, via a slight detour into the Brussels rush hour,great fun in a large Iveco service barge and trailer. The accommodation was impressive,it was called Chateau Velm,a summer school.There were two other crews staying,Rob Barry from the UK in his Evo vi and a Dutch crew in a Skoda.

Friday morning was an early start for the recce,the weather was bright but bitterly cold.There were 5 stages repeated three times,stages 1,3,4+5 were very similar tarmac ,concrete and cobbles,very long fast straights with loads of 90`s,but stage 2 was very rough and muddy which lead to some car set up changes,raising the car by over 1" and Dunlop wets on.Recce completed off to scruitineering and documentation.We had a bit of a shock when the scruitineer said we couldn`t run because of new rules in Belgium,only allowing group B cars to run on certain events with historic classes, but luckily he allowed us and we were up against a Porsche 911,BMW M3 and a Renault 5 Turbo.

Saturday was an even earlier start, so we could get a good spot in service,we got got one only to be moved by an irate Frenchman,who kept shouting that he had paid for the spot,so we moved.We did have the last laugh though,the Clio he ran didn`t finish and Nick who did an excellent job servicing for us developed a temporary hearing problem everytime the Clio came into service,he would stand in the way with his back to the Clio and then after several revs and hoots he would turn around and shrug his shoulders and point at his ears.

So to the start,we took it easy on SS1, as the heavy rain the evening before had given the roads a good soaking,SS2 was very slippy and rough so the set up changes paid off.We had a few scary moments,the longest tank slapper I`ve ever experienced and on SS12 in the dark on a very fast 1km straight which was a series off crests and dips we arrived at a 90 right far too fast, so Steve demonstrated how powerful the hydraulic handbrake was,he threw the car sideways into a spin,we stopped inches before going off backwards and altering a nicely ploughed field. We were pleased to finish 38 o/a and 3 in class we had to leave the car in parc ferme until the results were made final,so it was off for some pizza,pasta and a few scoops.

It was an excellent experience and I would like to thank Steve of Titson Rallying for the opportunity.

Geraint Lloyd-Williams
14/04/04