| Tank S Rally 2006 Report |
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I wass stressing for 2 weeks. That because I was going to drive the Tank S Rally with the Englishman Steve Titmuss (I am a Dutchman myself). It was the first time for me to do this (co-driving) in English, I would met Steve just the day before the rally, I had to sit on the wrong side of the car (for a Dutchman), and another 1000 things where I was worrying about. It was march the16th, 3 p.m. I put my stuf in a suitcase, and I ate a sandwich. After finishing my lunch we (my father and me) went to Emmeloord where Steve and his mechanic Gez were waiting for us. We talked about everything concerning the rally drinking some soda. Then we say goodnight. Steve had a room in Het Voorhuys and we went home for some sleep. For me the night was very short because I had to make a few adaptations in the notes and I also had to make a schedule for the service. The next morning when we were back in Emmeloord, Steve and Gez were allready building up our service spot. In the mean time Karel, my dad, and I put the stickers and the rallyshields on the car. Then it started for real; it was time to do the reconnonaissance. It had to be done in a regular sequence. Surprisingly it wasn't busy at all.The time we had to put all the stages on paper was enough. After the survey we had to wait until it was our turn to start. It was a quarter past 5 when I called Steve that we had to go to scrutineering. There were many spectators over there. The car was ok and so was the onboardcamera. The only thing we had to do, was making the fire extinguisher more tight. When we came back from the scrutineering we had diner in "Het Voorhuys". After diner we had to prepare us for the start. At half past nine we drove over the podium and then to the first stage.The stage was a short "industrial estate"-stage and it was not a difficult one, so we had time to get used to each other. Because the stage was a multiple-lap-stage we had another competitor behind us: David Westenbrink (Chevrolet). In the turns he was faster so we let him pass true. On the straight parts we were faster and we had to slow down a bit. It costs us a little time but everything else went well. After the service we had to drive the same stage again. This time we drove it in a much faster time, despite we had a lucky-moment. A car in front of us was driven into a haybale and it was very slippy on that part of the stage. It was an exciting moment and Steve had to work very hard to keep away from the curbs. Back at the service we checked the car and we had to put the Manta in parc-ferme. We went for a drink and we made a apppointment about the time we should meet eachother the next morning. When my dad and I arrived at the house we were about to sleep, I went to bed immediately; next day I had to get op early. In the morning I had a quick shower and we went back to the service. I took a breakfast (read: a dry sandwich and some water) and I talked to some people I know. Then it was time again. The first thing we had to do was to take the car out of parc-ferme, and we went to the next stages. The stages were 2 short ones and they had to be driven two times. Between those two there was a regrouping. We started very good, and we seemed to have some advantages with the Manta. The car has a long gearbox and a high topspeed so on the long straight ways we were faster then many other cars. In the regrouping I had a nice cup of tea and I compared the times of the first 2 stages with some other competitors. It seemed that we had our "rival" in the equipe Rico v.d.Pol/Jos Huibers, driving an Audi Quattro. We had a good match; sometimes they were faster, other times we were. It was very exciting! After these stages there was service. The car had to be refueled and the tyre pressure needed a check up. When everything was ok we could go for it again. The road section to Kampen was very long and not very nice; just straight ahead all the time. Near Kampen there were three differant stages. These stages were more difficult and more slippery also then the first ones. The 3 stages must also be driven two times and both times went well. The second time we drove a little bit slower because the stage got even more slippery than the first time. We lost a little time. At one stage we ran into the competitor who starts in front of us, so we were a whole minute faster. We were still driving the same times as the Audi. Back at the service the "additional headlights" had to be installed, because it already got dark. While Gez and Karel were busy with the car, Steve and I went to "Het Voorhuys" to have dinner. When we were on our way again, Gez and Karel could have dinner. We still had 6 stages to go. Three differant ones and we had to drive them two times also. The first one was Kampereiland. This stage was very tricky one. There were a lot of dangerous points, it was also very slippery and there were no signs of recognition, so we decided to slow down a little bit. We had a few "moments", but everything went well for us, in contrary to some other competitors. One of the Chevrolets drove into a ditch. One of the stages had a jump and in another one was a nasty threshold. To spare the Manta (which is extremely low) we drove over the jump and the threshold very slowly. Still we were that fast that we catched up the Chevy in front of us and it seemed that we were a minute faster than them again. At the service for the last three stages, we got troubles with the car. Steve tried to start it but the car wouldn't start. The problem couldn't be solved, so the Manta had to be pushed till it finally started. We were just in time for the time-control at the podium. We couldn't turn off the car because we weren't able to start it again.Lets hope we don't have to wait a long time anywhere. Fortunately we hadn't! But it wasn't the only problem we had to deal with. There seemed to be a problem with the engine and steering. Steve had to exert oneself to keep the car on the road. He did a great job and he kept the car on the road! It costs us some time but we realised that it was more important to keep the Manta in one part. We could almost "smell" the finish, and we set our goal on finishing instead of the results. Despite our problems, we were still much faster then the car in front of us, but we lost the battle with the Audi. The last few kilometers went good also. We passed the flying finish, and I felt relieved and very happy. The car was still ok, everyting went well, I didn't lost my notes, etc etc. All my worries were for nothing! Back in Emmeloord we drove over the podium, after wich we had to put the car in the parc ferme. We had a drink while we were waiting on the price-giving. Unfornately... We didn't win something... But it doesn't matter for me! I have had a very great weekend! I also learned very much and I gathered lots of new experience; making notes in English, driving a 2-days event, driving with a foreign competitor (and the things including to that) and some other very important things, like: the difference between "Tits" (negative) and "Titson"(positive) and the difference between "Bollocks" (bad) and "Dog's Bollocks"(good). I enjoyed it very much and I am pleased to tell you we will drive another rally together: the Proflex Merwede Rally (Hulst-Holland). I'd like to thank the following people: - Steve Titmuss (for being his co-driver) Kind Regards, |