Having never visited this event before, we arrived early and excited about the weekends driving ahead of us. After a long (8 hour) journey we arrived at the site just after midnight on Thursday (Friday morning) to be greeted by the infamous Scottish midgies. A new experience to us all, we quickly realised we didn’t have enough insect repellent, if fact we were wondering if there was actually enough insect repellent in the world!
After a good nights sleep we woke ready to enjoy a relaxed day, tinkering with the car and then planned to walk the course. After a few adjustments to the TMC in the morning, followed by scrutineering and registration, the heavens opened and so foiled our plans to walk all of the10 mile course!
As the rain eased up, we managed to get out in the evening and walk about half the course. It became instantly obvious that this was an extremely fast course, with fast CAT 1 gravel tracks stretching off into the distance. Although we had experience of this sort of terrain in Wales, these tracks seemed more compacted and therefore faster than any we had raced before. With the rainfall of that day, it was apparent that this could prove to be a tricky event.
Once we got back we had worked up quite an appetite and enjoyed generous helpings of Kate’s home made chilli and a beer or two before getting an early night.
We were met Saturday with a warm and overcast morning and were glad that there was no rain. Perfect conditions for a fast course like this one. After a final check of the TMC and drivers briefing, we were ready to go.
As we approached the start line Ben and I were as excited as ever, especially about the fast nature of the course, but I was also a little apprehensive being all too aware that when it goes wrong at speed it can really go wrong.
We blasted off the line for the first run and I could tell instantly that Ben was enjoying the terrain, and the TMC was pulling well and handling superbly on the fast surface. The first run came to an abrupt halt about 2 miles in, as the course had been blocked, Simon Bown had gone off in the “Mud Run” a technical rutted section. Once the car was cleared we went in procession back to the start to wait for a second run.
As we queued for the second run we were told that the time for run one would be based on an average of our second run and so the pressure to put in a good time was increased. Although we had to try and treat it as if it was the first run of the day, we were also mindful that we had to run a good time.
Again the TMC blasted off the line and Ben really started to put the hammer down and get into his stride. The TMC was drifting beautifully around the corners and really pulling hard with the additional power we had previously found at Ellesmere. A slight sideways moment gave us cause for caution as we narrowly missed a tree, but undeterred we pressed on and things got faster and faster. At this stage we were still on part of the course we had previously raced and so there was an air of familiarity which allowed confidence. As we cleared the mud run we entered for the first time the rest of the course, also an area which we hadn’t walked. We were eating up the flowing tracks and powering through the corners, Ben was on fire and handling the car superbly, still allowing the occasional cautious lift on the throttle over the unfamiliar tracks, we felt that we were heading for a good lap. As we joined the part of the course we had walked the previous night things really started to get quick, but still there was no hint of poor control of the car. As we headed through a number of flowing corners, the velocity increased and the TMC just didn’t seem to run out of legs. The superb handling of the car and the confidence in Bens driving was to prove our undoing, as we cleared a crest to find a left hand corner, it was clear we weren’t going to make it.
I have been in a few incidents over time and I still think the jury is out, as to whether it’s better to see a crash coming or not, but on this occasion it was painfully obvious that this was going to be a huge impact and I braced myself as we plummeted into the bank on the apex of the corner at somewhere around 70 or 80 mph. This is where things get a little hazy, but I know we had gone air born and the glimpse of sky and then ground that I got in the instant the crash lasted was enough to confirm that we had definitely rolled. We found ourselves, fortunately, still on four wheels and our thoughts immediately turned to ensuring each other were ok. I seemed to be in one piece but Ben was clearly in trouble, having taken an impact to his arm he was in pain and thought his arm was broken. I jumped out of the car as fast as I could to check on him and whilst the marshals’ arrived on site, we tried to keep calm. One of the first on the scene was Mark Fell (one of the event photographers) and whilst I was distracted by looking after Ben he spotted a fire in the engine bay. A quick blast with the extinguisher soon sorted that out but our thanks go to Mark for spotting it early! The fumes from the extinguisher, and the prospect of the car on fire were enough to prompt Ben to evacuate the vehicle and get clear.
The following moments were a little hectic, but the marshals’ and safety crew were with us incredibly quickly and I began to relax a little once help was at hand and Ben was receiving medical treatment. Everybody was superb and in the confusion I didn’t get too many names, but many thanks to everyone who helped us out and looked after us, a testament to the organisation and safety measure provided by the British Off Road Championship.
Once Ben had be taken off in the ambulance, I had the lovely task of helping with the recovery of the TMC back to base, an interesting task that almost saw it on it’s side with me in it! A second thanks to Mark Fell for hanging off the other side and keeping the stricken TMC just about upright.
On arrival back at site, Ben was looking a little better although clearly still in pain, he needed to go to hospital to get his injuries checked out. A check over from the doctor for myself confirmed that I had suffered nothing more than mild whiplash and some bruising from the harnesses.
As Kate took Ben off to the hospital, Paul and I opened up a couple of well-needed beers as we waited for news. We were relieved to hear that Ben had only suffered a suspected fracture of his scaphoid (classic motor sport injury I understand caused when the steering wheel catches the thumb, causing damage to a bone in the wrist area), and some very nasty bruising, although still painful it was a relief to know it was nothing more serious.
Ben and Kate arrived back from the hospital just in time to watch England lose in the football, we concluded that this was simply a bad day and we were left with no choice but to drink copious amounts of beer and whisky! The end of the evening saw the ceremonial burning of the crash helmet (it had a bad history!) and a final beer before bed.
Given our aches and pains and generally feeling a bit down we didn’t manage to see much of the racing on Sunday, but I hear it was a fantastic rest of event and rest assured we will be back to try again next year. We also are lucky enough to have Matt Burley Media keeping us company and have been enjoying some brilliant footage form them, including the on-board of our accident and the external view, which is nothing less than fantastic!
As always a few thanks to make. Kate for her superb catering and nursing and an apology for testing her nerves. Paul for being supportive even though there was no car to support, Matt and Ray (MBM) for their fantastic footage and beer drinking! Also a special thanks to Robbo who looked after Kate when she heard the news and was supportive to the whole team over the rest of the weekend. And to Chris Hammond and friends (sorry too many names to remember) for helping us get the TMC packed away and also for their support.
So Ben is now in plaster for a couple of weeks pending another x-ray, but as things stand at the time of writing we still hope to be out for Radnor in September, keep watching for news of the re-build. |
