MGB GT Tulip Rally

From the 3rd to the 9th May 2009 it was time to get the BGT ready for my second attempt on the famous Tulip Rally, this is a fantastic event and I would urge anyone to have a go. There are two classes the Expert Class which I enter, but there is also the Touring Class which any member could enjoy. The Rally is a whole week of competitive motoring starting in Annecy in France and finishing in Noordwijk in Holland, the weather this year was warm and sunny and went through Belgium before entering Holland. They have scrutineering in Holland two weeks before the rally and for those that drive to Annecy Sunday 2nd May all day is taken up with checking over the cars and signing on at the Palace Hotel. This year I decided that I would take the car across on the ferry that I work on, to scrutineering in Holland so that when I arrived at Annecy I could take it easy and have no worries about the car. I find that even though I know that my BGT is one hundred per cent ready and legal there is always a niggling worry that something may fail.

I started to get the car ready a month before the event because I like to have everything finished a week ahead of the rally, that way there are no last minute problems like a component part not arriving or being forced to work on the car right up to the last minute.  This time I decided that I would fit a new differential because the present one had been installed for almost five years and had done a lot of rallies, so I was dubious about its condition. I consulted Brown and Gammons and they suggested that I put in a limited slip differential, I have always wanted one but the price had put me off, however this time I bit the bullet. What a difference the LSD has made to the car, I think I can say that it’s now a couple of seconds a mile quicker. I also put in a Bellmog trip distance counter, this helps with the navigation and on these Historic rallies the rules require that everything must be as it was in the fifties and sixties. The Bellmog is a cheaper version of the famous Halda, those of you who take part in the MGOC road runs will be familiar with the mileages that are given in the road books, most people read off the car’s odometer but using a Bellmog is far simpler and much more accurate.

Anyway all the BGT needed was a spanner check and an oil and filter change before it was ready to go. My navigator Bill Grangier arrived on the Friday afternoon and I got him comfortable in the car. Bill and I have rallied together in the past and won our class a few times, we checked the mileage on the Bellmog, changed a few cog wheels and everything was set.

We left to catch the ferry in Harwich and started on the thirty minute drive, suddenly the engine started to misfire. I was very concerned about the cause, after five miles it missed and lost power. Luckily we had just pulled into a Shell garage, as I always put Shell V power in the tank whenever I can. As we pulled onto the forecourt there was a distinct smell of petrol but then the misfire seemed to clear itself. We had a quick look under the bonnet, checked the points but all seemed well, we left the garage and from then on she did not miss a beat all the way to Harwich.

The next morning when we got off in Hoek van Holland, Bill observed that the engine was running rough and he would like to have a quick look at everything. In Bill’s younger days he was a race mechanic with some big named teams so he knows his stuff, while he was looking under the bonnet a local came up and offered to take us to an MG specialist workshop about five miles down the road. So we were escorted to a workshop in Havenstraat, they were very helpful, they made us coffee and even gave me a set of points and a condenser. In addition they lent me a Facet fuel pump (which will be returned in due course) they even recognized the BGT from the articles in Enjoying MG.

Everything now seemed to be in order on the car, so we travelled on to Annecy with the engine not missing a beat all the way. The Rally started on the Monday morning and away we went up through France where the night halt was in Vals-Les-Bains. When we started on Tuesday morning we were 25th overall out of 60 experts so I was quite happy because there are over 200 entries in the whole event.

The Tuesday night halt was in Vichy. We did not do very well on Tuesday as we booked in a minute late and picked up 1000 penalty points which effectively put us out of the running. Wednesday’s halt was in Beaune, there was a night section in the evening and it was fantastic, we got all the boards and were clean. However, the misfire returned towards the end but did not slow us down much, for the life of me I could not work out what was causing it. Thursday night’s halt was Pont-a-Mousson, Friday was Genk in Belgium and Saturday Noordwijk in Holland. It was a fantastic Rally even though we did not do very well, I shall be back next year. In all, we did over three thousand miles and we had the misfire for about twenty of those. What can I say? The car went well and the limited slip diff made all the difference going up and down the Cols and in the lanes.

All the car needs is an oil change, spanner check a good clean in the engine bay to get rid of the dust and we will be off on another event soon watch this space. Until next time.

The contact details of the helpful garage in Holland are MG Workshop Havenstraat 44a. Monster 2681 LC The Netherlands

Tel: 0031-174- 212608. Fax: 0031-174-287496. Contact: Cathelijne Spoelstra info@mgworkshop.nl

Colin Evans