Rally Review
Tom Bowen looks back on the 2005 season with his MG ZR
This was the first year that we had taken on a serious rallying campaign by ourselves, and what a steep learning curve it turned out to be. As you would expect we knew little of what was to happen during the course of the season, due to nil experience at rally organisation and not having the luxury of the professional backing of the Scholarship of the previous year. To say the least it was a huge undertaking and a huge weight on poor old dad’s shoulders. One of the major aspects we had not factored in were the lesser running costs that kept coming in, for example the costs of fuel for the rally car and the towing vehicle. Virtually all of the rallies were in Wales or the north of Yorkshire and we found the fuel bills were coming to at least £120 – £150 a rally. This really mounted up over the season and skewed the budget.
Tom at full flow on last year’s Trackrod Rally
Most of us are optimists when we embark on projects that we can only just afford whether it’s buying a house, buying a car or running a rally team. Perhaps were rather too optimistic as a team because we did not factor in enough money for running repairs between rallies. Even though most of the rallies are only between 60-80 stage miles the car takes a severe hammering. We had hoped to get away with about £250 preparation costs per event but on some this ballooned out to £500- £700 especially when the bumpers kept coming off, or rear beams crack etc. These variables took us by surprise and mounted up our fixed costs which were already high as it was. For example entry fees totalled over £3000, tyres cost about £1600 and insuring the car’s bodyshell for the season came to about £2500 (although this more than paid for itself after our Welsh Rally incident).
We started the season not knowing a mechanic with rally experience and this proved a mistake. It meant we did not concentrate on the most important areas of the car and wasted an awful lot of time. However the rumours about the rallying world being helpful and ready to lend a hand proved correct. M3 Motorsport repaired the bodyshell after the Welsh incident and had it ready in time for the next rally and as the season wore on we were helped by a referral from my original instructor Steve Markham. We started to use his mechanic Darren Tibbits and subsequently his friends Elliot Rettallich and Matt Stevens helped us enormously with the set up of the car. All of the them were very generous with their time and knowledge.
By the end of the season we had begun to get to grips with running the car. At the beginning of the season I didn’t even realise that gravel tyres can only be put on one side of the car due to their tread pattern. Nor that the car needs at least a two hour pressure wash after a gravel rally or else the mud dries like concrete and the mechanic’s job becomes a nightmare. We had learned a great deal by the end of the season.
Sponsorship has ensured that we finished the season and interestingly much of our sponsorship has come through people we know or through direct association of some sort. The MG Owners’ Club were obviously interested in us as we run an MG ZR and they helped us find our main sponsor Prostate Cancer Awareness. Approaches to other potential sponsors whom we did not know or had no connection with us or the car were a complete failure (any readers who would like to help us this year are most welcome). So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prostate Cancer Awareness, Pickett’s Cars, MG Owners’ Club, Attivo Solutions, The Banbury Cake, David Plumb, Stephen Feather and my grandfather for their support.
Also I cannot understate the support I have received from those around me principally my dad who has run the season for the team. I like to thank my co-driver Peter Davidson who has made a valuable contribution to the season and survived some scary moments with me. Other people whose help has been of note has been Steve Markham who has believed in me since the beginning and John Davenport.
Lastly I would like to say how grateful I have been to my MG ZR. It has served me wonderfully and with the exception of the Welsh Rally (all my own fault) has brought me home without fail. The only cars in the Stars of the Future that managed to finish every rally were MG ZRs. This is a ringing endorsement to just how well engineered the little ZRs are.
The season has had its high points and rather low points but we did much better than we dared hope after such a bad start. Second place in the ZR Championship and sixth overall out of a field of twenty, 1400cc and 1600cc Stars of the Future. We are aiming to do the BRC Stars of the Future and the MG Championship again this year and I will be keeping you informed of our progress. Watch this space.
Tom Bowen