Well, we're back and in one piece which, if you've seen Corsican mountain roads and driven quickly on them, you'll appreciate
is some achievement all on its own. The Liege - Corse International Touring Trial for specialist sports cars was a great
success with a full field of diverse kit cars and one-off specials plus a TVR Cerbera and a Lotus Elise.
The plan was simple enough; start in Spa, drive over the Alps down to Marseille; hop on a ferry over to Corsica and do a
couple of laps at an average speed of 50 kph and hit all the time controls on schedule.
However, the nature of the roads with their writhing mountain bends, the steep gradients, the need to pay close attention to
the navigational dictates of the route book, the weather in France and a myriad of other considerations made 50 kph a testing
average to stick to which consequently made a finish cause for self congratulation and a bronze, silver or gold award
something to be proud of.
But more than the individual results, is the fact that kit cars have reached a standard of design and constructional quality
that they can happily undertake an event that not long ago would have left many of them in pieces at the side of the road
shaken and battered into mechanical submission by roads that don't do any car much good. That virtually everything completed
the course was a testament to modern kit design which gets better all the time.
The Liege - Corse is also a window on the sort of hugely enjoyable activity that kit cars grant access to. It's not just a
competition. We met good friends, went to some brilliant places that a holiday in France or Corsica would never discover, saw
some spectacular views, drove some spectacular roads, ate and drank well and just had a bally good time. Both myself and my
co-driver, Guy Miesl, will be there for the next one irrespective of its destination and if you would like to enjoy a driving
event of a lifetime, you will be too. See you at the start in Spa.
CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN
April's Liege-Corse international touring trial attracted a full entry for the most competitive event yet staged by the
Guild of Motor Endurance. Great roads and great driving took the field from snow-capped peaks to sun-kissed continental
coasts as it followed the tortuous dictates of the route book. lan Hyne reports from the hot seat - actually, it was freezing!
1. Maps, route books, regularity time sheets and stop watch and the ability to make sense of them are the essentials for
these events.
The downside of a passion for open-top cars is that sometimes you get cold. Ever since I drove the NG TC V8 back from Gent in
Belgium with no hood, heater or screen and in falling snow, I have promised myself the real McCoy of flying jackets in the
form of Irvin's finest and I'm damn glad I bought one. I bought one for my co-driver, Guy Meisl, too.
Of course in a diminutive sports car in which space is at a premium, the only problem with such a bulky item of apparel is
what to do with it when it's warm and sunny? However, it's not a problem that occupied our thoughts on the first night stage
of the recent Liege-Corse International Endurance Trial mainly because we spent the night crossing the Alps up to our bums in
snow, ice, sleet and wind-driven, biting cold. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson but alas, no. Here I was in the Ginetta
G20 with no screen, side-screens, hood or heater. Oh happy day - or night.
2. Cornelius Kloska in the Buckland B3 sets off from The Place Royale in Spa while ...
Our Ginetta G20, number 41 and the third member of Team Gorilla, pulled out of Spa at 8.41pm. It was pretty straightforward
for us but not for everybody. Veteran enduroman, Mike Walker, suffered total brake failure in his seasoned Technic 550 such
that the countdown to his take-off slot found him feverishly fettling under the car to trace the fault. This he did and made
his slot, albeit covered in muck.
Navigational glitch one occurred within half a mile of the start where a road closed for repairs took the rallymen by
surprise but while intelligence in respect of this one had filtered down the field by the time most cars left, the second one
hadn't. The route was supposed to take the cars onto the public road sections of Spa's famous Francorchamps circuit but due
to that weekend's round of the Porsche Cup races, the circuit was closed but Meisl quickly found the right road and the few
cars behind us followed our lead to get back onto the designated route.
3. Wyn Gray helps Liege veteran, Mike Walker, fix the brakes on his Technic 550 Spyder.
Problem three hit many competitors during the night and it was nothing to do with road detours or mechanical gremlins; it
concerned credit cards. The field had been alerted to the fact that they needed to start on full tanks to make the few petrol
stops that would be available during the night. That was OK but what the instructions didn't say was that all other garages
were unmanned and worked on credit cards. Now European credit cards differ from our own in that they have a built-in
micro-processor that requires a PIN number to be punched in to authorise payment. We got round it by asking a chap at a
garage if he could fill us up and we'd pay him in cash. Well, Guy would as, having been late for the Tunnel, I hadn't visited
the Bureau de Change and only had sterling. Naturally every Bureau de Change we passed was closed and I had survived thus far
on foreign currency reserves culled from the bottom of the oddments tray on our kitchen table. Anyway, this bloke said, if we
asked the chap in the café next door who owned the garage as well, he'd be happy to - and he was. We took the opportunity for
a quick coffee and set forth again.
The early part of the evening was pretty uneventful apart from becoming increasingly cold. We passed through St Die where we
had been forced to spend the weekend two years ago when the ECU in our Birkin packed in. We'd already been in every pub in
town so we carried on. And then came the mountains.
As ever on these events the route had been steadily climbing to the first special section at the Col de Turckheim hill climb.
Hillclimbs are by nature tricky to negotiate. Well, you want to try it at night. The roads were getting a bit slippy now so
we took care. Actually, the timing was pretty relaxed in France. It was in Corsica that the introduction of 'timed to the
second' regularity stages would take their toll the award scheme.
Once over Turckheim, we carried on to a height of 1,280 metres (4,100 ft) shivering as the snow got deeper and the
temperature plummeted. At some ungodly hour of the morning we were supposed to have breakfast but as the place was under a
metre of snow, we abandoned the idea. The spectacle of twenty cars doing three point turns on a twisting mountain road was
something to see but we turned round, came back down the mountain, consulted the maps and made the necessary detour to get
back on route.
4. Coming down the mountain after the breakfast halt was found to be under a metre of snow.
On the way up we'd passed Wyn Gray's Westfield in a ditch having spun on an icy, uphill hairpin and gone back down the slope
on the inside of the bend. Plenty had stopped to help get him out of the trees and when we saw him coming up as we went down,
we found all he'd damaged was his hood which had been ripped by a tree branch. Lucky chap. Not so lucky was one of the
Suffolk SS 100s which fell into a stream from which it needed professional assistance to emerge. However, the crew weren't
hurt apart from their pride.
And then came the dawn. l love driving in the early morning. I love the freshness of a new day and, believe me, it doesn't
come much fresher than behind the wheel of a G20. But with it came a little warmth and the coffee stop at France Sbarro's
museum was more than welcome.
This place was an Aladdin's Cave of automotive imagination and I would have liked longer than an all too brief half hour to
have a look round but it's on the list for a return visit one day.
From there we reeled off the miles on spectacular roads as we headed via the most circuitous possible route to the first
night's hotel at Aix Les Bains and, after twenty hours of driving, rarely was a hotel a more welcome sight. It was pretty
luxurious too; a far cry from the oft encountered Formule 1 young offender's cell. The weather was pretty good when we got
there so, while Guy got a gallon of coffee, I set about fiddling with the car.
The Ginetta had gone very well but, when driven in anger, especially over rough roads, it kept bottoming out at the back. In
addition, the exhaust runs under the chassis and this had taken a fair old pounding too. Of course, such noises in a car
always sound far worse than they are and having jacked the back up and removed the wheels, there was precious little sign of
damage.
All I did was wind the spring seats up - and up. I then replaced the Benelli clamp holding the exhaust to its bracket and
hoped that would have done the trick. I then went for a shower and change before a rather splendid dinner. At the pre
din-dins drinks, I was chatting to European correspondent, Peter Cahill, and asked him whether, if I gave him a wad of cash,
he could dive into a bank on Monday morning and hand it over later in the day. He readily agreed and that was another problem
taken care of.
5. Martin Buckley fixes his alternator under the hotel porch while the G20 fills with water.
Sunday evening's weather may have been pleasant but Monday morning's was anything but. It was snowing, sleeting and raining
heavily in rotation but as the sleet finally gave way to rain, it got quite warm. Wet we could stand as you soon dry out in
an open car but as long as it didn't get cold again.
So with helmets on and Irvin jackets doing their thing, it was off again and by lunch time, the weather was fine and we were
dry. We even sat outdoors for lunch before we tackled the Mount Ventoux hillclimb. This was one of the highlights of the
event.
6. Rain we could stand and at least the Monday morning was a good bit warmer.
Opened in 1902, it's the oldest hillclimb in Europe. It was closed to motorsport in 1975 and only reopened last year. It is a
hillclimb but not as we know it as it's 21kms long. And it's fast. It's all long sweeping bends and really fast Esses. About
half way up there was quite a tight little chicane and as we came round the first bend, I shouted at Guy to hit the brakes!
He though some disaster had overtaken us but not a bit of it. I had seen Peter Cahill on the side of the road taking photos
with one hand and holding out an envelope in the other - money. A quick dab slowed us enough for me to grab it as we shot
past and we continued on our merry way. At 17 kms we hit the snow and a couple of clicks further on we hit the fog and
amazingly, some traffic groping along. We'd been having such a great thrash we'd never considered oncoming traffic. It's not
as if the road goes anywhere as it doesn't. It just goes to the top of the mountain at 6,000 ft where you do a 180 degree
turn and come down again.
7. That looks good. Jerry Bailey and David Page's Transformer at speed on Mount Ventoux.
Robert and Judith Porter in their Ginetta 021 are keen cyclists and Robert said the Tour de France climbs it every year and
having been up it, I salute anyone who can pedal up it. It's one hell of a mountain.
8. Steve Blair in his company car! He took a few lumps out of Blackpool's finest product.
From there it was a pretty straight run to Marseilles and the luxurious ferry to Bastia in Corsica. Once aboard, showered and
changed, the beer slipped down beautifully. We also ate well but Francie Clarkson had the same problem as I had previously
had - no cash. Her plan was to go to the casino, get £500 of chips on her credit card and then cash them in at which point
they hand you cash.
9. Summer sun welcomed us to Corsica. Runners and riders wait for the start from Bastia.
The following morning we emerged onto a sun-kissed dockside in Bastia and it was pretty warm and set to get a lot warmer. As
we waited for the off and consulted the time sheets for the regularity sections, the marshalls advised us that a stop watch
would be a good idea - Now they tell us! Anyway, we seemed to have some time to kill so Guy hot footed it into Bastia and
came back with two stop watches, one for us and one for his beloved and her co-driver Francie. It was only later when
chatting to Charles and Paul in their Mazda Rotary powered Sylva Striker with no Brantz rally meter, stopwatch or anything
else that they told us all you needed to do was set your watch to the start time on the regularity sheet and not bother with
altering the times to take account of your start number. Clever lads. Incidentally, the huge exhaust on this car is necessary
to suppress the ear-splitting din it otherwise makes. For this event it was fitted with a new stainless steel system made by
Wunoff in Bradford, Yorks, sponsors of our Steve Hole's monthly Mystery Car Competition.
10. Charles Sterling's Wunoff stainless steel exhaust for his Mazda Rotary Sylva Striker.
Corsica is a mountain. A bally big mountain and we were hardly out of the port when we took a left and the car's nose was
pointing skywards. It stayed that way pretty well all day but the driving was great, the scenery spectacular and the weather
tropical. As we scooted along, fanned by the breeze and absorbed in the details of the regularity test to come, we never
considered the true strength of the sun. It was only when we stopped that evening that I felt the tightening of the skin on
my nose that precedes a peeling konk!
But back to regularity. You'd think it would be as easy as falling off a log to keep to 50kph but not so and especially not
in Corsica! On regularity sections, you have to keep on time to the second. There are passage controls along the way and you
are not allowed to stop so you can't blast off, get ahead of yourself and pull over for a fag. Even blasting off, it's still
hard to keep to 50kph but we were pretty pleased with our efforts on day one where we were only a few seconds out at the
end of the stages. The only thing that puzzled us was that we'd approach the end of a section just around the next comer, slow
down to time it to the second only to turn the corner and find no control. We'd then blast off again cursing the marshalls
for being in the wrong place. It was only a couple of days later that we discovered there usually isn't a control at the end.
Ah, well. The briefing said it would all become clear; they just didn't say how long it would take.
That evening we came into the hotel in Ajaccio. This was the Corsican equivalent of Butlins but it was somewhere to have a
much needed sleep, a couple of welcome beers and something to eat. It was one of those help yourself to as much as you
like of whatever you can identify jobs but it did the trick. Before bed, I just wound the spring seats up a little more to counter
the odd bottoming and checked the car over ready for the morning.
11. A shot that sums up the event. Twisting roads and bally great mountains. Real G20 country.
The next three days were more of the same as we criss crossed Corsica and scaled every mountain peak you can get a car
up. The car went brilliantly, the weather stayed fine, the driving was fantastic, we were becoming masters at regularity and
following Guy's misfortunes on all three of these international events that had failed to gain an award, I had high hopes of
a Gold. Silly me but not half as silly as the reason we missed it.
12. Curious and appreciative Corsicans inspect the cars as they pause at a time control.
On the last day, the instruction was to be back for 4 o'clock so as not to miss the ferry. As we set off in the morning,
everything was going well until we came to a regularity section. Guy was driving and just after we had set off, I saw a sign
saying the road was closed 20 kms ahead. I had a look at the route book which reckoned this section was 18kms long so I
thought we'd turn off before we reached the road closure. However, a few minutes later, we met the first cars coming
down saying the road was blocked by a rock fall and there was just no way through.
On consulting the map to find out where we were and where we had to get to, the detour was about 100 kms and we
hadn't much time in which to do it. But we tried. There were several possible routes we could have taken, each, being
mountain roads, a bit of a gamble.
Anyway, we were belting down this twisting mountain road when Guy took a hairpin and got a really big slide on. He pulled
over saying he had heard something go pop and there was something rubbing on left hand bends. When we examined the wheel,
it was covered in oil so we checked the sump, gearbox and differential but found nothing amiss. All we could think of was that
the damper had lost its oil. That said, I couldn't even think whether we had gas or oil-filled dampers. Anyway time was really tight,
it was approaching lunch time and there was no way we would make the lunch halt on time. In addition, if we carried on, we
risked the possibility of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and missing the ferry. So reluctantly, we decided that our best
course of action was to stroke the car back to Ajaccio, miss the lunch and afternoon time controls and go for a bronze award.
So we did.
13. Last seen upside down in Wales, Gordon Hick starts a special test at a Corsican kart circuit.
When we got back, we parked the car and went for a steak and a couple of beers. As we sat there Guy and Stefan
Merryweather came in. They had had a few problems with their Sylva Jester and, like us, had decided to play safe. Anyway,
when we got back to the car, there was a small puddle of oil under the back wheel and I thought 'just how much oil is there in
a damper?' It was even stranger as, graunching noise on left handers aside, the car had felt fine even though we had taken it
steady. But there was little we could do, so we drove it to the ferry, enjoyed a very convivial evening and the next day,
decided to take it easy from Marseilles up to Calais on the peage.
We set off at a steady pace but as the car felt OK I gradually built up the speed until we were doing 70 and 80. It was only
when we stopped for petrol and a coffee that Guy took a closer look and discovered the awful truth.
Behind the offside rear wheel is hatch granting access to the battery. Whether no plate had been put over it or whether it had
come off, I don't know. But what I do now know is that our oil can had shaken itself through this hole, been caught by the
wheel and rammed up into the top of the wheel arch. The tyre had eventually worn a hole in the plastic releasing the oil and
creating the slide. Whet I thought was a GRP panel was actually the oil can. I felt pretty silly as Guy extricated the can and the
car ran fine. All I can say is that it was our fault. Event organiser, Peter Davis, always stresses the importance of preparation
and checking and I hadn't spotted the missing panel. So it's another one down to experience and we won't make the same
mistake again.
14. The reward for our efforts was a bronze award. Next time we'll get a gold! Roll on!
With faith in the car fully restored, we got a move on. The speedometer was playing up making huge erratic swings before
giving up completely but the car seemed happy at between 4,000 and 4,500 revs and I thought around 20mph per 1,000rpm in
top would keep us about right for the 130kph speed limit. Wrong again. When we came off the motorway at Calais, a policemen
waved us over and fined us 600 francs (£60) for averaging 155kph (96mph) between Paris and Calais. As Alan de Cadenet said
in masterful Franglais when nicked for speeding in his Alfa 8C on the way down to Le Mans, "C'est un gendarme
blond"! More to the point, as Guy said, "Thank your lucky stars we stopped for coffee"!
Actually, I was quite impressed and given the charmed life we have led whilst blasting through France during the last ten years
on many a sports car outing, £60 is a small price to pay for the pleasure we have had. I actually remember coming back from Le
Mans in Stan Daniel's glorious SD500, again with Guy. As we blasted along an arrow straight road, I said, "Look at that
twit standing in the road. He'll get run over". It was only as we shot past that we saw it was a gendarme. He was either
to surprised or too shocked to give chase but we never saw him again.
And then we were back on the Shuttle which beat the hell out of relaxing under a tarpaulin on the sleet deck of a ferry. Off the
other end, we bombed up to London and hit the biggest pot hole of the whole trip in Balham! It was only the next morning when I
saw it had dented both wheel rims on the nearside.
Having had a good rest, we're already thinking about the next one. It was a great trip, with great cars, great people, fantastic
scenery, brilliant driving and a lot of laughs. We'll be ready and if you fancy a a magical mystery tour, you will too.
GINETTA'S MOUNTAIN MACHINE
The Ginetta G20 is just oh so pretty. Everywhere we went and everywhere we stopped it drew endless admiring looks and
comments. It's red, white and blue livery added to the romance of its appeal and I was hooked the moment I saw it. But like all
beauties, it has its flaws.
To drive, I cannot fault it. Once we had fiddled with the tyre pressures and settled on 18 at the front and 22 at the back, it
gripped the road with unshakable tenacity. It's not often Kit Car conducts a 3,000 mile road test but any car that can cover the
distance being driven hard and never get loose at either end save when encouraged to do so by two litres of 15W40 gets my
vote as a competent handler and road holder. The front end geometry has it darting into the turns with real enthusiasm. Brilliant
steering is a feature that has travelled well from the G27 and the quick rack felt good in the turns and stable on the straight.
Coming out of the corners especially fast ones, the Dunlop SP Sports gripped brilliantly and put all the power down without the
slightest complaint.
In the power stakes, the 1800cc Zetec DOHC, 16-valve with Ford's EFI on Ginetta's plenum chamber developed about 150bhp.
In a pretty light car, albeit a light car loaded down with the paraphernalia of an international event, it gave really good acceleration
and gripped superbly from a standing start. The 0 - 60 sprint is accomplished in around 6.5 seconds and though the speed
impressive as evidenced by our speeding ticket, more impressive still was the engine's easy torque. We tackled a great many
very steep hills that just went on and on, up and ever up. In addition, they weren't straight climbs but real snake jobs where
you're up and down the box the whole time. But where many cars were using second a lot, the G20 was more than happy in
third and pulled cleanly and strongly whenever we asked it to.
The brakes are brilliant too and they certainly took a pounding. We boiled the fluid twice but prior to losing them, they hauled the
car down in impressive style, reacted equally well to short jabs and sustained applications and never faded until they gave up
completely.
Overall the Ginetta G20 is a fast, flexible, grippy and brilliant handling sports car that we thoroughly enjoyed driving even in
snow up to our ears and soaking wet.
So what's wrong? Well it's certainly nothing that can't be fixed. First off is the screen. It looks pretty but unlike the wind
deflector on a Fisher Fury, the G20's doesn't do anything. The centre point is at the maximum height permissible under SVA for
no wipers and washers. But for the occupants, instead of lifting the air stream over your head, it shovels it straight into your
face. Naturally we had helmets but the air tended to get under them and to lift your head back all the time so your neck ached
from bracing yourself. A re-profiled screen is a must.
Then there are the pedals. There's nothing much wrong with the actual pedals other than the fact that it was difficult to heel
and toe with them but, being floor mounted, there was nowhere to rest your left foot on long stretches. The G20 is not alone
in being tight in the footwell but a little dead pedal let into the side of the tunnel would be great.
The car is comfortable too but just lacks a little thigh support. They really need to be longer seat bottome to really support your
legs. It's especially noticeable in the passenger seat where, with your legs stretched out, they tend to try and bend the wrong
way at the knees after a while.
The driving position is excellent but with a big jacket on, I found the gear lever a bit too far back. Several other people have
made the same comment so it's not just a big jacket problem.
Finally, there's the boot. It's all very well to push stuff to the back but when it drops down behind the rear axle, it can prove
remarkably difficult to recover especially as the access aperture is pretty narrow. That aside, it's a greatsports car that
continues Ginetta's finest traditions. It's little wonder the order book is so healthy and both myself and co-driver, Guy Meisl,
offer sincere thanks to Martin Phaff for the very kind loan of a terrific kit form sports car.
If you want to know more, contact Ginetta Cars on:
Tel: 01142 610099.
