Chris Pratt & Nick Ardern scored their maiden victory on the Swan '97 Rally. Jointly promoted by Windsor Car Club and High Wycombe & DMC, the Swan '97 featured a 140 mile route including many of the classic Chiltern lanes. Pratt/Ardern initially closely shadowed the battle between Mike Biss/Cath Woodman, Steve Cole/Bob Blows, and Paul Wright/Mark Goodman. When Biss/Woodman missed a PC half way through the second half and then both Wright/Goodman and Coles/Blows struggled with the navigation, and fell from contention Pratt/Ardern were promoted into the winning spot.
It wasn't long into the rally before the competitors reached the first critical point (TC5). The route instructions required careful reading to locate the control precisely, and most crews struggled here. Half the field just missed TC5 entirely and picking up a fail. Pratt/Ardern came to the fore here, their single minute penalty proving to be the least (although two other crews did match it). Unfortunately recording poor times at TC11 allowed Wright/Goodman into the half way lead, just ahead of a three way tie between Biss/Woodman, Steve Cole/Bob Blows and Pratt/Ardern.
With less than sixty miles completed, it was all to play for in the second half. The route turned southwards, taking in sections above Wendover and Princes Risborough. The experts handled these with ease, but the less able crews were starting to struggle with the navigation. The novices, despite having additional hints, were fairing even worse many crews cutting sections and dropping PCs.
Just for good measure the whites at Sliding Hill were included. This was a section for bravery, as although the whites were very smooth, the long grass growing over them in places could conceal a nasty surprise. Pratt/Ardern dropped two minutes at the end of Sliding Hill, splitting the tie. Two sections on from this Biss/Woodman neglected to go round a white loop. Fortunately missed PCs were only 15 minutes and they were able to recovery to fourth.
The final 15 or so miles were to prove the most telling... CoC Roger Davidson had lined up some onerous navigation - not too difficult but time consuming. Coupled with the twisty lanes, and the fact that it was getting on for Four AM these sections were to prove most taxing. The first major upset was at TC40 (Gussetts Wood). A two mile section, with no PCs, and hand out which basically said don't turn right and don't turn left at each junction. Sounds easy? It took the majority of crews quite a while to spot how easy it really was - eg Biss/Woodman dropped 3 minutes. Martin Smith (navigating for Stella Morris) spotted it immediately and they were the only crew to clean the section. Pratt/Ardern posted better times than most on the tricky Gussetts Wood section, and this was the launch pad for their win.
The next section, taking in the triangle at Colstrop penalised many other crews, but at the top of the field Pratt/Ardern consolidated their lead. Cole/Blows and Wright/Goodman managed to become tied, which was eventually split in Wright/Goodman's favour on the basis of TC5.
In the classes Wessex MC's Chris Moore/Andy Coshan secured the Semi-Experts, as the only crew without any fails, and WCC crew Mark Browell/Les Parsons triumphed in the Novices with a comfortable four fail margin. Coshan, working hard in the navigator's seat proved that the investment of a few minutes was well worth the avoidance of a fail, and carefully managing the Lateness Recovery Sections they annexed the awards. At the end, most people agreed that the Swan '97 Rally had been an enjoyable, if taxing, night's motorsport.
Pos Class Driver/Navigator Car f m 1 E Chris Pratt/Nick Ardern Peugeot 205 11 2 E Paul Wright/Mark Goodman Escort MkII 14 3 E 1 Steve Cole/Bob Blows Peugeot 205 14 4 E 2 Mike Biss/Cath Woodman Nova GTE 24 5 E 3 Stella Morris/Martin Smith XR3i 25 6 E 4 Guy Livingstone/Matthew Fowle Vectra 38 7 E 5 Jeremy Rodgers/Mark Fearon MG Maestro 42 8 E 6 Ian Orford/Ian Perry Charade GTTi 47 9 SE 1 Chris Moore/Andy Coshan Sunbeam 56 10 E 7 Alan Wood/John Upham Audi 80 Quattro 56 11 E 8 Steve Penrose/Allan Askew Astra SRi 68 12 SE 2 Ian Harrison/Rob Watson Escort 1 75 13 E 9 Neil Lewis/Bob Muttram Delta Intergale 1 86 14 SE 3 Barbara Carter/Peter Barnard Corolla 1 106 15 SE 4 Peter Toogood/Neil Ayling Peugeot 205 2 124 16 SE 5 Dave Bushby/Roger McKenzie Escort 4 137 17 SE 6 Mark Lodder/Tony Woods Opel Kadett 4 303 18 SE 7 Bob France/Rob Liddiard XR3i 5 122 19 E 10 Peter Sandeman/Andy Kilby Mini Cooper 5 163 20 SE 8 Simon Millington/Richard Whitehouse Peugeot 205 7 140
Pos Class Driver/Navigator Car f m 1 N Mark Browell/Les Parsons Mini 2 151 2 N Mark Greenwood/Alan Beard Astra 6 310 3 N Dave Brown/Jim Dowle Micra 11 319 4 N Neil Clarke/Richard Clarke Astra GTE 11 383 5 N Piers Evershed/Ceri Beaton Golf GTi 14 563 26 SE Damian Conway/Ben Conway AX GT Retired - Broken Suspension 27 SE John Carey/Mike East Escort Retired - Broken Throttle Cable 28 SE Chin/George Vost Manta Retired - Out of Fuel 29 E Andy Neild/Sean Gadsby Nova GTE Retired 30 E Richard McLachlan/Eddie Clough Escort DNSFull