Well, another year passes by, and another damn good event brightens the world for quite a few people.
With the help of Forrest Estate, we had managed to increase the field to 50 entries, and every single place was filled as the cars started the opening round. At one point, we were up to 58 entries for the event, however the second half of the motorsport season retired a few cars, and health issues forced a few drivers to reassess their plans.... but it all worked out in the end!
A huge amount of work by a large number of people saw a brilliant event (the MSA Steward was reported as saying he didn't think he had ever been to a single venue rally that had been as well organised.... and that MSA Steward has been to many events over the years!) Planning takes many forms - from stage routes and the time schedule, to getting everyone into the (tight) service yard & getting the burger van to open for breakfast :)
We set up in three days, with a crew of about twenty people working hard to ensure everything was ready. The weather was not kind - continual rain kept the water levels high, and played havoc with car electrics as wet coats dripped water everywhere....
The event itself was brilliant - I started the day chaperoning a pair of media students who were part of a group filming the event (I think there were a dozen media folk at the event, in all!), then ended up running the Arrivals station for SS5 & SS8 (never done it before, but you pitch in where needed.... and actually it's a doddle to do!)
Sunday was much quieter for me - enabling me to do what I needed to do: go and talk to competitors, and get a feel for what we should be doing in 2011.
Much Kudos to Rupert for making us all do our wee bits & making the whole greater than the sum of the parts; and to Campbell for a stages design that was an elegant use of the limited options. Special mention to Colin, for pulling a slew of new faces into the marshalling pool as well as gathering in some familiar faces (and November is a busy month for marshalling - I'm back down to the Borders area for the Roger Albert Clark rally this weekend!) and to Sharon, for getting everyone into the tight service area (with not much friction, and very few cross words)
As noted above, we had 50 starters. 35 Finished the event... which is pretty good, considering Hill Rallies are about endurance, not outright speed: Preparation is paramount. There are a couple of videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jaKO5Qg0Qs is from a regular at the scottish comps, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRriNfA-dV0 is some in-car footage from the new Britpart car (on SS1 - so this is the very first time he's seen this stage. Remember there are no pace-notes, so he's literally driving it as he sees it!)
Results are here: http://www.nersresults.co.uk/html/2010/sb_hillrally/
Takedown was good: John & Diana pulled in most of Sections 2 & 3 by lunchtime on Monday, whilst Colin and I cleared the Rally HQ area (take down the big SLROC marquee & return thirty-odd pallets to the estate workshop-yard.) Tuesday saw a big help from Forrest Estate again, as they send a couple of people off to pull in Section 1, whilst Diana and I took down the smaller SLROC marquee and finished clearing Section 2.
By 4pm on Tuesday, all stage furniture was in; all signage was either away with Campbell or in my trailer; all sticks were away with John or Charlie, or lying ready for me to pick up; and all tents were packed away.
A big thanks to everyone involved: competitors, without whom there would be no event to run; marshals, without whom the event would not even start; the organisers, without whom nothing would have happened at all; and Forrest Estate, who have already asked us back next year (and Brian wants to be '0' car again!)
Bring it on!!!
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