It seems the latest advance in tent design is Air tents. Instead of steel or fibreglass poles, these tents have inflatable beams which are filled via a pump; the beams become rigid and keep the tent stable and upright, much like a standard tent pole but easier. Apparently an inflatable tent can be pitched in mere minutes and is a preferable option for anyone who has had issues with tent poles or tent pitching in the past.

Well that’s very pertinent to the KRU rally team story of their time on the Carlisle Stages rally based in Longtown near Carlisle.

A very warm Friday saw Jon and Gary towing KRU on the trailer up the M6. Stopping for a latte and comfort break they noticed one of the trailers mudguards had detached itself somewhere down the motorway. A sign of things to come perhaps.

First stop was our camp site for the next two nights in Blackford. Trailer and Land Rover were abandoned at the camp site Jon and Gary drove KRU the short distance to the rally HQ and successfully through the noise check. Into scrutineering where KRU was checked by an RCA MSA who had travelled hundreds of miles from Cornwall just to perform his calling. All respect to him, though Gary’s quip about him earning a mega-expense cheque was met with a stony stare, fortunately after they had received the ‘passed’ sticker.

FBPMC motor club chairman Simon who was also the safety officer for the rally came over for a chat. He was very encouraging but pointed out one particular ‘fresh air’ bend on stage 3 which he said was the scene of a mk II Escort sailing 100 metres into the ravine below a couple of years ago, fortunately both crews were not badly hurt. Gary made a mental note which he later transferred to the pace notes with lots of red highlights.

Back to the camp and with all our crew and supporters now on the road up north it was time for Jon and Gary to set camp and prepare for their arrival. With a very large 4 bedroom tent, roughly the size of a small town, accommodation would be roomy and spacious. It was at this point that Gary remembered that the marquee should have consisted of two large bags.  The tent outer and bedrooms were all present but alas no poles to keep the whole lot upright. A pointless search was made for the missing bag of poles to no avail, it was safely stored back in Yorkshire and with all KRU team descending on Carlisle no opportunity to despatch anyone to collect it.

A desperate but ultimately fruitless effort was made to secure another tent but at 5 pm on a Friday night no outdoor shop was going to be close enough to reach and inevitably cap in hand was rung to the B & B owner where some of our supporters had booked in for the weekend. A spare room was found, and a warm welcome made at very short notice. Hats off to Judith at Mount Farm in Blackford for going the extra mile and saving some of Gary’s blushes.

Not surprisingly every opportunity was sought to remind Gary of his memory shortcomings that night and throughout the weekend, and all manner of quips and puns (some humorous, some dreary) were wrung from the crisis.

In good spirits the team descended into Carlisle and the Gosling Bridge Inn. Sadly the high spirits diminished upon our arrival as along with several other rally teams, we endured a roasting hot and crammed restaurant, long queues at the bar and a 90 minute wait for some dry and tasteless sustenance. Clearly not their finest hour – and a half.

A not too early start the next morning and the team bagged a spot in the very busy and stony soulless service area. The big teams had their usual acres of colour co-ordinated corporate motorhomes and fully equipped workshops on wheels, their roped off areas bullying and bulging in the best spots. A quiet spot was secured and Pete soon raised spirits with his usual fare of breakfast baps and treats.

Spectator spots were chosen and Neil, Emma and Lottie left to find their spot with Elaine, Helen and Jade choosing to follow KRU and chase car Dave and Jamie up to the forests in the north west of the Kielder complex.

It was mild, cloudy and overcast but the forests were dry and dusty when KRU accelerated away from the start line on Stage 1, a 7 mile hilly starter in Glen Dhu. Cautious and uneventful progress was made; the new pace note layout and couple of months lay-off meant Jon and Gary were not at their quickest and Jon was berating himself for some misjudgements on one or two corners as we slowed for their time at the finish control. A short forest link and into stage two where KRU and crew stirred and began to work in harmony.

The team had not been idle in the down time weeks since the Borders event. With WRC homoglation for the Felicia a distant memory it was time to ditch the unnecessary interior trim and glass. Perspex windows were fitted saving a lot of weight and Martin Grimwood the KRU team technical specialist had found some more beans by tinkering and fine tuning the engine management system.

The second stage English Kershope was flatter and tighter and suited KRU better. Jon was more controlled and Gary was getting used to the pace notes. As they began to drive into dust clouds they knew they were going well and the car in front wasn’t too far away. There were casualties already and tiptoeing past others who were on their sides in the ditches lost time but the crew knew they were picking up places all the time and they leapt up 15 places on the leader board.

Back onto the public road and Dave and Jamie were waiting. A quick once over but KRU was working superbly and 8 miles of Newcastleton was next. At the start a 1600 Corsa asked to start in front of us, Gary was happy to oblige as they are a fast car to have behind, especially on such long stage and this was also the stage with the triple cautioned fresh air drop. However, after 3 miles KRU was in the Corsa’s dust and gaining fast. Jon’s mum should look away now as KRU caught the Corsa about 100 metres from the very bad drop. Jon had the red mist descend amongst the brown dust been kicked up by the ailing Corsa and was anxious to get clear of the fog created by the dust. Gary however was anxious to maintain 4 wheels on the forest track and avoid soaring off into free-flight. As the bend drew near his cautions to Jon became louder and sterner. Right on the apex the Corsa found some room to pull over and indicated left. Jon accelerated past; Gary clenched everything and hoped for cohesion from the forest tyres. The tree line suddenly stopped and a gaping, yawning, beckoning panorama presented itself. Gary reckoned they were about 20 mph too quick into the daunting bend. It was indeed a sheer drop. The felled trees far on the other side of the valley seemed a long way away and Jon threw the car into the bend. The track’s loose stones and gravel quickly displaced and the tyres found the grooves left by the previous cars and, scalextric-like, turned away from the edge. Jon kept the power in and KRU hurried away from the valley rim and also clear of the Corsa. With confidence growing and the sweet taste of making a minute up on the Corsa Jon had a very good run through and they picked up another 6 places.

Back to Longtown for the first 20 min service and Pete had a good choice on the menu. Dave and Jamie gave the car a good checking but nothing was amiss and the crew were soon back into the forest. Stage 4 had seen the start move further into the forest as the track was so rough and it was clear that the stones and grading here was much more gruelling than any previous stage. As the Felicia bounced and bumped across the surface the car was a real handful to drive and Jon did well to keep between the trees emerging in 96th place from a field of 130 starters. But there was a problem, as Gary received and checked their time a marshall urgently gestured to Jon that KRU had picked up a rear offside puncture, the forest tyre had given in to the rough surface.

Gary knew that they only had a mile or so road section before a turn back into the Ash Park stage on the other side of the B road. With little time to warn them in advance on the radio, and confident that the chase crew were on the road section he calculated that they would have enough time to change the wheel despite the negligible road distance involved. He directed Jon to make as much progress as possible on the flat tyre. Sure enough Dave and Jamie were waiting at the start of the emergency service section. Their teamwork was remarkable and they quickly replaced the shredded tyre, checked the pressures and the state of the other wheels and tyres in just over 2 minutes. KRU quickly made up time and Gary checked into the stage arrival on time. A great job by Dave and Jamie.

Ash Park was another rough stage and saw a high number of retirements due to the surface or crashes.

Back to service 2 in Longtown and with only another 20 minutes break Dave and Jamie soon realised that the front tyre had also suffered and was also punctured, so another gravel tyre was fitted.

The team headed off to the final stage, an extended Kershope test of 14 miles, with supporters now stationed in the stage. As they approached the start line the rally was halted as a previous competitor had rolled in the stage and required medical assistance.

After 20 minutes the stage was cancelled and the remaining crews were allocated the slowest time of the cars that had already travelled through the stage and re-routed back to Longtown and the finish area. Jon and Gary were gutted. KRU was running well and they had already beaten some rapid 1400 cars seeded ahead of them A good result was on the cards.

In the end 82nd place out of 130 was a good result on what was a top class entry including some of the fastest rally drivers and machines in the UK at the moment.

A celebratory meal was taken in the Graham Arms in Longtown where all the team and supporters enjoyed a much better meal than the previous evening.

6th in class was disappointing though and the team spent a long time discussing the gap in performance between their 1298 cc Skoda and the 1400 cc cars in the same class. In performance terms KRU really is poles apart.

Memorable quotes:

Gary – “Slow down!!, NO SLOWER !! –  this is a fresh air tight right bend Jon with a sheer 100m drop into the valley on the outside and it’s very loose here..

Jon – (still accelerating) “Right no probs I’ll just overtake this car first “

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Pete – “No I definitely haven’t seen any Go Pro camera case”

Neil pointing – “Isn’t that it in the back of the Land Rover” ?

Pete – “Oh yeh I tidied up a bit”.

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Gary  on radio after leaving service 1 – “Thanks for the burgers Pete, they were great ”  Dave cuts in with classic rant: “NEVER MIND THE****** BURGERS WHAT ABOUT THE ******* SERVICE CREW, WE NEVER GET ANY RECOGNITION”.

Gary & Jon in fits of laughter unable to reply.

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Gary: “Have we been down this road before” ?

Jon: “Err yes I think so”

Gary: “I don’t recognise it, we must go right at the end then”

Jon: “Are you sure”

Gary: “I’ll tell you when we get there”.

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Jamie – I was following the map until you asked me where we were, then I got lost.

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Next event: Sunday 12th July 2015 – Greystoke Stages, Cumbria.