I have left my little room in england, my bed, chest of drawers &
chair. And as we all know, & Burt Bacharach noted....A chair is still
a chair, a room is not a house & a house is not a home, when there's
no one there to hold you tight.....
........ So now I am HOME.....I wasn't ready to come home, but I was
ready to be at MY home with MY Selene. If I could've transported them
to me I would've done it. But That would also mean transporting my
fantastic lifestyle in NZ, my business, clients & their cars. Our
friends, My sister, Mum & her cat. There could've been a problem with
the cat.
The last week was so very busy I didn't really have a fair concept
of time. All my bags were packed the weekend prior to leaving, we had
all worked very hard to get the blue Mustang finished for Simon Hope,
& I'd had 2 & a half days getting the new engine into Dougs Mustang &
doing pre-rally prep. Simon owns H & H auctions which is fast becoming
a major player in the classic car auction world in the UK. The few
times I'd met him were brief & as I found out, too brief to get to
know him. He was alot of fun on the Tour Brittania, & drove his brand
new car, -that he'd never even driven before- very well. His sense of
humour & his patience with the teething troubles of a brand new
untested car showed us very quickly that this was going to be a fun
weekend. He was forever on the phone buying & selling classic
cars.....yeah I know we all know people who are "forever on the
phone" but NOTHING like Simon. He must have done enough business that
week to cover the entire cost of the not very cheap rebuild of the
Mustang.
Its funny how "forever on the phone" meant someone stuck in their
office, Miss Moneypenny directing calls through from a smoking
switchboard. But now, I bet, not one of you had that picture in your
minds......you all saw a mobile.....Yeah.
Mobiles came in to play & prove their absolute worth in this world &
especially on an event like this. A call from Richard at the end of
day 2 as they drove out of their last special stage-clutch trouble.
Doug had given the clutch such a serious slipping that it had welded
itself to the flywheel. That night I pulled the gearbox out & replaced
the clutch plate, rolling around under the car on gravel, the awning
from the van keeping the rain off, the sound of the wee generator
trying its best to drown out Barry Whites greatest hits. Gary finished
his work on Simons car & we lifted the 'box back in....getting to bed
at 1:30 am. Doug & Sistie had come out with a waiter & 4 plates of
dinner & dessert, a bottle of red & some silverware. Toward the end
Rich & Mont had come out ,quite tipsy to "help" us with their devastating array of
suggestions. We slept well that night.
chair. And as we all know, & Burt Bacharach noted....A chair is still
a chair, a room is not a house & a house is not a home, when there's
no one there to hold you tight.....
........ So now I am HOME.....I wasn't ready to come home, but I was
ready to be at MY home with MY Selene. If I could've transported them
to me I would've done it. But That would also mean transporting my
fantastic lifestyle in NZ, my business, clients & their cars. Our
friends, My sister, Mum & her cat. There could've been a problem with
the cat.
The last week was so very busy I didn't really have a fair concept
of time. All my bags were packed the weekend prior to leaving, we had
all worked very hard to get the blue Mustang finished for Simon Hope,
& I'd had 2 & a half days getting the new engine into Dougs Mustang &
doing pre-rally prep. Simon owns H & H auctions which is fast becoming
a major player in the classic car auction world in the UK. The few
times I'd met him were brief & as I found out, too brief to get to
know him. He was alot of fun on the Tour Brittania, & drove his brand
new car, -that he'd never even driven before- very well. His sense of
humour & his patience with the teething troubles of a brand new
untested car showed us very quickly that this was going to be a fun
weekend. He was forever on the phone buying & selling classic
cars.....yeah I know we all know people who are "forever on the
phone" but NOTHING like Simon. He must have done enough business that
week to cover the entire cost of the not very cheap rebuild of the
Mustang.
Its funny how "forever on the phone" meant someone stuck in their
office, Miss Moneypenny directing calls through from a smoking
switchboard. But now, I bet, not one of you had that picture in your
minds......you all saw a mobile.....Yeah.
Mobiles came in to play & prove their absolute worth in this world &
especially on an event like this. A call from Richard at the end of
day 2 as they drove out of their last special stage-clutch trouble.
Doug had given the clutch such a serious slipping that it had welded
itself to the flywheel. That night I pulled the gearbox out & replaced
the clutch plate, rolling around under the car on gravel, the awning
from the van keeping the rain off, the sound of the wee generator
trying its best to drown out Barry Whites greatest hits. Gary finished
his work on Simons car & we lifted the 'box back in....getting to bed
at 1:30 am. Doug & Sistie had come out with a waiter & 4 plates of
dinner & dessert, a bottle of red & some silverware. Toward the end
Rich & Mont had come out ,quite tipsy to "help" us with their devastating array of
suggestions. We slept well that night.
The 3rd of the 4 day rally finished at the hospital with Doug & Richard. The Mustang written off in a country lane on the touring section back to the hotel at the end of
the day. Plenty of time to do the stage in, so speed was not a factor.Doug's left hand drive instincts making a bad accident out of
something that MAY have been avoidable. The head on with a new Volvo
XC90 s.u.v left us all amazed. Amazed that the woman driving it was
burnt on the forearms by the airbags - & nothing else! Her husband
came & picked her up, no need for hospital, the Volvo looking like it
had had a whack in the supermarket carpark.....the Mustang basically
had the whole nose SHOVED into the body. This is 1964 Detroit iron -
it shouldn't fold. The Volvo has crumple zones. The Mustang wouldn't
even be able to spell 'zone'. It is a tough American muscle car, the
kind of thing that is wanted off the road 'cos they're so dangerous!
So it took the brunt of the impact, Richard climed out of his
navigators door with chest pain. Doug was trapped in the car with
chest pain for an hour. They cut the roof off to get him out. Sistie &
I were not far away when Gary called me. I pulled off the motorway to
tell her, not sure how she'd take it. Now I know she & Doug are damn
tough. We reprogrammed the (fuckin' - I'll explain the naming of it
later) G.P.S.
& drove to Leicester royal infermiary. The first half of the trip
Sistie trying to get me to go to the crash site, interspersed with
attempts at saying Leicester. It didn't seem to matter how many times
or how slow I said L E S T E R she would fight with L i e- c h e s t e
r until calming herself with "yoga breathing" ( if you don't know what
that is - join a yoga class & get some zen in your life- & I bet you
eat meat too!) She showed no signs of not being calm. I had told
Sistie that I was more than happy to take her to the accident site IF
she had experience in making Mustangs into convertibles- otherwise we
were going to the hospital & waiting. That's what they call tough
love.Richard was there waiting in A&E. He'd just been placed in his
wee cubicle & was sitting in discomfort. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
After 4 hours he'd seen a doctor, a couple of broken ribs & a cracked
sternum. Wearing a seat belt isn't just to stop you going through the
windscreen....Richards full harness race belt was done up- but he'd
left it a little loose because they were not on a competitive section.
The 2 extra inches worth of speed his body built up in that split
second meant the inertia had to go somewhere. He will suffer an
uncomfortable recouperation because of it. Doug was brought in,
strapped to a stretcher with neck, back & leg restraints. He had an
extra head brace that looked like he'd had a head on with a chilly
bin. He was given the all clear within about 10 minutes, Sistie was
allowed in to see him & Richard breathed a sigh of relief 'cos her
attempts to NOT make him laugh were having the opposite effect. After
10 minutes she came out saying " he's asking to see you, Tim..." I
thought my god I've seen this on the Godfather 2 .....is this where I
get to wreak havoc & bloody revenge on Volvo drivers
everywhere....HANG ON! thats me!
Doug was sitting up like he was on a sunlounger, grinning. We talked
through the accident, what had been going on after we'd been told &
any other details I knew of to fill in details of his afternoon's
excitement. He'd obvoiusly been having a serious "post life
threatining accident" snog with Sistie & not been able to talk with
her about these things 'cos her tongue was in his mouth. I got
permission from the nurse to let him go for a pee, worked out how the
sides of the bed folded down & guided him to the loo. After that he
was unstoppable. We went to Richards room & Doug gently shook his hand
& appologised to Richard & then me with such feeling I almost cried.
Rich spent the night in the hospital, I drove Doug & Sistie back to
our hotel, we got in at 11pm, 8 1/2hrs after the accident.
With regard to mobile phones I'm sure I don't need to tell you how
usefull they were for all involved & to those that weren't involved
but needed to know.
The next day I got up early to help Gary with the warm up & send off
of Simon & Monty in the blue car, returned to my room to pack up
Richards gear ( that'd be a good name for an actor eh? ) Doug & Sistie
weren't ready so I had the chance to stroll Coombe Abbey & its
grounds. It was the best place I'd stayed in while being away. Total
Luxury.....& we'd stayed in some nice places....but this was olde
worlde English castle type stuff- just without the sawdust on the
floor. Beautiful grounds with manicured lawns, flower beds & topiary.
Fantastic lush fabrics on the beds, floors, walls, seats,
chambermaids. Well stuffed pillows & cushions on the beds, chairs,
couches, chambermaids. Dark, dimly lit rooms, hallways, nooks &
crannies- can't comment on the chambermaids. Gary did have an
experience with a chambermaid that involved him not believing what
Monty was saying ( he is the boy who cried wolf- it's official) with
regard to a chambermaid coming in to turn the bed down. To Garys
immense embarrasment when he walked out of their huge bathroom
swearing & naked........And of course to Monty's total glee!- at the
scenario, not the nakedness.
My drive to the Mallory Park race circuit for the final stage was
lonely without Sistie. This week we had picked up exactly where we
left off in Italy & we just laughed & laughed, talked & talked so much
during the rally- in between navigational errors from "Suzie" the GPS
bitch.....we'd love her one minute & hate her the next, while
desperately trying to catch up with where we were on the real map. A
number of times she'd pick up a signal from the air. A whistle that
only Dogs & GPS units can hear, she'd re-route us without us knowing
until we were on the wrong motorway....She chose to do this the same
day we'd gone 100klm out of the way because of a miss-spelled name by
Sistie.....I had to keep my gentlemans mouth shut as we both took a
serious piss taking from an ensembled mass when we got to Cadwell Park
Raceway. Britain is NOT the place to be if piss-takes are being dished
out. No body does it better. We were out to prove our abilities after
recovering from some phoney "Suzie" routes when I'd taken the crash
call from Gary. Suzie redeemed herself with great directions into
Leicester hospital.
Again I have said goodbye to Doug & Sistie after really enjoying
their company & hoping to be as happy, healthy & active as they are
when I pass 70 years. Doug gave me another 200 bonus...last time was
euros. This time pounds. Double it to get euros to NZ
dollar......tripple it to do pounds to dollar. How can I not like him?
We are talking doing the NZ targa Rally.....watch this space.
The owner of the BIG race team Prodrive ( soon to be in Formula 1 )
flew in in his shiny black helicopter for the lunch & prizegiving. The
winner being an Englishman with a V8 Morgan that owns Kotere Vinyards
in marlborough. Other recipients of a prize were a young couple from
Czechoslovakia. Barely 30 years old, had a crash in their mid 60's
Ferrari 275 GTB. That was the first day, so they brought their bright
yellow 250SWB Ferrari as substitute.....The 275 was fixed for the 3rd
day so they swapped back again......so they got a prize. Well all
competitors were given a specially made wedgewood dish - they just got
another, bigger one. A really fantastic event, & comparable with The
Cento Ore in Italy.- we even had beautiful weather. I made some good
friends, contacts. Including the owner of a major oil cooler
manufacturing company whose car I repaired on the side of the road
after his brake caliper failed. I by passed it to get him mobile & he
made it through the rest of the day to get it fixed by his crew that
night.....again with my help 'cos his "crew" was an accountant friend
of his that is "handy with a spanner"......it was their first rally
after a life of circuit racing. Rob wouldn't tell me how he & his 7.4
litre Corvette had gotten through the day because they were 20
minutes down when I got him out of the crap, they only had 1 brake on
the front & drove like hell to catch up....he never wants to re-live
it !
The team from Classic Racing Cars all went out for an Indian that
friday night. Again more laughing, and an all round humbling & at the
same time confidence boosting night as the compliments flowed in my
direction......I ducked to miss a few but they ended up sticking.
I managed to get up at 4:45 am the next day & through the security at
manchester airport- even with a poster roll that looks like a rocket
launcher in my suitcase. Singapore was 15 hrs of waiting -but I did
manage to get into town to stroll their art gallery.....I've seen alot
of art this past 3 months- this was the first without cars......except
for the photo of a bright yellow Ferrari 250 SWB.
Now I am home. Flew in on 9/11, three days of acclimatisation,
tomorrow Fixations is back on deck- For about 8 months, until BOTH
Selene & I go to England & Europe for another northern hemisphere race
season........THEN We'll have time to catch up with the friends I
didn't have time to catch up with this year.
Its goodnight from him.
Timoccino - lets do coffee?
