Rally Yorkshire in a classic Chrysler: co-driving crash course

By Ryan Standen

| 13 Feb 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Rally Yorkshire in a classic Chrysler: co-driving crash-course

I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not ready for this.

It’s 8:40pm on a chilly Friday in September and I’d rather be thinking about bed, not sitting on the startline of my first-ever rally.

The marshals stamp our timecard and the one-minute countdown begins to Trackrod Rally Yorkshire’s first challenge, a 13.26-mile loop of Dalby Forest.

A great co-driver is priceless on the unforgiving stages of the British Historic Rally Championship. Classic & Sports Car sends a pacenote novice to learn the ropes the hard way

Driver Tony Jardine has heaps of experience – he’s competed in rallies across the world, from Scandinavia to New Zealand – and I don’t want to let him down.

But two weeks ago I could barely describe a rally navigator’s job, let alone call out pacenotes on a pitch-dark forest stage.

The RAC Rally was a fearsome test for cars, drivers, co-drivers and engineers.

In 1969 the five-day, 2400-mile, 73-stage epic started in London at 11am on 15 November, but the action really began that night with the first stages in North Yorkshire.

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire comprises famous stages from the RAC Rally

From 9pm, Ford Escort Twin Cams, Saab 96s, Mini Coopers, a Porsche 911 and more ventured to the North York Moors, where they faced six timed runs – including Dalby South, the longest test on the event.

Rising Finnish star Hannu Mikkola was behind the wheel of an Escort, hoping to repeat his success at the previous year’s 1000 Lakes Rally.

It wasn’t to be: he left the road in Dalby Forest and ended his charge; not long after, Swedish pilot Stig Blomqvist crashed in the same spot.

It was the Flying Finn’s earlier incident, however, that gave the corner its enduring nickname: Mikkola’s Bend.

Wheel-change practice before Rally Yorkshire 2024’s first stage

I’ve been warned about it. The tricky series of right-handers has been given a scribbly underline in my pacenotes.

As have some last-minute recommendations from fellow competitors Dave Shepherd and Dave Watkins: last night’s heavy rain has left the single-track gravel road extra-slippery, especially on the downhill run to the first corner.

Despite some late-night revision sessions and a co-driving crash-course from rally ace Glyn Thomas, I’m beginning to regret signing up for this.

Leading up to the event, Glyn sent me a clip from the BBC’s In at the Deep End, following presenter Chris Serle’s two-month journey from total novice to Roger Clark’s co-driver on the 1981 RAC Rally.

Tony Jardine (closest) and Classic & Sports Car’s Ryan Standen get to grips with the 1973 Chrysler Avenger rally car

He received advice from Rauno Aaltonen, Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss, plus got some off-road driving lessons in a Ford Escort Mk2.

Clark and Serle put in a fine performance, finishing 10th overall.

During his five-day trial by fire, Serle even took the wheel for an impressive stint around Donington Park, but he also sent Clark the wrong way on the M6 motorway during one of the road sections.

The detour put the pair 40 minutes behind and Clark failed to see the funny side.

Final preparations at the service area in Filey, North Yorkshire

I had already made a similar – but fortunately not quite so costly – mistake on the trip between the coastal town of Filey and the stage start at Dalby.

Thankfully, we quickly got back on track, and Tony was more forgiving than 1972 and ’76 RAC winner Clark.

With 30 seconds to go, I give the first page of my notes a final once-over.

Serle had to make do with Ordnance Survey maps on the ’81 RAC Rally because crews were banned from using pacenotes until 1990.

The Chrysler Avenger 1600 GT is up against Ford Escorts, a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, a Porsche 911 and more in the British Historic Rally Championship

Luckily, I have a detailed set of instructions to guide us through every stage.

All I need to do is read them out at the right moment: “80 CLg Fast 3LSlippy<5L 130.”

What looked like a confusing algebra equation a couple of weeks ago finally makes sense.

The alien scribbles explain everything a driver needs to know, including the radius of a bend, what’s beyond the next crest and whether or not they can cut a corner.

Left-right: driver Tony Jardine, Classic & Sports Car’s Ryan Standen, and fellow competitors Carl Williamson and rally ace Mark Higgins

It’s all fairly easy to grasp once you know what the symbols and abbreviations mean.

Here, ‘80’ refers to the number of yards to the next instruction; ‘CLg Fast’ translates as a long, fast crest.

Then it’s on to ‘3LSlippy<5L’: ‘L’ indicates a left-hander, while the ‘3’ explains how tight it is (1 is the tightest, while 6 denotes an open, full-throttle bend).

So here it reads as ‘three left (slippy), opens into five left’.

PB Engineering’s Phil Bradshaw (closest) makes some last-minute adjustments to the Chrysler Avenger rally car

“Five, four, three, two, one,” I call.

The revs spike and the 1973 Chrysler Avenger’s knobbly tyres scrabble for grip on the loose surface.

The steering wheel writhes through Tony’s hands as he tackles the first sequence, then a hairpin around an island into a square right: “Turn2R → TytHpLAr.Island SqRJoin.”

Towering evergreen trees that line the route absorb the glow from the spotlights, while stacks of logs alongside the track add another navigational test.

Tackling Rally Yorkshire 2024’s first stage, a 13.26-mile loop of Dalby Forest

The first proper challenge comes when we reach the Woodyard, Dalby’s most popular spectator section: “Late3L → TurnSqL + TurnSqR.”

Tony performs some opposite-lock heroics as a flurry of cameras flash from the darkness – a reminder that rally fans really are a hardy bunch.

Soon after, a series of left-handers catch me napping, and my side of the car falls silent until Tony helps me to reset.

Now it’s Mikkola’s Bend: “Short4R<V.Lg2R>!V.Lg4RDC Slippy” – very long, don’t cut, slippy.

The Chrysler Avenger’s 13in wheels are wrapped in Pirelli Scorpion tyres

We make it through without a problem.

A few corners later, I catch a glimpse of the top of the pacenotes and notice that we’re on page 15 out of 16. Phew!

The relief is short-lived, though. We enter a tight right-hander too hot and strike a grass verge.

The engine dies, the spotlights flicker off and Dalby suddenly feels harsh and lonely once again.

There’s silence, until the faint buzz of the chasing Ford Escort Mexico begins to echo through the forest.

The Chrysler Avenger’s gleaming white paint didn’t stay that way for long

A flurry of marshals springs into action and pushes the Chrysler out of harm’s way.

Tony presses the starter. Nothing. The power-sapping spots have drained the battery, but if we can’t get going we won’t be allowed to compete tomorrow.

Our only option is a bump-start and, as soon as there’s a gap, we get a push to the next corner and the car shudders back to life: “TurnSqL Tarmac 350 OC/Finish.”

We complete the stage in 26 mins 53 secs, a long way behind our class rivals and 12 minutes shy of the night’s fastest time. It’s not quick, but at least we’ve made it.

The Chrysler Avenger is topped up with Sustain biofuel

After a 40-minute drive we arrive back at the service area in Filey, where we’re greeted by PB Engineering’s Phil and Alex Bradshaw, who look after Tony’s Avenger.

With help from James McWhir, they set about preparing the 1600 GT for Saturday, while Tony and I go to get a bit of shut-eye – a luxury for the crews that competed in the 1969 RAC Rally, who operated on next to no sleep.

Across five days, there was just one overnight stop in Blackpool.

Getting into the groove on Saturday’s Cropton stage

On Saturday morning it’s a relief to see the sun, and the roads skirting the North York Moors are far less intimidating in daylight.

Back in Filey we meet Phil, Alex and James, who are busy completing final checks on the Avenger ahead of today’s first stage, Cropton.

Phil is also calculating how much petrol we’ll need because, unlike our competitors, we won’t be stopping at the pop-up refuelling station.

The 1598cc ‘four’ is running on Sustain biofuel, which is not available on tap through the event, and the regulations don’t permit fill-ups outside the designated sites.

A rally driver needs complete trust in their co-driver – Ryan is working on it…

It’s a test of Phil’s mental mathematics, Tony’s ability to drive economically on the road and Sustain’s claim that its fuel can be used in any internal-combustion engine without modification, while also delivering a substantial reduction in greenhouse gases.

Our support van runs on the firm’s sustainable diesel, too.

From Filey, we drive to Saturday’s first time control, at the NY500 café, then on to Cropton.

It’s a fast, 9.29-mile stage, but thankfully my confidence has increased tenfold from last night and I feel significantly more at ease in the navigator’s seat: “Lg4RThru Gate → TurnSqRNarr, Thru Gate.”

This Chrylser Avenger is at home on the loose stuff

Tony stomps on the brakes to scrub off some speed before we reach the first of many 90° corners.

He threads the Avenger through Cropton Forest while I reel off 12 pages of pacenotes and we finish in a respectable 10 mins 28 secs.

Next up is Gale Rigg. We’re finally both in the groove and Tony’s driving becomes more relaxed as he gains trust in my calls: “100 TurnHpL/Loose + 6R.”

The Chrysler blasts out of the forest and squirms around a hairpin corner, suddenly parallel with the tops of the trees sprouting from the small valley beside us, before we dive back down into the mighty evergreens.

The team gets hands-on

We pass a smashed-up Saab 96 and a similar Escort Mk2, a reminder that we’re not invincible – and there’s still a long way to go.

There’s one more challenge before Saturday’s lunch stop: Staindale, a 5.87-mile stage named after the nearby lake.

We join the queue of cars at the time control, then hop out to put on our helmets, fireproofs and other gear.

I strap myself back in, pull my harness tight and plug in the intercom while Tony edges towards the startline.

It’s only when I look ahead to catch a glimpse of the first corner that I realise I’ve lost my glasses.

The Chrysler Avenger mixes with modern rally machinery in the Filey service area

Did I leave them on the roof? Probably, but it’s too late now.

“Five, four, three, two, one,” I shout, squinting slightly to see the upcoming left-hander. Thankfully, I can manage without the specs, but it’s a snag I could do without.

Through more remarkable scenery, we climb hills and carve through dense foliage: “40↑ Lg6R/C Finish.” It’s over in a flash.

Back at Filey, the PB Engineering team give the Avenger a speedy look-over, but we haven’t got long until we need to be back on the road again.

Emerging from the towering evergreen trees on Rally Yorkshire’s Cropton stage

Stage five is a repeat of last night’s trial: Dalby.

Tony and I go over the pacenotes and highlight the corner we misjudged last time around to make sure we don’t make the same mistake.

As we exit the time control at the service area and head for the forest, a wasp flies in through the window and buzzes around the cabin for 10 minutes.

Our new mascot, or nature’s way of telling us to turn back? I’m not sure, but there’s no chance for cold feet now.

Flying the Classic & Sports Car flag at Rally Yorkshire 2024

From the stage start, Dalby looks almost unrecognisable and the dappled light falling through the canopy creates a picture-postcard scene. No time to daydream, though.

I put my new expertise in counting backwards to good use again and shout: “Go!”

We conquer the Woodyard, slide round Mikkola’s Bend and fly past the felled logs without misadventure before arriving at the corner that caught us out last night: “Keep2L TytHpRAr.Island, DC.”

I call the instruction with extra urgency to make sure Tony gets the message.

The Chrysler Avenger kicks up gravel on the final stage, Langdale

He flicks it round the tight hairpin and I toot the horn to thank the marshals who helped us.

We slash our previous attempt’s result by more than 10 minutes.

One more stage to go: Langdale. Little more than 10 miles left before my first weekend of rallying is over.

Annoyingly, a few corners in, I get lost in the pacenotes and Tony does some nifty driving without instructions.

Once I find my place, we navigate the stage neatly.

Tony (left) and Ryan with the Chrysler Avenger at the finish line in Filey

We finish in 11 mins and 22 secs, setting an overall stage time of 1 hr 20 mins 32.1 secs.

It’s a fair bit off our closest competitors, but a solid attempt for a first-timer, and my driver is happy with the performance.

There’s one more test for Phil’s fuel calculations, too: we’re given a revised route back to Filey due to some local flooding.

We make it to the final time control and finish without a glitch, though.

In the 1969 RAC Rally, 153 cars departed London, but just 69 made it to the finish.

For Hannu Mikkola, his time finally came in 1979, when he won the event alongside Arne Hertz in a Ford Escort RS 1800.

He went on to win the RAC three more times, including the year Serle partnered with Clark.

Since 2004, the biennial Roger Albert Clark historic rally has revisited some of the original RAC’s most famous stages, including many of those used in the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire.

It’s back in 2025 and, whether I’m in the hot seat again or simply spectating, you’ll be sure to find me there.

Images: Andrew Scott

Thanks to: Tony Jardine, Glyn Thomas, James McWhir, and PB Engineering’s Phil and Alex Bradshaw

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