The Concept
The World Cup Rally 2001 was a full on competitive motor-racing event over three weeks from London to the Sahara and back. The idea of the rally was to make motorsport accessible to pretty much anybody, by keping the entrance costs low and structuring the technical regulations to prevent people from buying technological advantage. So none of the cars were allowed to be more than 1400cc, no engine mods were allowed, very few other modifications were permitted apart from those which enhanced the safety of the vehicles. Roll bars and full harness seatbelts were mandatory! Very tough sump and fuel tank guards were highly recommended. This was going to be a tough endurance race over some of the roughest terrain possible with a normal car. A 6000 miles round trip endurance race that would see us driving upwards of 8 hours every day, with special stages on desert piste, Atlas mountain tracks, hill climbs, gravel, forest, you name it we did it!
We first heard about the World Cup Rally after reading an article in the Daily Telegraph motoring section, on a wet September afternoon in 1999. We'd not long been back from our Round the World trip, and were feeling like life was somewhat lacking in excitement. So I wrote to the Philip Young at the Classic Rally Association for more information and within a couple of months we'd signed up.
The Car
The process of choosing a car was relatively easy. We bought a copy of Car magasine and compared the 0-100kph and top speeds of all the 1400cc cars and concluded that either the VW Polo or the MG Rover 200 would be the best choie. We opted for VW, because we felt it would be more solid and reliable that the Rover. Our car was supplied and prepared by VW Racing of Milton Keynes. These guys look after most of the VW cars in the BTCC and European rally championships, so they did a great job.
Preparation
	Preparation for the driving adventure of a lifetime Having taken delivery of a our ever so similar but not quite a Group N Volkswagen Polo rally car, Katie and I decided we'd better learn how to fix it if it went wrong. We enrolled on a day's technical training with VW racing. There were three other teams at the training day, all driving VW's that had been prepared by VW Racing. Katie, who at the start of the day had no idea even where the dipstick was or what an air filter looked like, necame a dab hand with a torque wrench, learned how to swap out brake pads, check the wheel alignments, replace wishbones and all sorts! One or the most important issues facing us was deciding what we needed to take with us in the car. On the one hand we wanted to try and keep the weight down, but we also wanted to have enough spares and tools to be able to resolve most of the likely issues we would encounter. The car was certainly pretty full by the time we'd finished, but I think we got it about right. This was our inventory.
Learning to be a Rally Navigator Never having rallied before, we decided we'd better learn the basics of rally navigation and the timing system. The Classic Cup is a two day twice a year event run by the Classic Rally Association to teach the basics - and have a bit of fun. We took a trip out to Belgium and France in July 2001. Only trouble was we had to swap roles, with Ade as navigator and Katie as Driver, since Ade had broken his shoulder on his stag night. We did very well, coming 11th overall. And we met a few of the people we'd be competing against on the World Cup Rally.
The Start Whilst it was a full two years from the time we'd signed up for this rally to the start date, the start did seem to come around very soon. It was hugely exciting driving the VW up to Brooklands with all of it's motorsport heritage for the start. We were both wide eyed with apprehension as we got in line for scrutineering. This is where the Rally technicians check all of the key compoonents on your car to ensuree compliance with the regulations. They also daub bits of paint onto engine parts toensure that you're not swapping them illegally en route. The start itself was presided over by none other than British racing legend - Stirling Moss - what a treat. Car 42 - Team: Newly Weds - having just got married this became a sort of honeymoon for Katie and I, though it was to be no holiday. Stirling poked his head through the window as we waited for the off on the ramp. "Oh have you just got married" he asked. "I hope you don't have too many arguments" he said. The flag dropped and we eased out past the small gathering of wellwishers and a local TV crew. Katie was more concerned about whether she'd get her face on telly than whether we'd catch the ferry. Before long we we're on the M25, heading out to Dover. The car was very loud, with it's sports exhaust and stripped out interior. I wondered how we'd feel after the long drive down to Poitiers.

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Adrian & Katie's WCR 2001 - Overview                                         Last Updated: 8 September 2002
Web Page by Adrian Ball  (email: adrian.ball@virgin.net)