Road - Bad News Day

The start of it all

Ford pulling out of the WRC and now pulling out of Southampton, a bad day just got worse.

Ford is an integral part of British DNA. They may not have had a high profile involvement in British rallying of late concentrating their domestic efforts on the Fiesta ST series, but folk still hark back to the halcyon days of Twin Cams, BDAs, Webers, rear wheel drive and sideways to victory. It’s a heritage borne out of fond memories and charismatic drivers.

The Cosworth and 4WD era failed to capture the original romance of the RWD display, but there was no doubting the impact the blue oval made on our sport.

Therefore the news that Ford has plans to close it’s Southampton plant will come as another hammer blow, not only to those who work there, but to those who regard the Transit as an intrinsic part of Britishness.

Ford might be American in origin, but it has been such a staple and integral part of so many lives, it just seems to be so quintessentially British.

A proper Transit

But we live in fast changing times. The Ford hierarchy no longer consider themselves to be an American company, they see themselves as ‘global players’. That’s the nature of the whole automotive industry these days. As the world has shrunk, individuality has been lost in the pursuit of cutting costs and being competitive.

Semantics aside, Ford was caught between the unforgiving nature of concrete and steel. The present Southampton facility has been building Fords since the 30s and Transit since 1965, but the roof is so low on this factory, which was converted to Spitfire production during the Second World War, that they can’t build high-roof Transits there. Only the standard models can pass under the girders.

Inside the building, production has been transformed over the years, but would require huge investment to raise the roof or rebuild.

There is another problem, the present site is too constricted by the M27 and the A335 at Southampton to allow it to expand, so the company is rather stuck. Hence Ford’s dilemma.

Way back in the good old days, I was a roadie for a local pop group, a bunch of mates with guitars, amps and a drum kit. The only reason I was the roadie was that I was the only one who had transport – a Bedford CA van.

Lottery winner's first choice? - New hoose and new wheels!

We thought we were quite cool until one night playing a support act to the main event at the Sir John Wilson Town Hall in Airdrie, we saw the headline act appear, it was the Chris McClure Section – and they arrived in a long wheelbase, high-roof, black Ford Transit.

At that instant, the Transit ceased being an LCV – it instantly became the aspirational mode of transport. After that, the Transit was never ‘just  a van’.

For sure the Transit name will carry on, and there is indeed another brand new van just around the corner, but if Southampton closes, another little bit of British history will be lost.

Road - All 'Rev'ved Up

I didn’t know whether to feel insulted or flattered. I had just pulled over in front of a wee church just outside Drymen to take photos of the Honda CR-V I was driving, when I was accosted by a bloke hovering around the headstones.

“Have you got the keys?” he called out.

I looked around. No one was about so I called back, “What keys?”

“The keys for the church,” he replied,

“No,” I said. “Well, do you know who has them?” he asked again.

“I haven’t a clue,” I said, as he approached – and then immediately apologised.

“I’m very sorry , I thought you were the minister!”

Not wishing to get drawn into some deep and meaningful theological discussion, I jumped back in the CR-V and sped off.

This latest 4WD soft-roader from Honda continues the theme, but has been improved all round with the latest version of the 2.2 litre i-DTEC diesel offering a sprightly 148 bhp and a healthy 350 Nm of torque and Honda had brought a number of them up to Scotland for the press launch.

They had also brought along a nice wee Honda Jazz Si, a sportier version of the standard 98 bhp, 1400 cc motor. With its front and rear dam, alloys, sports seats and leather rimmed steering wheel it really looked quite smart and it goes better than the standard car. That’s down to the revised suspension settings, heftier anti-roll bar and re-geared electric steering.

It's not really that quick, taking over 11 seconds to hit 60 mph from rest, but it's got such a willing, revvy little motor, that it feels quite perky. The 5 spd shift is also delightfully tactile so it feels a lot quicker than the figures suggest.

Shiny new tarmac!

Anyway, having heard that roadworks were underway up at the old Rest and Be Thankful I took a wander up to have a nosey. I was disappointed. Only the top 400 yards of the old road have been re-surfaced. The rest is still neglected, pot-holed, overgrown and falling into ruin.

However, the original hairpin has been rebuilt and widened to the extent that an artic could get round it. The nasty steep inside step on the apex is no longer there, replaced by a smooth wide sweep. Obviously something is afoot so I’ll need to find out what.

A return of the Speed Hillclimb course perhaps? I don’t think so, but who knows?

Rally - Mark the date

Can Mark (3rd left) do it again?

What this Sunday’s Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally lacks in quantity, it more than compensates in quality. For the final forest thrash of the season, the top ten is a match for any Scottish Championship round this year.

Last year’s winner Mark McCulloch lines up against four times winner Jock Armstrong but after his disappointment on the Colin McRae Stages, Dave Weston Jnr is back in the Impreza while further down the list is the Cumbrian teenage rallying revelation, Arron Newby. And if you want a bit more fun, just outside the top ten are the MkII Ford Escorts of David ‘the Highland Hotshot’ Wilson and Yorkshire’s Matthew Robinson.

Top Ten Seeds:

1, Mark McCulloch/Elliott Edmondson, Subaru Impreza

2, Jock Armstrong/Kirsty Riddick, Subaru Impreza

3, David Weston Jnr/Kevin Rae, Subaru Impreza WRC

4, Wayne Sisson/Dave Robson, Mitsubishi Evo 9

5, Craig McMiken/Craig Wallace, Mitsubishi Evo 9

6, Ian Paterson/Jim Haugh, Subaru Impreza

7, Matthew Calderwood/Stan Quirk, Mitsubishi Evo 7
8, Arron Newby/Craig Drew, Subaru Impreza N11

9, Steve Petch/John Richardson, Mitsubishi Evo 9

10, Martin Craik/Steven Brown, Subaru Impreza

Timetable:

08:31 – Rally Start, Market Yard, Castle Douglas           

09:04 - Cairn Edward 1 

09:17 - Barney Water 1

10: 09 - Cairn Edward 2

10:22 - Barney Water 2

11:00 - Service Market Yard

12:13 - Cairn Edward 3

12.55 – Rally Finish, Karcare in the Station Yard Ind. Estate in Oakwell Road

Race - Boy done good!

Gordon Shedden is the new British Touring Car Champion, and the first Scot since John Cleland won it in 1995 and 1989. He didn’t win any of the final three races at a rain soaked Brands Hatch at the weekend, but a fifth, second and third was enough to do the business.

Matt Neal and first-time winners Aron Smith and Frank Wrathall shared the victories in yesterday’s Dunlop MSA British Championship final rounds while the Honda Civic achieved a clean sweep of all five BTCC titles. In addition to Shedden, Andrew Jordan collected the Independent Drivers’ Trophy, Honda/Dynamics the Manufacturers/Constructors Championship and the Honda Yuasa Racing Team and Pirtek Racing the outright HiQ and Independent teams’ trophies respectively.

The 33 year old Shedden said afterwards: “All I ever wanted as a kid was to race touring cars – it was never about F1 – and it was John Cleland who was my hero when I used to go and catch a glimpse of the BTCC at my home track of Knockhill in Fife. I never thought I’d ever get the chance to race them, though, let alone win a race and now I’m the Champion. It is mind blowing… what a season, not just for myself but everyone at Honda. I’d also like to thank everyone who was cheering for me back home in Scotland today – including in the bar at Knockhill! I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with them.”

Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal, who finished second in the standings, said: “Gordon has driven superbly all season, has amassed the most wins and massively deserves to be Champion. As a team we all pull together at Honda and the Civic has simply been the class of the field all year. A clean sweep of titles is the perfect result.”

Blethers - Saving the Planet

Did you know that human breathing contributes approximately 8.5 per cent of all CO2 emissions? 

Apparently humans produce 1 kg of carbon dioxide per day per person. So if there are 6.8 billion humans on the earth, give or take a few, that totals some 6.8 billion kgs per day, or 6.8 million tonnes per day. Each year, the human population produces almost 2.5 billion tonnes simply by breathing.

I was thinking of that during the recent series of party political conferences, and given the excitable state of some of the speakers, supporters and attendees, wondered if they produced more than the national average CO2 emissions during the course of these events?

These are the same people who are giving the world’s vehicle manufacturers such a hard time, telling them to clean up their act.

That’s a fair point. Worldwide, motor vehicles currently emit well over 900 million tonnes of CO2 each year accounting for more than 15 per cent of global fossil fuel CO2 releases. Clearly there needs to be more work done and with Euro-6 emissions legislation on its way (January 2014), Europe is taking a lead.

But here’s the thing, while the politicians apparently ignore that fact our breathing is a big contributor of such emissions, they have completely ignored the single most potent polluter on the planet. Cows.

With 1.5 billion cattle emitting noxious gases, from both ends, livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. This is more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

So the message is clear. To save the planet, stop breathing and eat more pies.