We were very favourably impressed by our first experience of one of Roger Deeley's Classic Car Rallies - the Basque Classic, in October 1997. So much so, that when circumstances conspired to put the 2000 Claret and Classics - the 17th such event - within our reach, we jumped at the chance to join.
For the most part, participants in his events treat a rally as a holiday and social event from which they may be lucky enough to take home a prize. Admittedly, though, there are some who take it more seriously than others. The following extract from the general rules sums up his approach:

"There are always snags taking nearly forty old cars around France, and people
are all over the shop with their timing, it helps us not at all. So if you are running,
say, at no. 15 with the first car due away at 9.01, then you should be there at the
start by 9.15, ready, eager and panting to be off, unless I know a damned good
reason why not. If you aren't, penalties may well be exacted, possibly in the form
of penalty points, or perhaps, if I'm feeling in a particularly obnoxious mood, in the
form of pulling out your nostril hairs one by one with red-hot tweezers. Ladies
may imagine a chillingly apt equivalent."

As this is a classic car rally, modern rally equipment is neither allowed nor required. No need for a competition driving licence or full harness seat belts; and, apart from a stopwatch and working trip counter, only printed average speed tables can be carried. You can even do as we did and write out your own tables. Having made the decision to participate, we made sure the Tiger was properly prepared. For us, this was basically selecting a few spare parts and checking oil, water and tyres. Like ours, most cars are used on a daily basis rather than coddled concours entrants, and preparation is more about roadworthiness for a thousand mile trip than anything else.

The start point for the rally was La Rochelle, north of Bordeaux. As well as two nights in La Rochelle, the route included stops for one night in three-star hotels in each of Angoulême, Chateauroux and Bourges. The final two nights were spent in Beaune, a picturesque medieval town in the centre of the Bourgogne wine region in eastern France - less than three hours from our home near Geneva.

Signing on was scheduled for the Saturday afternoon, 1 July. We decided to take it easy and left home on the afternoon of the previous Thursday, staying overnight en route, and visiting friends about an hour north of La Rochelle on the Friday night. On our approach to the town, we spotted a few other participants - all in British-registered classic cars - milling around. Arriving at the Novotel, we greeted both familiar and unfamiliar people, bought our event sweatshirts, collected our rally plaques and windscreen stickers. We also picked up our copy of the 67-page book of rules, information, town plans, entry list, knockout competition details, a couple of pages of humourously written and illustrated history on each of the towns we were to visit and lots of other generally useful advice, including where to buy petrol near each place we stayed. The book also contained the route details, in the form of "tulip" diagrams (illustrations of road junctions with a written description for each), with directions on how to get to each day's timed start, and from the finishing point each day to our hotels.

We were also presented with a calibration route - a precisely measured, 5.005 kilometre stretch of road against which you can check your own trip counter in order to ensure accurate distance measurement. A couple of runs around this route was enough for us; others had up to ten goes at it! The knockout competition runs in parallel with the main event. Cars are paired off and compete against each other, the car and crew of each pair getting the fewer total penalty points on each day proceeding to the next round on the following day. There was a reception that evening at the town hall for all participants, where we enjoyed a welcome apéritif, offered by the mayor. We then progressed (on foot) to the quayside for oysters and champagne, courtesy of a local restaurant (and Jaguar XK150) owner, Jacques Bourdin. This was followed by a slap-up fish dinner (also included in the rally cost) in Jacques' restaurant, "André's", a few steps away. After driving from the UK that day, most competitors were bushed and staggered off to bed around midnight.

Sunday had been arranged as a practice day, just like real thing, so we could get the feel of the event. We followed the tulips to the timed start and, having been presented with the day's road book a minute before, released onto the first stage at one-minute intervals. Unlike some entrants, we didn't try to plot our course on a map when we received each day's road book just prior to departure. In some cases, junctions were deliberately identified by landmarks rather than road signs, which made such an exercise difficult. One tulip in particular foxed us and many others - a simple junction to the right with the explanation "TR to SAUF DESSERTE 1000m after ARRET BUS". So we assumed the right turn was 1,000 metres after the bus stop. We therefore obviously ignored the right turn immediately after the bus stop - which, if you looked around the corner, showed a sign saying "SAUF DESSERTE 1000m" - which was the correct turn. Oh, well …

The results on the practice day weren't included in your overall total for the rally, but there was a prize for the best practice day score. We managed to get a "maximum" (more than five minutes early or late, earning us 300 penalty points) on one of the stages but generally felt quite comfortable with the procedures. After the third (and final) stage, we were directed to the toll bridge across to the Île de Ré, where we assembled at the Coopérative des Vignerons de l'Île de Ré, which specialises in pineau - a local fortified wine made from one third brandy and two thirds grape juice. After sampling the product - and buying a few bottles to take home - we continued to the northwest tip of the island, where we enjoyed a late lunch in the shadow of ancient lighthouse, the "Phare des Baleines". The remainder of the day was spent touring the island before returning to La Rochelle for dinner at one of the many delightful little restaurants

Monday morning, we returned to the quayside, where, with much pomp and ceremony, we were flagged away at one minute intervals by Mrs. Bourdin, before making our way to the real timed start a few kilometres out of the town.

The first car away was at 9.01 am, followed by the remaining cars in the pre-war class, all looking to average 40 kph. The other classes followed, each car separated by one minute, and with a given average speed of 40, 45 or 50 kph.

I should point out here that there were four different classes:
· Pre-war cars, which included a 1925 Sunbeam Super Sports, a 1933 Lagonda, a 1932 Riley 9 Gamecock and a 1934 Bentley 3½ litre;
· Post-war cars, which included a 1948 Healey Westland, an XK120, an XK140, a Morris Minor, two MG TFs (one of which was last year's winner), a Frogeye Sprite, an Austin Healey 100/6 and a 1955 Buick Roadmaster;
· Novices (i.e. none had participated in a previous Deeley event). These included another 100/6, an XK150, a TR3a (a car rented in the UK and crewed by a couple from California), an Austin Healey 3000, a TR4, an E-Type Jaguar and a 1966 Alfa Romeo Spyder, also rented in the UK and crewed by two Americans; and
· Sixties and after - a 1960 Mini, a Series I Sunbeam Alpine, a TR3a, two MGAs, two E-Types, our Tiger, an Austin Healey 3000, a Rover 2000 and a Morgan 4+4.

The Marshal's could be found driving a 1973 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, a 1960 Silver Cloud, a 1975 Triumph Stag and a couple of what Roger Deeley describes as "boring modern cars".
The objective of the rally is to score as few as possible penalty points. These penalty points are awarded according to the number of seconds early or late you arrive at the time control at the end of each stage. As you don't know where these time controls are, you have to try and keep as close as possible to the average for your class - in our case 50kph. Basically this means constantly checking how far you have travelled and the elapsed time, and checking the resulting average speed. This usually means putting your foot down to catch up (normally on the bendy bits) or crawling along for a while to slow down (invariably on the straight bits). Of course, whenever we were spot on 50kph, there wasn't a time control …

As number 33, we were given our road book each day at 9.32 am and launched a minute later at 9.33. Having noted the trip counter reading (to the nearest half a tenth of a mile - the zero-ing mechanism didn't seem to work), my navigator (and wife for 28 years) started our stopwatch and off we went.
Following tulips and their explanations is reasonably straightforward. However, the organiser is known as "Devious Deeley" for good reason. Firstly, you have no idea of the distance between tulips; it may be a matter of metres between one that, for example, tells you to turn left at a T-junction, and the next, which has you turning right at a normal junction. You have to spot the road signs (which are invariably not clearly visible) or whatever other landmark he cites, and make sure the details are correct. Equally, you occasionally travel up to 10 miles or more between tulips, crossing other roads and trying to determine the correct route where there may be doubt.

There are also occasional loops in a stage, where you might pass the same place more than once, usually in a village. As a result, you frequently come across other competitors who may be on a different part of the loop. In a village, this tends to confuse the local population who, trying to be helpful, feverishly direct cars one way and shrug with despair when you take a different route. On one stage of the rally, we came across two identical junctions, with almost identical road signs, which turned out to be several kilometres apart. Needless to say, many competitors went wrong and had to retrace their steps - which makes recalculating and regaining your average speed extremely difficult.

Having reached the timed start, we noted our trip counter reading, activated the stopwatch; we set off on the first competitive stage. Almost as soon as we set off, we were faced with a detour as the original route was subject to road works and impassable. The diversion was clearly marked with orange arrows, the final one indicating the tulip number where we rejoined the planned route. Our recollection of this day is a bit hazy. We remember going astray once or twice, but ended the day in the right place - the centre of the town of Cognac, in a car park especially reserved for us. Here, as at other points during the week, we attracted a fair amount of local interest.

After a buffet lunch, we were divided into three groups and set off to visit cognac "houses" - in our case, a small producer called Croizet. The customary (optional) sampling and sales pitch followed a tour of the "house" and explanation of the manufacturing process. We then continued (at our leisure) to Angoulême, about 20 miles away, with a free evening.
When the results were posted in the hotel lobby - as they were every evening - we discovered that, while we had not done particularly well, our opponents in the knockout competition had faired worse and we were through to the next round!

On our way to the timed start the next day, we were somewhat distressed to hear a clanking noise from somewhere near the back of the car which manifested itself every time we went over a bump. On arrival at the starting point, one of the marshals, also acting as back-up technical crew, produced a trolley jack and we discovered the problem: the panhard rod, fitted only months earlier, had come adrift, the bracket having broken away from the chassis. We left the other end bolted to the axle and secured the rod to the brake cable with a length of wire. That solved the clanking noise for the balance of the rally.
Tuesday was a better day for us. When we went wrong at all, we were able to get back on track fairly quickly. We scored a total of 77 penalty points on the day, being 20 seconds either early or late at the first control, 33 seconds out at the next and 24 seconds out at the third. Essentially, we thought we had done brilliantly if we arrived at a time control at anything under a minute adrift. Seventh position on the day was good enough to defeat our opponent in the knockout competition again and proceed to Wednesday's round. The full day's results were posted in our hotel lobby at Châteauroux.

I must say that all the hotels chosen for the event were three-star, and boasted excellent restaurants. The Novotel in La Rochelle, and the Mercure in Angoulême, Châteauroux, Bourges, and Beaune. However, the group was divided into two hotels in both Bourges and Beaune because, being the start of the French school holidays, Roger Deeley had been unable to secure sufficient space for us all at either one. Each of the hotels boasted either a secure outside car park or an integral garage for guests.

It was at Châteauroux that we lost two competitors. Last year's winners (MG TF) went home because of an ailing navigator, and the American couple, driving a TR3a rented in the UK, decided to do their own thing. Rumour has it that the wife (and navigator) complained of hotels without air conditioning (there was only one), and a desire to see something other than the cornfields of France (day three took us into more picturesque countryside).

Day three dawned cloudy, as usual (we only experienced one short rain shower during the whole week) and, after the usual continental breakfast, headed out for the timed start at an industrial zone outside the town.

Wednesday wasn't such a good day for us. There were four stages, and we scored a maximum on the second and fourth. Having said that, we were delighted to be only 17 seconds off target at the end of the first stage (being some 54 minutes long), and 19 seconds out on the third stage. Our total score for the day was 636 - regrettably a lot more than our opponents in the knockout. So out we went.
The Mercure Bourbon Hotel in Bourges is (I think) mostly a converted monastery, the balance being modern but constructed to incorporate the ruins of part of the original building. Anyway, it was certainly impressive, and we attracted the interest of the local press who published an article in the following day's newspaper.

On our way to the timed start on Thursday morning, we came upon the Bentley, stopped forlornly in the middle of the road, with driver and navigator looking rather upset. We parked and helped push the car to the side, where we were advised that it had a broken half-shaft. Not being the average sort of spare part you bring along, the Bentley was forced to drop out of the rally and was shipped back to the UK for subsequent repair. The crew, however, was to rejoin the rally the following day in a rented Renault Clio!

Thursday turned out to be our best day, with scores of 3, 12 and 3 - a total of 18 penalty points, giving us second place on the day. The first stage was almost two hours long, so three seconds late was - even if we say it ourselves - pretty good. The second stage included a section of over 10 miles between tulips. After a couple of miles, you begin to have doubts. "Have we missed the turn? Was the sign post hidden?" After eight miles or so, you are getting really worried and trying hard to convince yourselves that you have not yet arrived at the next junction. When eventually spotted, you both breathe a sigh of relief! The run into Beaune took us through the heart of the Burgundy (Bourgogne) wine region, past many vineyards offering passers by the opportunity to stop and taste their produce, hopefully being convinced to buy some, too. Beaune itself is a really pretty place, full of good restaurants - and wine shops.

The last day was spent around the area, with a second night at the same hotel in Beaune. On stage one, we got stuck behind a farm tractor and, despite great fun trying to make up time, came in some two and a half minutes late. We improved on stages two and three, scoring a creditable 16 points on both, but completely messed up the last stage and came in with a maximum, being over 14 minutes late. The reason for this disaster was that we broke the golden rule - never follow the car in front. We knew the couple in the Healey 100/6 had been doing well, and, being on a slower average speed, we were not surprised to catch them up. At one complicated junction in a village, they proceeded confidently and we assumed - fatal mistake - they knew where they were going. We ended up in a field of vines, doing 10-point turns to backtrack to the village. Total for the day - 484 points, which was to place us 15th overall at the end of the event.
The awards dinner (optional black tie evening) took place at a 17th century converted convent in the centre of Beaune, now the headquarters of the wine merchant, Patriarche et Fils. We were welcomed to the building by one of the directors and then taken down below to the cellars. There are five kilometres of passageways and cellars that run below the city, these cellars being home to over four million bottles of wine, the earliest dating from 1904. Somewhere down there, we were invited to taste up to 19 different wines - and, of course, to buy some of them! One cellar with a locked grill held over 2,200 bottles of the 1954 vintage.

The awards dinner also took place in the cellars. And who won? Well, the first prize presented was that for last overall - which went to the two Americans in the rented Alfa. During the week, they had frequently been seen overtaking other competitors who had set off after them! The second award went to the car and crew who were in the middle of those who finished - and, guess what, that was us! We now have a pair of engraved wine glasses for being fair to middling.

First overall was the Frogeye Sprite, whose crew received a large glass chalice, which would later be engraved with their names and an illustration of their car. There were also prizes for the winner of the knockout competition, best in class, the winning team crews, and best on each day - unless that was an entry that had won a prize in another category. Finally, spreading prizes amongst as many participants as possible, Roger Deeley awarded a prize for "best nose gear" - an Austin Healy driver who had fashioned a nose guard out of card to attach to his sunglasses.

After a wonderful evening, we struggled through candle-lit cellars to find our way out and return (on foot) to our hotels. A lie-in and late, leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning before bidding farewell to all the friends we had made during the week.

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