The Monte Carlo Rally, then in its 77th year, is the most famous rally in the world. Lasting 3 days and 1 night in January, the route was over 1000 miles on closed roads in a variety of winter weather conditions.
It was been a lifelong dream of Nick's to compete on the Monte Carlo Rally but he never thought it would be possible.
We had no car until Chris Melling spotted his old VW Polo on Ebay at a bargain price.
It was untouched since Chris had done Rally GB in 2005. It even had the Rally GB stickers still on it and cans of energy drink in the glove box! It was two weeks before Christmas.
There was a lot of work to be done through the Xmas holidays and that posed problems. However when people within the rally world started to hear of our plans, they came to our assistance.
With dry tarmac, black ice and full snow specialist tyres are needed. We were on such a tight budget all we could get were some second hand winter studded road tyres for £70!
The car wasn't finished before we had to set off for the recce, so we drove it onto a trailer in an unfinished state and handed the keys to a couple of friends who had agreed to take part in this adventure.
Top teams have an ice note crew who would run through the stages an hour before the roads were closed to give them the latest weather info. Others need to guess which parts of the roads might freeze.
After the 14 hour days of the recce we went for Technical Scrutiny. We were refused our start. Part of the paperwork, a certificate verifying the safety of the rollcage was missing.
It was 6.15pm and it was too late. But, the WRC scrutineer pointed out it was an hour earlier in the U.K. With 15 minutes to find someone who had the certificate everyone phoned someone! Finally it was the chief FIA scrutineer himself who made the successful call to an MSA contact and got a copy faxed. Now we could start !
Starting stage1 on tarmac tyres we soon had a big moment on the black ice. After this "wakeup call" we completed the stage but lost count of the near misses we had on the way. The next stage was ice free but that was the last time the tarmac tyres were used. The weather deteriorated in true Monte Carlo fashion.
There were sections where the under powered car struggled to get up the hills on fresh snow. There were downhill sections with high snow banks and an icy surface that felt like a Bobsleigh run. We had to drive through thick fog where the road was barely visible because of the snow.
Despite everything that was being thrown at the team we managed to keep going and even surprised some of the highly tuned and expensive machinery by over taking them in the worst conditions. Stage by stage we completed the route and the car only needed routine checks and proved to be very reliable.
The crowds of mainly partisan French spectators really got behind the little Polo and cheered Nick and Chris on with passion. Even from inside the car we could hear them on the hairpin bends shouting ‘Allez Brittanique!’
On the legendary Col de Turini which is the best known rally stage in the world, the section was timed so tightly we were worried that the little car would not have the pace to finish the event despite our best efforts. We set off on the first lap just as the road started to freeze and lost time in the treacherous conditions.
It was so icy two cars even crashed out on the road sections. We lost time because of this and after the first loop, we were within three minutes of being out of time on the event.
We decided to risk all and crash rather than go out of time. Early on we had a narrow escape sliding off the road over a snow bank and narrowly missing a tree, but that was to be the only mistake as we pushed on to achieve their goal. By early morning we finished the loop within the allotted time and finished the rally in 28th place.
Maybe this will inspire someone else to have a go one day. It was an intense 5 weeks and was paid for on credit cards. It was worth every penny and never to be forgotten.
The Monte Carlo Rally, then in its 77th year, is the most famous rally in the world. 
It was been a lifelong dream of Nick's to compete on the Monte Carlo Rally but he never thought it would be possible. 
We had no car until Chris Melling spotted his old VW Polo on Ebay at a bargain price. 
It was untouched since Chris had done Rally GB in 2005. It even had the Rally GB stickers still on it and cans of energy drink in the glove box! It was two weeks before Christmas. 
There was a lot of work to be done through the Xmas holidays and that posed problems. However when people within the rally world started to hear of our plans, they came to our assistance. 
With dry tarmac, black ice and full snow specialist tyres are needed. We were on such a tight budget all we could get were some second hand winter studded road tyres for £70!
The car wasn't finished before we had to set off for the recce, so we drove it onto a trailer in an unfinished state and handed the keys to a couple of friends who had agreed to take part in this adventure. 
Top teams have an ice note crew who would run through the stages an hour before the roads were closed to give them the latest weather info. Others need to guess which parts of the roads might freeze.
After the 14 hour days of the recce we went for Technical Scrutiny. We were refused our start. Part of the paperwork, a certificate verifying the safety of the rollcage was missing. 
It was 6.15pm and it was too late. But, the WRC scrutineer pointed out it was an hour earlier in the U.K. With 15 minutes to find someone who had the certificate everyone phoned someone! Finally it was the chief FIA scrutineer himself who made the successful call to an MSA contact and got a copy faxed. Now we could start ! 
Starting stage1 on tarmac tyres we soon had a big moment on the black ice. After this "wakeup call" we completed the stage but lost count of the near misses we had on the way. The next stage was ice free but that was the last time the tarmac tyres were used. The weather deteriorated in true Monte Carlo fashion. 
There were sections where the under powered car struggled to get up the hills on fresh snow. There were downhill sections with high snow banks and an icy surface that felt like a Bobsleigh run. We had to drive through thick fog where the road was barely visible because of the snow.
Despite everything that was being thrown at the team we managed to keep going and even surprised some of the highly tuned and expensive machinery by over taking them in the worst conditions. Stage by stage we completed the route and the car only needed routine checks and proved to be very reliable. 
The crowds of mainly partisan French spectators really got behind the little Polo and cheered Nick and Chris on with passion. Even from inside the car we could hear them on the hairpin bends shouting ‘Allez Brittanique!’ 
On the legendary Col de Turini which is the best known rally stage in the world, the section was timed so tightly we were worried that the little car would not have the pace to finish the event despite our best efforts. We set off on the first lap just as the road started to freeze and lost time in the treacherous conditions.
It was so icy two cars even crashed out on the road sections. We lost time because of this and after the first loop, we were within three minutes of being out of time on the event. 
We decided to risk all and crash rather than go out of time. Early on we had a narrow escape sliding off the road over a snow bank and narrowly missing a tree, but that was to be the only mistake as we pushed on to achieve their goal. By early morning we finished the loop within the allotted time and finished the rally in 28th place.
Maybe this will inspire someone else to have a go one day. It was an intense 5 weeks and was paid for on credit cards. It was worth every penny and never to be forgotten. 
