​After a very successful opening to our HRDC season at Silverstone, it was soon time to head back to the track for one of our most important events of the year, the Donington Historic Festival, for no less than three, 45-minute races – the most track time the Riley has ever faced at a single meeting.

​It was a cold and windy night in Wendlebury, a village deep in the rural heart of Oxfordshire, when two OUMF rally crews splashed up the main street. The solid twelve hours of rain leading up to the event had left the ground undesirably wet and caused a number of large puddles to form on the road. Fortunately, the Sign-in and Drivers Briefing were held inside The Lion pub. Perfect for picking up a pre-race snack and drink; an extremely crucial step to success. As were the three whole packets of Jaffa Cakes that we picked up during a fuel stop while we headed to the rally. We arrived at the pub at around quarter to seven, as we had to get our OS road maps attended to by the organiser, and were welcomed by friendly remarks from fellow competitors – many aimed at Ding about actually being on time for once.

On Friday 25th January, the OUMF team of Ding Boston, Ahron Becquart and Niall Geoghegan set out to West Berkshire for the annual ‘Frostbite’ 12 Car Rally held by the Dolphin Motor Club. This would be the Toyo Golf’s first outing of 2019 after its success at the Stanta Targa rally at the end of December.  With the event being designed for Beginners, I would travel in the Golf’s unique 3rd seat to learn the ropes of rally navigation. Despite Ahron’s experience as a stage rally navigator, he is classed as a beginner in road rallying, so we would be using marked maps which promised to make it a fast and fun rally.

​On Wednesday November 21st ,  11 members of OUMF were invited to visit Think Automotive in  Ashford, south London, with our Sebring race car project, by our great supporter Matt Potter who is the MD.  As he advised, the plumbing for the car had been planned by the team in advance, and the proposed routes for the various reservoirs, pipes and hoses carrying fluids were laid out in tape. The car had been loaded and the van packed the evening before, so we were able to make an early start from the OUMF HQ and arrive at THINK as planned at 9.30am.

Oxford Motor Club staged ‘The Dragon’ 12 Car Rally in the wonderful lanes between Oxford and Reading, and on the night, the organisers and competitors were blessed by clear skies and largely dry roads. This was my first time experience on a road rally with OUMF, in its unique ‘TOYO’ Golf Mk2, with Andy Doyle navigating, me helping him as ‘Co-co-Driver’! - and Ding doing what he was told in the drivers seat!