The OUMF Riley contests the ABINGDON CAR-nival Stages & FIA YPRES Rally – June 2024

The Abingdon CAR-nival Stage Rally is a major annual
event involving 6 different UK rally championships
and we decided this would be a suitable ‘shakedown’
for both the OUMF Riley 1.5 and the new OUMF
student team before the really testing Ypres Rally in
Belgium, two weeks later. Being the first serious rally
for the new team, it would provide important
familiarisation with the Riley, and with how top stage
rallies are run. So the weeks before involved plenty
of preparation work, many test drives and late nights,
with inevitable all-nighters as the day grew closer.
The two events threw up tons of issues– with
helmets, kit, insurance, trailer, van, recce car,
accommodation in Belgium, ferries, spare engine, etc., but with fantastic support from Phillips
Tyres, TOYO Tires, EnginePartsUK, and so many
others, organisation and prep continued regardless
and the Riley was finally ready to meet the challenge
of the Abingdon CAR-nival stages.

​After all this, a bombshell came just a week beforehand when our co-driver for Abingdon and Ypres dropped
out of doing both events, sending shock waves through the team! However, with no co-driving experience,
Sean Harvey, a long-standing member of OUMF, valiantly stepped forward and offered to fill the role, wasting
no time in studying the stage maps and finding safety gear, so as to be as ready as we could be for Abingdon.
Come Saturday 8th June, the van was packed, and we arrived at the Abingdon Rally venue to be joined by
Dom and Vlad (both OUMF alumni) with their Mk2 VW Golf who were also entered in the rally. We set up our
adjoining service areas, signed on, got the Riley through Scrutineering, and it was soon time to address what
everyone was looking forward to: dinner. The BBQ was lit for a great meal, and when our bellies were full we
did a track walk, admiring the vast runway and service roads featuring harsh turns and tricky chicanes.
As darkness fell, we retired to our tents, with everyone looking forward to seeing their recent efforts pay off in
growing expectation of the performance of not only the Riley, but the driver, co-driver and the novice team.
We arose at the crack of dawn. Whilst Ding and Sean pored over the stage maps and attended the driver’s
briefing, the rest of us cracked on with final spanner checks before the Riley lined up ready for the first stage!
We waved the pair off and began setting up the service area for their return. We soon realised they were
overdue, as cars that had started after the Riley were already coming back to their respective service areas.
Our jaws dropped when a competitor informed us that the Riley had stopped on turn 15, and a phone call to
the crew established that an engine oil hose had blown. Action!!! With some time before the car would be
recovered, team members were dispatched back to the OUMF shed to grab the spare engine as parts would
likely be needed, especially oil lines. Once recovered, the Riley was straight up in the air, and we found
everything from the engine bay back covered in oil – and everyone set to work with rolls of blue workshop
paper! After a hurried clean up, the oil hose was replaced to get the Riley straight back out on the next stage.
However, after removing the sump to check all the bearings, it was very clear that they were badly damaged
by the oil starvation, and sadly the Riley had to be retired. However, the team displayed uncrushable spirits,
and merely reflected- as we packed up -on the bad luck that displayed the harsh reality of motor sport. With
just a week before Ypres, there was a lot to be done...
​
Once back at the shed, the first of more long nights wrenching away at the engine began. With careful
inspection, preparation and measurement, the engine’s bottom end was rebuilt with a fresh set of bearings
thanks to EnginepartsUK, and on the Friday, after a very busy week, the Riley was on the rolling road dyno at
Tom Barclay Racing where it boasted a whopping 115 horsepower at the wheels!
So we had a car for Ypres, and with the help of Ahron Becquart (OUMF alumni and rally expert) and Steve
Carter (IDEC Technologies), Ding and Sean finally had their kit sorted, as regulations for the Ypres rally
demanded kit we didn’t possess! We were also delighted with the tremendous help from Phillips Tyres, and
sponsorship help too from DFDS Ferries with our channel crossing.

On Monday 17th we were off! Despite a customs search, then missing our ferry, we arrived just outside Ypres
by late afternoon, to meet our lovely hosts Chris and Patricia Verschaeve, who generously had half the team to stay while the other half booked into a lovely camp site just outside the city walls. That evening we dined
next to Saint Martin’s Cathedral somewhat amazed that we had made it - given all the issues we had
overcome over the last weeks!
​
On Tuesday we met OUMF alumni Pieter-Jan at his amazing rally preparation workshop near Ypres where he
kindly made space for us and the Riley amongst all the Opels, Fords, BMWs, Renaults and Mitsubishi rally
cars, and swiftly unloaded the van. We were definitely in safe hands! While Ding and Sean left to sign on to
the rally in the city, we kicked back and had a Belgian lunch of bread, sliced meats and cheese, then spent the
rest of the afternoon sorting out the wipers and replacing a warped brake disc.
Wednesday started wet, but soon turned sunny. Ding and Sean had to recce the rally stages and compose
pace notes for most of the day, as we prepped the Riley - applying official stickers, bedding in the brakes and
road testing the car before we set off in convoy to set up our service area in Boezinge for the test stage that
evening. The 1965 Riley looked completely out of place next to the likes of all the modern Hyundais and
Skodas lining the main roads, but it got loads of attention as people took photos, asked questions and said
how much they looked forward to seeing it every year! On the start podium the Master of Ceremonies
interviewed Ding and said how excited he was by the Riley’s return to Ypres! After the first run the Riley
carved its way through the crowds, splitting them with the familiar tooting of its 1960s airhorn. The brake servo
was reconnected to see if that gave a better response and feel, and after the subsequent stage Ding was so
happy with the car that the crew went straight back out again with no need for alterations. They did 4 quick
runs in total, with the only damage being a split bush on the brake reaction bar.

Thursday was another recce day for Ding and Sean, while the rest of the team at Pieter-Jan’s work shop started with an end-to-end spanner check of the Riley after Wednesday’s test event, with special attention to the brake discs, indicators, and suspension bushes. At FIA Scrutineering at 3pm the officials clearly loved the Riley; one even pretended to try and start it with a crank handle! It passed with flying colours, and everyone then headed off to Nieuwkerke for the big Shake down stage.
We found the Service Area after navigating the huge crowds and crossing the live stage, and very soon it was the Riley’s turn. It flew through with no problems at all, and Tom Reid even won a beer in a bet with Tom Leclaire  that his fix to the bushing would hold! All in all a very successful event, with Sean evidently learning fast and becoming a very competent co-driver. We packed up the service area at dusk with the assistance of a group of drunken Belgians, and headed back to Ypres for an early night.

On a sunny Friday we did all the checks and some very minor repairs after the previous night’s antics. With
the main rally the following day, the brilliant new TOYO R888R tyres were fitted, and a suspect brake caliper
changed before Ding and Sean returned from their final recceing. We all drove to the local Total Energies
petrol station to fill the cars using the fuel cards generously donated by the owner Katrien Verstraete, before
returning to Pieter-Jan’s workshop to pack up. Thanking him for his great help and hospitality, we headed off
to set up our service area in the centre of Ypres. Some of the team went to a restaurant while the others went
to watch the top rally cars flying though the famous ‘Mesen’ stage.
​
Saturday was the big final day of the rally, and the atmosphere was electric throughout the city, in the teams
and the thronging crowds alike. We gave the Riley its final checks while Sean practised changing the spare
wheel – as there had been many punctures on other cars. The Riley was car no 248, and its start time for the
first stage was 11:45am. We all had smiles reaching our ears watching it leave. First service was due at
15.30pm so we had plenty of time to get everything set up, and shop for food and drink for the crew. Sean
texted at 15.00 that a new coil and a wheel were needed, so when the car came in to the 20 minute service it
was fast and smooth. But an issue refitting a HANS device meant a 10 second time penalty - despite Sean
sprinting to the time control in all his gear! As the Riley sped away, we quickly packed up and drove out to the
stages to watch them. The crowds loved it when Ding blared the horn as they flew past. All the remaining
stages went really well, and it was evening when the triumphant Riley carved its way through the cheering
crowds into the centre of Ypres and approached the grand finishing podium. Our plan to jump the security
fence and rush the winners ramp for ‘the’ team photo with the Riley worked perfectly; the staff saw the joy on
our faces and joined in the applause! Once the Riley was in Parc Ferme, the ecstatic team celebrated over
dinner in the central square, hardly daring to believe that the Riley had not only made it to Ypres, but scored
its 9th successive finish, won the Class, and come 33rd out of 48 overall against mainly modern rally cars.
OUMF perseverance, determination and teamwork had overcome every problem encountered, ending with a
fantastic result and incredible memories. No surprise then that our celebrations continued late into the evening
fuelled mainly by joy, but a little alcohol too...

On Sunday we thanked all our supporters, visited museums and historic WW1 sites, and reflected on how
lucky we were to be rallying in Ypres, when just over a century ago the landscape was entirely different.
Paying our respects to those who lost their lives here then, to allow us to live in freedom now, was a perfect
way to bring our time in Ypres to a close.
​
A magnificent DFDS ferry delivered us safely back to Dover the next day, and then it was on to Oxford.
However, there was no time to relax - as it was full steam ahead preparing our Riley racer for the HRDC Jack
Sears Trophy at Snetterton Historic 300 the next weekend!