The car, the dash, the end

Our Vixen

Oh how we had a dash.....












C


Cabo Da Roca - Sultans of Bling, Club Tropicana, Vixen

The Vixen goes through the Pyrennes

So here we are crossing the French Spanish border near Loudres....

Followed by lots of mad heal-toe driving through tight corners in the mountains. Gav thought mud was fun ;-)

Finally photos - bangers in convoy

Thought I would give a quick update on the bangers we travelled with....





The Banger Grannies - Mavis, Beatrice and Doris in drag... they don't half like spraying grease from their behind.... ?!?


Club Tropicana decked out like butlins redcoat pimps all in Primark and TKmax outfits... dig the espedrills lads



Then of course we must not forget the incredible cow moos from the Sultans of Bling in real arab tunics from eBay!


at











the end of line - Club Tropicana, Vixen, Sultans of Bling - Cabo da Roca

Calais

So we arrive at Calais at 5.30 and are now waiting to board the next tunnel train.. the superglue rotor arm seems to have made it - along with two super tired drivers doing 3 hour shifts. we need to give the Vixen a bit of love as we see the light of day in Dover and make it back into London
Gav had some sort of guiding star when he was driving tonight? not sure, but I think he was seeing visions and certainly kept getting spooked by French speed cameras - that Bridge?

time for bed

the ramblings of the Pickster driving

... (iPod phones out of ear) -

"Dan, you posted about changing the headlight bulb front left and how difficult the pop-up heads are on a Porsche (battery disconnect, all trim away from front and remove all headlamp... ) ????"

"Oh and Dan did you tell everyone about how cool those special coffees we found were - self heating expresso's in plastic tub - push button shake and wait.. (Ed. note: Gav bought a whole box of them) ???"

...(iPod phones back in ears)

note - we never did get the stereo to give us more than the treble line in a Stereophonics track

Bordeaux Sunset == Red Mist

So this trip I learnt that red mist is like when Gav see Lewis H steal his girl - closing straight and just not quick enough - he tells me that I may be better at running a team than driving - even though I can now toe-heel properly?!
So as we approach the last six hours of driving, we watch this amazing sunset over the forests of south west France; every now and again you get a glimpse of the vineyards... there are no clouds in the sky just a red mist (Gav is driving remember) - last night we nearly didn't leave the party... Gav became a token Aussie ;-)
So some thoughts from the last few days
- La Rochelle suprised both of us cause it is much better than advertised and the port and marina reminded Gav and I of a trip a couple of years agao to Croatia
- San Sebastian is a much under-rated party town at the foot of some absolutely amazing mountains (yes I will be back!)
- Salamanca is just stunning... one of the better romantic weekend breaks me thinks
- Cabo de Roca is unknown beauty and the village of Cascais is amazing old and picturesque
To sum up - the Sucata Run is a "Quality" road trip.....

welshmen

Gav is now driving and we are approaching Bordeaux having been stuck in half hour of Spanish/French border traffic!? Just has a bowl of Taboule and a large bottle of Evian so back on the road. I am back trying to download pictures (which USB cable was it??!)... happier now that the super-gluing of the rotor arm seems to have done the trick and I don't have to keep taking the distributor cap off every 50km!
So Gav mentioned the welshmen... well they came to the rescue of some other poor sucateers who happened to snap their one and only car key when in Salamanca (by throwing it against a tree?!?)... The welsh boyz had to snap the ignition lock and hot wire said banger in order to allow it to start and the central locking to be controlled.. they still had to get out of the car? I gather the Welsh are strong?
Seems like our super gluing of a Porsche 944 rotor arm is the least of the problems.....

Just when we thought the hard bit was done

we've since broken down again and lost the rotor arm mounting screw! we know its between Palencia and Burgos, however it's a lomg stretch of road and we gotta be at Calais soon!! Dan's been hard at it with three tool boxes, super glue, a 4mm screw he carries around with him (I'm told that's an engineers "Carry around in your pocket item") and a young Apprentice! Klein relished the challenge to heal the sick Vixen and seems now content to chase French M3s through the Pyranees mountain. Such enthusiastic driving leads me to believe that we are now running well! Pickster has settled for the journalist role..

Yesterday was fabulous. We finally ran in convoy with other teams, hearing tales of all sorts of car problems (indeed one requiring 3 large welshman to rip of an entire steering lock mechanism!) and finally Australian style motorway ramming!

As Klein rightly pointed out, we did spend some of yesterday beeched at the campsite - kinda added to the experience! Our cab to the after party didn't turn up, so we joined the Ausy squad in a "9 up" 250,000 miler Peugeot 306. The local police would have loved it!

Now have only 1,300kms left till we get back to London!

One last thing - how can a Cambridge grad not have heard of the phrase "red mist" before. Am I missing something?!

Gav, Team Porsche #83

On the way back to London now

So Gav and I are in Palencia now on the 24 hour drive back to London. We have had a really exciting couple of days... ridiculously busy and good 2g connections (yes, no 3g!) are hard to come by to blog.
So we did a night in Salamanca which was beautiful - sunset in Plaza Mayor left just the cranes on the sky line orange and then as if by magic the square window lights came on.... great photos to follow
Gav went to bed to get some rest and I landed up in a Salsa bar with a bunch of lads from Birmingham... well someone has to! and it is an amazing University town ;-)
So yesterday we did the first real day of convoy touring with other bangers.... big shout to the other five vehicles in our convoy yesterday - "Banger Grannies" ... yes these were the three trannie lads..., "Flower Power" from Dunhumby, "Shark" toyota, "Club Tropicana" and last but NOT least the "Sultans of Bling"... best dressed arabs by far
Great fun and we crossed the finishing line at Cabo de Roca at 5.26pm yesterday evening with the Sultans of Bling
Then on to the campsite where I managed to sink the porsche into the beach sand and had to get "Flower Power" to tow us out... thx Andy and Katie
Then on to the awards at Coconut club in Cascais where Banger Grannies picked up "Best Dressed"... Club Tropicana "Most Raised Privately"... Sultans of Bling "Best Car".... we were just "the porsche guys".. and the only ones carrying a full compliment of spares and tools!!!
So we left the after party at 12.30 last night and set off this morning at 4.45am after 4 hours sleep.... the only event!?!? we broke down outside Salamanca at 11am :-(
So Gav rang a wierd switchboard at the RAC and I took apart the Distributor Cap.... ten mintues later after rotor arm found apart and screws in engine well - yes the Rotor Arm had shaken itself in to little bits..... we had WD40 , fixed it and were back firing the cylinders.....
now after lots of coffee need to hit the road again......

Pyrennes pics

will post pictures of the pyrennes soon when i have my camera download cable out of the boot....

icecream

dont blog and eat icecream and navigate.. whilst the Pickster is driving... ;-) map/melted driving?

Awesome Pyrennes

We have now decended into the Spanish barren hot scrub from amazing mountains. Gav and I took a diversion almost to Lourdes yesterday in search of the spiritual stuff... mountains are what do it for me! So the scenery was spectacular driving into the small French villages of St Jean Pied de Port which was beautiful (and really busy given it was raining).. the drive up through the pass to the Spanish border at 671m with a crazy little coffee shop at the top. It was like driving in Scotland just bigger and the cloud was down and moody.

Last night we were out in two amazing tapas bars with locals - San Sebastian is something else and has a great night life - huge numbers of bars....

This morning we have been enjoying dropping out of the mountains near Vitoria and seeing all the slab (great climbing here me thinks). The mountains enthrall me.. lose me in my driving...





given up on web cam cause it is rubbish in bright sun and the streaming breaks connection every 3 min! :-(

Gav has had me toe/heeling properly - might make a race driver yet ....

Klein at the wheel through the Pyrenees!

Team Vixen are within 60kms of San Sebastian! Seriously looking forward to arriving and sampling the local beverage! Today has been a long one - Dan and I had a few technical hiccups this morning, which caused some delay. When we finally got going, we headed South from the Bordeaux region into the Mountains. The electrics have finally stopped delaying us!

Klein has done a top job behind the wheel today. I'm sure he's been looking for buoys and mooring points whilst adapting to "on road" as opposed to "at sea"! Spectacular moments include a Scandinavian flick into the town of Mont De Marson, as well as a full 70 kilometres journey with the handbrake on! As we flew down the A road, the smoke and smell pouring from the car had us convinced we were blowing up, however the tell tale came when we stopped for a drink break - two rear pads worth of brake dust all over the rear wheels!! We now have to put Vixen into 3rd when parked in order to stop her rolling off. This isn't Herby The Movie after all!!

Unc' John - the answer to your question is 1.22. Please multiply by 100!

Frank The Tank - cheers for your post.

Over and Out, "Picks"

La Rochelle

So we have arrived! First timed day of the four days complete.. crossed the line in the old port in La Rochelle at 17:41 having set off from Rouen start line at 10:50 wow a long drive with some interesting engine heat (hummmm Gav?) so it took us 6 hours and 51 minutes which is ok... at least we didn't cause a traffic jam outside Niort by catching fire?? now which team was that again?!?! Gav did warn them that 1 litre of oil per hour has to go somewhere and burns....

Wehave survived and now to hit the beautiful old port town of La Rochelle - the weather is great 28C and a bit cloudy....

Time for food and bevvies then to fix the webcam streaming (yes I am still going on about it)... I did promise Bryan and Larry after all.......

Do we have warranty?

So finally Dan can stop moaning and start driving! I have repaired the roof with good ol' gaffer tape... praise to the Vixen for being reliable... Dan seems intent on electric fixes. The interior panels get stuck under the accelerator so ripped them out. Brake light on Dash remains on - Jeff can we claim under warranty? ;-)

Early afternon in Le Mans and the sun is out

So having spent the morning in rain, swearing at a TomTom that gets us lost and doesn't know the new autoroutes (thx Alan - was it a test?) we finally realised that a 20 year old map (to go in the 22 year old car) is also no good either... so we bought a new map! seen a couple of the rally, but Gav is intent on doing 100+

Gav also like to ride close to trucks! when we were not overtaking in the rain on B roads ....

The webcam is pi##ing me off as I can stream to local computer but not out through a 3G card - hummmm - will get some good pictures and try and fix tonight. Can anyone suggest good video capture software to capture the USB webcam and upload to YouTube?

Hopefully try the satellite uplink later as well ;-)

The team on the road

So we are finally racing!!

So we were time trial start group four and lead car! yes we got lost in the industrial estate on the way out but now back and powering up the pack......

amazing to see all the cars lined up... crazy costumes and crazy designs
will post pictures soon... still trying to get the webcam up

right now - just enjoying the drive from the gav myster

Getting on the boat to France

So Gav is trying out the CB radio to talk to all these wierd truckers on this cross channel ferry!! ;-)

We have the comms deck that is up and running. Still no web cam.... Gav is getting really scared by all these wierd CB radio users... knickers and guns!??!

So we now have eight hours on this ferry to Le Harve. Time to get the webcam fixed :-(

Sun roof and it is raining

OK it is raining on the A3 at Petersfield and we have discovered that the sunroof behind the driver lifts up at motorway speeds and lets water in. Not good... but we were warned by our friends at Foskers http://www.foskers.com at Brands Hatch that this might be a problem.
Thanks for the tip lads, Gav tells me you were sad not to get your Ferrari dealership stickers on a 22 year old Porsche?? wierd....

Leaving London yaae

Gav and I have left the smoke finally...

we are having issues with the webcam. we also have no music as the radio has jammed a casstte but we are fine and on the road. final stickers look good, but no time to fit them just yet

oh and the wiring harness for the lights?!? (no comment - still need to find the problem with the rear right light)

on the road and starting the trip :-)

Final preparation

So finally we only have a new rear light bulb to replace and a sticker to place on the centre of the bonnet (hood for those Americans!) and we are done. Finally!! Gav has a day in the market and I have a PR strategy to do tomorrow.. then we are done and can get going trying not to be late for our ferry from Portsmouth. Gav and I spoke earlier and only thing we are stuck on is what fancy dress to wear - any ideas?

Donations from everyone seem amazing - big thx to everyone - we need to convert all those promises and we might just make the target!

We heard tonight one of the entries (out of 87 cars) has broken down getting to the start line and they are now looking for a lift! help... we need our clutch to hold!

Excited.........

Graphics for Team D&G

D&G are pleased to announce that further graphics are coming, namelh "Gemin-i.org". All part of the professional Sucata team Vixen image. Images coming soon!!!!

So the car is nearly complete after weeks of work

So Gav and I have been spending our weekends recently putting this car back together. Gav has been getting it mechanically sound... whereas I have been pulling the wiring harness apart and finding spare bits of trim - thanks to Alan and Simon in Kimpton yesterday for a load of bit!















It has far too many miles on its clock to be good to it and the engine still rocks on its mounts when you declutch too quickly. Oh and talking about the clutch, still makes a horrible noise cold and is probably the thing we might need to replace on route... ;-)


Gav also finally got round to getting the decals on yesterday - thx also due here to http://www.signsuk.co.uk/






s!)





Finally we have also fitted the webcam and the various communications - CB, 3G, HF....... boyz with toys... got to love um (the toys that is!)

[notice Gav needs a sellotaped towel as lumber support! - what is it with prima-donna race drivers?]

£1441 to go in sponsorship to hit our target

So D&G have a week left before we start the infamous trip across Europe in our old Porsche. We still need to raise £1441 for Gemin-i.Org, so we need all of you who haven't donated yet (you know who you are!) to go to our site at http://www.justgiving.com/dg_in_the_vixen and put your credit card details in and donate....
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Gemin-i gets your money direct and faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
So please sponsor us now!