Cannonball Run Europe 2003

Saturday 27th September 2003

Off with a Bang!

The Cannonball Run Europe got off to an amazing start with a huge crowd and assorted press and television turning out to witness the start of the 2003 event. Over 70 cars took to the start line at Sherborne Castle in Dorset for the initial parade run down to the Poole Ferry.

The start line once again bore witness to some awesome horsepower as the cars blitzed off to the delight of the crowd. Not however to the delight of the purple faced estate manager. Livid was not the word. "This has to stop, those cars are touching at least 90 mph down there, I'm horrified." Not as horrified as we were, we figured they could get at least 120.

Only onboard the ferry were the details of the first challenge revealed - "First Stop Africa". The looks on their faces ranged from shock to outright fear.

The Cannonballers passed the time on the ferry as only Cannonballers can. Team Teckademics were taking out some anger on their car as the co-driver jumped up and down on the roof and bonnet. The Blues Brothers in the NYPD Police car were setting up a book and large money was changing hands before the Northern scallies in the No. 85 Skyline mugged them for the lot.

As the pack was set loose at St Malo there was some heavy jostling for the early lead. 1,300 miles lay ahead. Unfortunately the first casualty came only 90 minutes into the French leg as the TVR of Lee Huzzey and Emma Bennet went out with collapsed suspension. The recovery boys were summoned and a switch to a hire car was on the cards

Monday 29th September

Late morning and as the first of the fully committed sparked their engines into life several Cannonballers were still emerging from the hotel casino. It was difficult to see who was the most dedicated to the cause.

The pack rolled out of Tangiers in two groups - the dedicated catching the early ferry while the Casino-ites nursed themselves onto the later boat. Today's stage would be simple by comparison - a mere 700 miles up to Barcelona through flowing Spanish A-roads to be knocked out in 10 hours.

Driving through the pack in daylight gave a great insight into the variety of cars and their tactics. Already the guys in the light-weight sports cars were looking seriously jaded with little comfort and multiple fuel stops taking their toll (although this could have been more to do with the previous nights casino action). The Blues Brothers in the NYPD Police car were a sight to behold as they wallowed along with completely shot suspension but the Hummer was for many the surprise of the event and it relentlessly Panzered its way along - nothing, but nothing got in its way! Predictably we never did quite catch up with the hard charging Team Kenworthy GT2 - although Team Teckademics in the hired Mondeo (their tuned BMW M3 had failed to make the plane from the USA) gave them a run for a short while (quite how we'd rather not know…..) Honours for ingenuity though went to Team Constantinou who having suffered an engine fire simply put it out with their remaining supplies of Red Bull!

As Barcelona beckoned many teams were struggling to meet what was a challenging target time. The stunning news then came in that defending Cannonball Champions Ned & Cameron were out with a blown ECU. These guys were without doubt the most prepared team in the event and were gutted beyond measure. Not as gutted as when they discovered 2 hours later that they had in fact filled their diesel tank with petrol! The Cannonball can do funny things to the mind. The never say die spirit prevailed though and they were back up and running but seriously behind the clock - could another amazing come back be on the cards?

Night had fallen as they Cannonball Run circus rolled into Barcelona and the luxury of the 5-star Grand Marina Hotel. The cream was beginning to rise to the top with only half the field managing to get inside the target time. Over 100 hungry Cannonballers made it though to the late night party at the Hard Rock Café - everybody had a story to tell.

Wednesday 1st October

The final reckoning. The last stage of the event was designed as a fairly simple motorway run up to Dijon for the track day and then onto Calais for the return ferry. Little did we know what carnage awaited us….

The Cannonballers awoke to thundery skies, heavy rain and the sad news that the NYPD Police car was finally out with brake failure - even the Blues Brothers couldn't drive their way around that one.

Only on getting onto the motorway did the extent of the conditions become clear. Visibility was virtually nil and standing water meant the prospect of wide tyred performance cars aquaplaning was very real. With fired up Cannonballers in "shit or bust mode" this was not good news.

After much discussion the powers that be decided to cancel the morning stage, deeming the conditions simply too dangerous. The news was called through to teams already out on the stage and was met with mixed reactions ranging from abject relief to furious rage. These guys were committed and emotions were running high.

The decision was a hard one, though as it turned out, the correct one demonstrated by the fact that even at reduced speed we were to lose four cars over the next hour. The black Jaguar XJRS of Steven Rodmen & Dave Eeley was the first to go, although damaged they were able to kick it back into some sort of shape and press on. Not so the yellow Maserati and Porsche 911 which came together putting both teams out on the spot. The same fate awaited former leaders the popular team 118 Porsche of Brown / Kettle. Massive aquaplaning saw them smash into the armco and come back across the motorway in front of the hard charging Skoda of Stuart and Wendy Jenkins. That one woke everybody up. Good car control and even better fortune saw all drivers walk away unharmed.

Things did not fair much better at the track. Dijon is a challenging circuit at the best of times but mix in heavy rain, fog and a Cannonball pack provoked by the Napolean-esque circuit director and sparks were bound to fly. In fact most of the flying was done by the white Skyline as it ploughed into the gravel trap at the end of the main straight at a full 100mph. The circuit director's comment was typically dry - "I've seen them go in further and I've seen them go in deeper. But not at the same time."

Things settled down but with conditions getting no better it was only the brave that took to the track with some impressive displays of car control. The final run up to Calais then set off and the trophy was well and truly up for grabs. Nobody though could have predicted just how close it would be….

Arriving back at the Oatlands Park Hotel in Surrey, the dinner jackets were dusted off for the final night gala. A wonderful dinner, spectacular firework display and serious party brought down the curtain on what had been a momentous event. An event that created a spirit, that sporned new friendships and generated memories that will go on long after the cost is forgotten. One word can never describe it but if it could it would be "Epic".

There was of course time for one last drama as the Westfield crossed the finish line in the form of a single piece of molten aluminium. It had gone up in flames on the final run in!

And really that summed it all up. Human beings living life for the hell of it. Pushing the boundaries, living it hard and refusing to give up. Yes some metal got mashed but nobody got hurt. That was Cannonball Run Europe and you were warned.