The 1998 Jaycee Rally Part 4

We decided to do the night rally section anyway on dipped beams, haring along at close to sixty through some of the narrowest roads and tracks I have ever driven down. Coming out of a section where the branches were brushing each side of the car, we sped past dry stone walls with sheep on the grass verges staring placidly into the headlights. Faster cars started to catch us up, and I let them past so I could follow on their lights. At each control they would sit and wait for their due time, while we nipped past, got another slip of paper with more clues to plot, and dashed off again. Soon enough the glare of lights would appear in the mirror, and I could tuck in left and follow after .

Each section could be driven at an average speed of 30 mph provided we kept moving, bat all too often we would arrive at a junction before June had plotted it, and had to sit for a while. I tried to give June a rest by following cars which overtook us, and learned another rallying lesson; don't assume that faster cars know where they're going. We were hard on the heels of an Anglia and a VX490 which each went left at a junction, and then both slammed on the brakes a few hundred yards later when they realised they were about to enter a control from the wrong direction. On came two sets of powerful reversing spotlights. If only I had had a similar light myself I would have roared back up the lane and sped on ahead of them, but I had to tuck in on the right to let them through before backing up and following. What was doubly annoying was that June had known they were wrong almost as soon as we turned to follow them down that lane.