Rallying with Jim

Rallying: Roger Knight with Jim Gleeson

Roger has been friends with Jim since 1988.  Their friendship began when Jim became a client of Roger’s and they found that they had a mutual interest in motor sport.  Jim talked about rallying, a dream of his, a dream which was to become true.

They started going to the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1989 and have been going every year since, apart from the covid year.  This involved camping, for the first two years in a basic campervan, before they invested in a more comfortable caravan. Roger referred to their daily routine beginning with Jim’s bellybuster breakfast then beer o’clock at 11am and red wine at 8.00pm with plenty of steak. Each year they set out on the five mile walk into Le Mans for the drivers’ parade, but they never made it that far as there were too many pubs on the way.

For years they took great pleasure in watching racing cars and drivers but their plan to become more involved in motor sport gradually emerged. One problem Roger mentioned was Jim’s propensity to fall asleep, even while eating in a restaurant. Despite this, their first serious rally was the Historic Rallying Event ‘le Jog’ in 2018. This was from Land’s End to John O’ Groats and would take three and a half days to complete.  All those taking part were serious enthusiasts, all professional or experienced, except for Roger and Jim.  They were enthusiastic novices, probably not too serious but keen to have a go.

First of all was a training course where they soon realised that the rally would not be as easy as they had thought, with all the regulations, plotting routes from OS maps, keeping to exact times, undergoing speed trials on different road surfaces, dealing with bad weather and so on.  They found that rallying was a precise and complicated sport.

With this in mind they set off to Cornwall and drove through rain both day and night and had problems with dials not working and the accelerator cable needing to be replaced: these problems had to be resolved the next morning, or they couldn’t have taken part in the rally. They managed the repairs, but rallying was not as easy as they thought. At the drivers’ briefing they were the only novices.  The organisers warned drivers to be prepared for ice, snow, rain, accident, breakdown, and fatigue.

Next was scrutineering to check everything about the car, which they managed to pass.  They were then given all the documents they would need to get from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. They had a very intense time in the plotting room and were the last to leave as they had to learn on the job to plot their route from OS maps. It was clear that their Jaguar was not really a rally car.

Early on this Saturday morning cars left Land’s End at one-minute intervals.  Their time was 8.32am and they were scheduled to reach John o’ Groats at midday on the following Tuesday.  They shared driving and navigating through Cornwall, Devon and into Wales, driving against the clock. The going then became tougher and more intense for navigating, with difficult road conditions, sometimes narrow, with deep potholes, streams to cross, sheep or farm vehicles blocking the road, as well as continual rain.  This meant loss of time and they had to drive flat out to make this up.

Several times they went off road and ended up in fields, with Jim driving, according to Roger.  Both times they were lucky that the support team were able to get them back on the road and in the rally.

They had problems with the electric windows not working and being unable to see the speedometer.  This made it difficult with checkpoints, some of which were hidden; if they missed a checkpoint or if they arrived early or from the wrong direction they would incur penalties.

Their nighttime disaster occurred in deepest Wales when the windscreen wipers gave up in heavy rain.  They couldn’t fix them so had to drive on to their hotel in Telford where they arrived at 4.00am.  They didn’t get much sleep and were up early next morning to try to repair the wipers, without success. Fortunately, the problem was resolved with the rain stopping, but another problem arose as the wiring for the clocks had melted.  They managed to repair the wiring and the lights came on: they were back in the rally. 

They had reached Hexham in Northumberland when a slight sound developed into a noisy exhaust and one headlight stopped working, which made driving difficult.  At midnight they stopped for food and had a few hours’ sleep.  They carried on next morning and had to wipe the windscreen periodically to see where they were going.

They crossed the border into Scotland where they found it difficult to buy fuel but they were still going, unlike several cars which had broken down or been in accidents.   The Inverness mountains were very tricky, particularly as their car was not suitable for such terrain.  They hit a boulder which damaged one side of the car, but they had made it to Scotland.  The sun came out, a sign that their success was meant to be.

They reached John o’ Groats with Jim driving and Roger waving to supporters and taking photos.   The rally was the most difficult of driving experiences in a car not really suitable for this kind of endurance event.  Tony Jardine, ex-F1 driver and one of the organisers, was impressed with their achievement. Some cars didn’t manage to finish. Having completed the rally they were presented a parker pen, which didn’t seem much for all that effort. 

However, at the end of the evening presentation Tony Jardine was pleased to announce that Roger and Jim had been chosen by the organisers for the Spirit of Le Jog Award: two novices who had faced and overcome many problems to complete the rally.

Seventy one cars started and Roger and Jim came 40^th overall, having covered 2,708 miles, spent £1,250 on fuel, and undergone many speed tests.  Since that first rally they have taken part in the Piston Heads Rally in 2019, the Le Jog Endurance Rally in 2023 and 2024, as well as the 3 Legs of Mann Endurance Rally in early 2026.

Their plans for the future are driving round the UK in stages in October this year and taking part in their fourth Le Jog rally in January 2027.

In 1989, if Roger had known all that he and Jim would do over the years since then,  he wouldn’t change a thing.  Their driving and navigating skills, ability to solve problems, to enjoy themselves and to support one another with humour and exaggeration, all came across in Roger’s entertaining and enjoyable presentation.