Brit Butt Rally 2008

The first ever UK Brit Butt Rally, back in May, was a magnificant success. A total of 46 riders left the start for 36 hours on the open road. Their bonus book contained 60 locations spread right across the country and even into France. Well done to all 29 riders who successfully completed the rally by riding at least 1110 miles AND gaining 25000 points. Better luck next time to the 17 who didn't quite make it.

FRIDAY:

By lunchtime many riders were starting to assemble. First to arrive was Gerhard Memmen- Krueger from Germany. Gerhard was looking forward to a chance to visit Scotland for the first time. Mr Iron Butt UK, Roger Allen, worked the check in desk, . The Rallymaster, Chris McGaffin, was on route from Scotland hoping that nothing happened to him. His ST1300 was loaded up with the bonus books. Out in the car park, Technical inspections were under way with the rallymaster arriving just in time to help man the odometer checks.

The odometer route was 20.3 miles and had 14 speed cameras. Picking up a ticket before the rally would not have been a good start. One rider had that start.

Forty five riders were processed through the stages in 5 hours.

A quick pasta meal was then consumed ( enjoyed might not be the word) and the rider meeting started. Roger Allen welcomed everyone and then invited IBR vet,Paul Allison ,to give a short talk. The Rallymaster then took the floor and gave a quick explanation of some of the more important issues. Bonus books and flags were distributed and the riders went to their rooms. The bonus book had been assembled by Chris McGaffin and Roger Allen over 5 months. There was one location per page and a google screen grab pinpointed the area. If a line was drawn across the UK from Scarborough on the East coast, there was only 2500 points difference between north and south. A northerly route had more 24hr bonuses but fuel at night is an issue and hotels are few and far between. A southerly route had more lower scoring bonuses but they were closer together. There were plenty of 24hr stations and loads of motels.But the roads were more congested.

SATURDAY:

5.30am saw all the riders,staff and a particulary groggy looking rallymaster in the carpark performing final checks and recording the odometers again.At 6 am , Roger Allen waved the riders off one by one. Only 4 riders had decided to plot a southern route. Bad weather was forcast for saturday eveing and sunday in the south. And for once the forecasters were right. The other 41 riders headed towards Scotland.

During the day a few calls were made to the rally number by riders who had suffered mechanical problems at this early stage. One rider was involved in an accident ( car drivers fault) but was totally unscathed, although his bike was not rideable. 

More riders called in during the night. Two riders suffered a deerstrike in Scotland. One could not continue, whilst the other, whos bike was damaged but rideable, showed true rally spirit by riding to a garage and washing the intestines and entrails from the bike and himself and continuing.

Some riders were having better luck. If you find yourself with nowhere to sleep , talk a laundromat owner into letting a couple of you sleep on the premises. Irish rider, Richard Keegan, went one step further. On trying to check in to a hotel only to see other people being turned away he resorted to desparate measures. He managed to talk the night porter into letting him sleep in the linen cupboard. Richard made himself comfy amonst the bed linen, cleaning liquids, brushes and toiletries and drifted off for 4 hours sleep.  The Isle of Skye was a popular destination. Two bonuses, the Museum and Kilmuir graveyard would provide over 7000 points, both available 24hrs.

Some of the 60 bonuses were:

• Stonehenge
• Blackpool Tower
• Ullapool museum
• Agatha Christie Statue, Torquay
• Electric Hill, Ayeshire
• War Memorial, Towan Head,Newquay
• Ann Brontes' Grave, Scarborough
• Wigtown Bay Sailing Club, Dumfries & Galloway
• John O groats
• Scourie Hotel, Scourie, Scotland
• 40 ton globe,swanage

SUNDAY:

As the clock ticked down on Sunday towards the finish the Rally team prepared themselves for scoring. Riders would have to return by 5.00pm otherwise a 50 point per minute penalty would apply right up to 6.00pm. Arrive after 6.00pm and it was game over. Two Riders done just that.

The riders turned for base but some discovered they were further away than they thought.

From Early afternoon riders returned to base with the bulk of them timing their rally to perfection and rolling into base with less than 45 minutes to penalties.Many looked shattered but there was many smiling faces. Others were not so happy. The Fuel Log rules meant that each error discovered would cost them 200 points. a missing receipt was 1000 points. Two unfortunate riders had mis-read the rest bonus and had taken it at the wrong time. The lost points would cost them a finish.Scoring was completed at 7.30 pm and the riders were treated to a meal.

The Award Ceremony then started with Roger Allen first of all having to call out the names of those who would receive a "did not finish" mark against their name. They were unfortunate but hopefully they will have better luck next time.

Roger then moved onto introduce the 29 Finishers in reverse order.

The final standings were:

1. Robert Roalfe,40,262points, 1505 miles

2. Paul Vandersteen,39,805, 1562

3. Paddy McCreanor, 39,301, 1504

4. Gerhard Memmen-Krueger, 37,962, 1425

5. Roger Tushingham, 37201, 1483

6. Lee Whiteley, 37035, 1506

7. Bob McPherson, 36,906, 1446

8. Dean Kent, 36,695, 1415

9. Richard Keegan, 35,418, 1412

10. Pete West, 33312, 1309

11. Martyn White, 32,879, 1226

12.Rob Abbot, 32439, 1572

13. Barry Manning, 31,538, 1379

14. David Badcock, 30,533, 1168

15. Barry Heasman, 30,291, 1275

16. Tom Boyle, 30,030, 1289

17. Tim Stiles, 29,811, 1223

18. Alex Birkett, 29,794, 1251

19. Geoff Steele, 29,462, 1382

20. Gareth Owens, 29,394, 1248

21. Gerald Perkins, 29,164, 1242

22. Kenneth Tucker, 29,164, 1249

23. Boyd Brooks, 28,906, 1158

24. Mick Ingledew, 28,454, 1266

25. John Phillipson, 27,911, 1227

26. Philip Weston, 27,688, 1171

27. Rod Cooke, 26,157, 1240

28. Malcolm Berry, 25,143, 1120

29. Neil Robinson, 25,019, 1162

The Rally Staff and other Riders salute the following riders who weren't able to qualify for a finish. 

• Ed Harris
• Martin Fox
• Bruce Gander
• Philip Elwood
• William Bell
• Martin Hayward
• Chris Kilner
• Tony Simpson
• Nich Brown
• Andrew Perkins
• Marion Costin-Ford
• Paul Allison
• Kevin Parsons
• Jon Ince
• Tony Carr
• Stuart Bell
• Richard Watson

Roger Allen and Chris McGaffin would like to thank the riders for entering this IBA rally. We hope you enjoyed the experience.

To those Staff who helped at check in, technical Inspections, odometer checks and scoring THANK YOU, THANK YOU. We could not have put this event on without your assistance.