Donegal Company sends Rally Crew to the Arctic

Posted: January 22, 2002 8:08 AM

Donegal Town crew Andy Bassett and Keith Stevenson were starting to run into trouble with their plans to compete on the forthcoming Arctic Rally with their Golf Tdi when a local company S&R Motors kindly stepped in and provided the necessary support.

'The logistics are enormous' said navigator Stevenson. 'Getting the car to Helsinki alone is a challenge, let alone the 1200 Km drive to the rally centre, and there is an endless list of special car preparation from fitting special engine heaters that prevents the engine freezing overnight in the minus 45c temperatures, to rebuilding the dampers with low temperature oil'

On the rally itself special snow ploughs clear the roads a couple of hours before the crews start the stages, and inside the cars special survival gear has to be carried in case of an accident or mechanical failure. 'You wouldn’t last very long at minus 45c without special clothes'. said Stevenson. 'In addition to the survival gear 2 lightweight shovels have to be carried in the car, and a special park place has to be dug into the deep snow banks to park the car and allow the other crews to pass'.

'In fact the logistical, technical and financial challenges were proving so great that we were seriously thinking of giving up, when S&R Motors stepped in and offered support. This was the break we were looking for, and with fingers crossed we will be getting on a plane next Saturday'.

Progress of the crew can be followed on www.rallypartsireland.com