From Milkman to Motorsport: The Inspiring Tale of Ron Beecroft
In this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, we sit down with Ron Beecroft, a distinguished figure in rallying whose journey began far from the racetrack, in the agricultural heart of Yorkshire. Ron shares how his passion for motorsport was sparked by a simple invitation to observe a rally event, eventually leading him to a successful career in the sport. From novice to seasoned competitor, Ron recounts the pivotal moments and challenges that defined his rallying journey.
As we explore his experiences, Ron reflects on the camaraderie within the rallying community and the evolving landscape of the sport itself. His insights provide a fascinating blend of personal anecdotes and a broader view of how rallying has developed. This episode offers a rich combination of nostalgia and expert commentary, making it an essential listen for rally fans and those new to the sport.
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Transcript
But it didn't stop the fact he's become very well known.
Speaker A:So I'd like to welcome the one and only Ron Beecroft.
Speaker A:Ron, welcome to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:How did it all start?
Speaker A:Because you don't come from a rallying background.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Living in a little village lately near Otley, Yorkshire.
Speaker B:We're a small farm with a milk round and my friend, the only young man in the village other than myself, he got involved with the motor club.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he came to see me one day and he said, the RSA rally is running.
Speaker B:Would you like to come and watch it with us, Ron?
Speaker B:Because I used to drive my Morris Thousand pickup like a missile.
Speaker B:But anyway, so we.
Speaker A:The fastest milkman in Yorkshire.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's it.
Speaker B:Wreck every bottle we had.
Speaker B:And he said, I'll pick you up and we'll go to Watts's ferry.
Speaker B: We're going at: Speaker B: I said,: Speaker B:I have to be back home for 5:00 in the morning.
Speaker B:He said, don't worry.
Speaker B:He said, we're going up to Dalby, a place called Dalby.
Speaker B:So as we walked into Dalby, it's a well known pub and I can't say the name now, but all the stage men knew where it was.
Speaker B:There was two.
Speaker B:There was a Datsun coming out and I'd never heard anything like it in my life.
Speaker B:And I think it could have been Tony Fall or Oni Altinen.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:There were two works Datsuns and then there was the Escorts, Mackin and Mikkela and all this.
Speaker B:And I never heard anything like it.
Speaker B:And in them trees that just sort of whetted my appetite, really.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so from then on, John said to me, well, why don't you join the motor club?
Speaker B:I've joined Ilfrey Motor Club.
Speaker B:And he said, do you know you can do things like 12 car rallies at half past seven at night and things like that, and there's driving tests and there's.
Speaker A:So basically your early rallying up to fit in with the farm and everything else.
Speaker B:Always has done, really.
Speaker B:Always has done.
Speaker B:So we joined the motor club and we set off to do a 12 car.
Speaker B:John would navigate for me.
Speaker A:What were you driving?
Speaker B:I'd bought a Mark 1 Cortina GT.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And did I feel like a rally driver.
Speaker B:And this would be before 73.
Speaker B:This would be probably.
Speaker B:I'm probably just getting me years wrong here.
Speaker B:Maybe it could have been 71 or 72.
Speaker B:We won this 12th car.
Speaker B:So I'm a born again rally driver.
Speaker B:I'm a new man on the scene.
Speaker B:So I bought a Ford Mexico, yeah.
Speaker B:Off a guy in Ilkley Motor Club and I thought I got a proper rally car because it had a sump guard and a hoop.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I did a rally and John Millington beat me in a Hillman Minx.
Speaker B:So I thought there must be something about the other seat if a guy's beating me in Hillman Minx and I've got a Mexico because at the time that was the car to have.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we finished 12th or 11th and this minx won it.
Speaker B:So I had a word with this navigator, John Millington, and that's how the relationship started.
Speaker B:And the funny story about this is I asked him, you know, I'm not.
Speaker B:I sort of humbled myself and went across to him and said, if you ever fancy doing a rally, would you like to give me a ring?
Speaker B:You'll go do it?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so a few weeks later I got a phone call, John Millington.
Speaker B:I said, hello, John, would you like to do a rally with me?
Speaker B:I said, yes, I've got an entry on the plains.
Speaker B:I said, where's that?
Speaker B:He says, in Wales.
Speaker B:I said, wales?
Speaker B:When do we have to go down to Wales?
Speaker B:He says, oh, there's a very good championship called the Motor News and which I hadn't really heard of.
Speaker B:And he said it's one of the events.
Speaker B:So we went down to Wales.
Speaker B:I said, I don't even have a fast spot, you know.
Speaker B:He says, you don't need one to get into Wales.
Speaker B:Says that'll do.
Speaker B:When we virtually got there, he said, by the way, we don't have an entry.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I said, what are we doing down here?
Speaker B:He said, I'm sure we'll get a room with the third reserve.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we got a run at 54 somewhere just in there in the semi experts.
Speaker B:So all the screw of today in was Gull and we parked in this field at the back of this well known garage somewhere just in mid Wales.
Speaker B:I can't mention the name now but I've seen the garage since.
Speaker B:And there were traffic lights out of George Hill, Russell, Butch Nagel, Rocky Bob Beam, all the superstars were there and we're seated at 54 and I got out for a pee before the start and I'm stood at back in my car and John has gone to 55, 56, 57, 58 and he's saying if you catch 54 we've never been down here before we've never been together before we'll pull over you Susie and I'm thinking you think I want to pull over for you so we set off and it was absolutely magic and the unfortunate thing is John got a fail Now a lot of the navigators, the well known navigators afterwards and John knew why you needed three maps in about 2 mile what the experienced navigators do they cut a corner off that and a corner off that stick it all together, nail it yeah so when you came to this grass triangle we approached it from one direction instead of the other and poor old John got a fail but we carried on and if you look at the results with the first one with a fail but if we hadn't adopted the fail I think the results are there to find if you look I think we're somewhere 12, 13 so that would have been a hell of a result for two lads that had never been together competing against that sort of equipment and people with that knowledge so that was the birth of John Millington and Ron Beatcroft and.
Speaker A:Where did it go from there?
Speaker A:I mean excuse me you had a.
Speaker A:Well you had a phenomenal career in rallying and it must have all progressed from there because you would have discovered that you weren't bothered this.
Speaker B:Yeah well and then we sort of fancied doing motor neus bit and we did, we did the.
Speaker B:In the Stocktonium we were car number 120 on the Stocktonian and how did they used to number that?
Speaker B:1 to 60 and then 120 to 60 yeah anyway we were car 120 and we won the novice two weeks later or a week later it was the Illuminations and we were semi experts and we won the semi experts yeah and in motoring news report it said look out for these two they've won the novice, they've won the semi experts where are they going next?
Speaker B:Yeah so we started to do a bunch of news events what we could.
Speaker A:Afford to do yeah because I mean it's always been an expensive sport and people such yourself and everybody else the money that they're earning has to be a lot of it has to be directed elsewhere to live and look after family and house etc well my late.
Speaker B:Wife was the most wonderful woman who supported my rallying unbelievably and when we lived in Harrogate and we were coming Here, that's when we had the farm, when we had the milk round in Harrogate, actually, she used to take students in bed and breakfast and that used to pay for my rallying.
Speaker B:As long as we had students coming in.
Speaker B:Yeah, we could pay for the rallying.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And when we stopped.
Speaker B:And if we look back in times when I wasn't rallying because we didn't have any students.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:In 75, I think, with.
Speaker B:With no students.
Speaker B:In 78, with no students.
Speaker B:So rallying stopped, basically.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She funded my rallying.
Speaker B:Unless you got sponsorship.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:It was as simple as that, really.
Speaker A:And what cause were you driving at this period?
Speaker B:Well, I had the yellow Mexico and then I had a.
Speaker B:What did I do?
Speaker B:Why did I sell up?
Speaker B:Yes, I know what happened to that.
Speaker B:I wrote it off coming back to work one.
Speaker B:One dinner time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Acting about.
Speaker B:And that tells you I've never had a bad, serious accident driving a rally car, but I wrote one off going back three miles from home to the farm.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that tells you never to act aloud.
Speaker B:And so then I bought a white Mexico and we had that for possibly three or four years.
Speaker B:And then I bought an ex ad.
Speaker B:Lads, the Mexico was absolutely shattered.
Speaker B:It had.
Speaker B:It had its day.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B: RS: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Mark 1.
Speaker B:And we used that.
Speaker B:And then I ran out of funds and I sold it.
Speaker B:And then we built a Sunbeamer 78, I think.
Speaker B:We went and bought a body, body shell and we built a Sunbeam.
Speaker A:Any reason for the sudden swap to Sunbeam?
Speaker B:Well, a guy just said to me, another good friend, he'd be interested in building a car, but he didn't want to build a Ford.
Speaker B:Should we try something different?
Speaker B:I said, well, the Sunbeam's going to be an interesting car.
Speaker B:Should we have a.
Speaker B:Should we build it?
Speaker B:Let's build a Sunbeam, he said.
Speaker B:So we went with his car and trail and bought a body shell from down at competition department and we started to see.
Speaker B:Weld it in a little garage at the farm.
Speaker B:And then we bought an Avenger, an old Avenger for trim and door handles and things like that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's how we built this Sunbeam.
Speaker B:Graham put a 2L, he built the engine, a 2L push Brazilian block, two liter into that car.
Speaker B:Yeah, just a Poland Diff closer.
Speaker B:Whatever gearbox was that you got from Tower, I would use that to great success.
Speaker B:And I thought that was a wonderful car.
Speaker B:Really.
Speaker B:It could just go sideways, just a slick of your finger.
Speaker B:Yeah, I enjoy driving that Car.
Speaker B:I enjoy driving every car.
Speaker B:So, yeah, you know, where do you go from there?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:And the Sunbeam was.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was a magic thing.
Speaker B:And the unfortunate thing is we didn't win the two championship.
Speaker B:We only won one with that car.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So after the Sunbeam, where did the cars progress and how did Ron Beecroft progress?
Speaker B:Well, in.
Speaker B:In 79, they won the championship.
Speaker B:80.
Speaker B:That was with this boat.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We decided to use an Escort and a Group four car.
Speaker B:Beautiful car.
Speaker B:But it wasn't successful for us and so that was sold and Mini Sport had been sponsoring me for two years.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So what's it?
Speaker A:I mean, with Mini Sport sponsorship, were you expected to drive Minis?
Speaker B:No, they never asked me that, Brian.
Speaker B:In the first place, Brian was going to sell Talbot Bits.
Speaker B:I'm putting the car in front of the horse here.
Speaker B:I've forgotten that.
Speaker B:Brian rang me and said he were thinking of selling Talbot Bits.
Speaker B:Would it be all right if he supported us?
Speaker B:Would be.
Speaker B:Put Billy Spot on the side of our car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I said, not if you're paying the bills, Brian.
Speaker B:No problem.
Speaker B:So I went and was introduced to weather and we had the full grilling and John and I went with a programme and we met Brian and Heather.
Speaker B:And Heather later said she thought they were being interviewed, wondering whether they were good enough for Ron Beecrofter.
Speaker B:John Millington, which I thought was quite funny, but no, that was a wonderful partnership.
Speaker B:Very good friends of Brian and Heather and all the Harper boys and Long, mate.
Speaker B:Continue.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B: been friends with Peter since: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'd been to his house, he'd been to our house and he rang me up and we were talking or conversation somewhere and he said, what was I doing?
Speaker B:I said, I don't really know, Pete, I haven't got a car.
Speaker B:I don't know where we're going next year.
Speaker B:He said, how would you like it if Swift sponsored you?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And my answer to that was, I said, you must have some clout with Swift, because I said, what's your job there, sales manager or what?
Speaker B:He said, well, actually, you see, that's why you're a good friend.
Speaker B:He says, I own Swifts.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I says, you own Swifts?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that was a wonderful relationship.
Speaker B:So we drove a car for Pete and he sponsored us to drive Ernie Larton's Samba to do the Tarmac championship.
Speaker B:And that was a wonderful experience.
Speaker B:Two events in Ireland, Epping to Places like that.
Speaker A:And a slightly unusual car compared to what you've been used to.
Speaker B:Yeah, but it was a wonderful little car.
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker A:I mean, they were great little cars, fantastic little cars.
Speaker B:I mean, I'd driven two Alpha Suds to these.
Speaker B:Well, both of them were broken down.
Speaker B:I drove one Fred man in Lincoln and then I drove Greens and I mean, we were whipping a lot of them on Motor News events in that.
Speaker B:Them things.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:The biggest laugh that we had about the Alpha Sword was John and I were coming to Hairpin and I'm going to break it round.
Speaker B:And I didn't realise until what happened, it locked front wheels because it breaks on front wheels.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we nearly did a somersault that night.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:So, yeah, John was.
Speaker B:Excuse me, I'm getting wrong again.
Speaker B:The samba.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was wonderful.
Speaker B:It never got beat.
Speaker B:Every time we went out, we won the class.
Speaker B:And then Pete Smith, then after that, the car was sold and Pete Smith, then we built Virginia and that was the start of the.
Speaker B:The last rally car I had.
Speaker B:We built that in 85.
Speaker B:Pete Smith provided me with the engine, the car, everything.
Speaker B:I put fuel in it.
Speaker B:Yeah, Wonderful sponsorship.
Speaker B:We won the championship in 85.
Speaker B:We were unlucky not to win it in 86, but we won it in 87.
Speaker A:I mean, at the time, the Mortuary News Championship was.
Speaker A:Was serious, wasn't it?
Speaker A:I mean, it was.
Speaker A:Anybody and everybody wanted to drive in it.
Speaker A:Anybody and everybody wanted to do well in it.
Speaker A:And one of the highlights not being funny were the legendary breakfasts at the end of every rally.
Speaker B:They were wonderful at breakfast.
Speaker B:I can remember going into Mellinghall and finishing the Devils.
Speaker B:And John Gill, a friend of mine who's passed away, he had a garage at Bedale.
Speaker B:He used to say, the best place you can go for breakfast is Mellenhallis.
Speaker B:Is that big girl, she puts her hand into that bowl of cornflakes and slides it up to the knees and says, there you are, lad.
Speaker B:Off you go with some wonderful times rallying.
Speaker B:Very wonderful times.
Speaker A:And it created a lot of well known rally drivers such as yourself.
Speaker A:I mean, a lot of big names came from it.
Speaker B:There was a lot of big names came from it.
Speaker B:And, and it, it.
Speaker B:It's how you could follow up, getting out of road rallying into stage rallying.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I asked Pete Smith straight out, I said, after we won the championship in 85, I says, is there any chance we could have a go do it?
Speaker B:British Championship Tarmac and trees getting into that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he said, do you know what that's going to cost me, Ron.
Speaker B:I said, I know.
Speaker B:I have a good idea what's going to cost you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now, I said, I'm a businessman.
Speaker B:How many times have you had a colour photograph on Fruit of Motor News when it Motor News Championship?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:How many times will he get it?
Speaker B:If I put the bill 10 times, can you get me a lot of photographs?
Speaker B:He says.
Speaker B:I said, I can't guarantee that kind of thing.
Speaker B:No, no, he says, nobody can guarantee anything like that.
Speaker B:So he says, probably you've been too successful road rallying.
Speaker B:And he says, I'm a business and I'm a businessman.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's why we stayed good friends and we stayed doing Motor News Championship.
Speaker B:I do find it disappointed.
Speaker B:Not disappointed, probably envious that I never got a real crack in the forest.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B: drove a Skip Brown Avenger in: Speaker B:I think if we look back, I finished somewhere about 25th overall.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:We won group one with 12 minutes and we cruise round.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker A:I mean, to win by 12 minutes is.
Speaker A:Is like that.
Speaker A:That's serious.
Speaker A:Indeed.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, but you could.
Speaker A:You could have stopped in Adebru and still won.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I could, but I just found it so easy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And people said, are you tired?
Speaker B:And it must have been adrenaline.
Speaker B:I was never tired and my navigator never, ever drove on that rally.
Speaker B:It was Steve Fellowes who at the time was quite poorly.
Speaker B:But I didn't realise we've lost Pete.
Speaker B:Steve, a few years later.
Speaker B:He used to be Ver Glass for Motoring News, the rally correspondent, and I got him to go with me because I knew him through road rallying.
Speaker B:I thought he'd get me good coverage for Skip Brown.
Speaker B:And I was just basically pulled in to get a result for Skip Brown because he had two guys that were going to win the classes and I was the old man that's going to pedal around and get a finish.
Speaker B:I wasn't really pleased about that.
Speaker B:Being classed as an old man, that we're going to pedal a car out, steady away.
Speaker B:I wanted to have a real go and I did.
Speaker B:And I never put a mark on that car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, I mean, though you.
Speaker A:The bulk of it was tarmac, you did do a little bit of stages.
Speaker A:Forestry.
Speaker A:How did you find the switch to forestry?
Speaker A:Did you enjoy it and wish you'd done more?
Speaker B:Yes, I did wish I'd done more, yeah.
Speaker B:And I found it dead easy, as John Millington would say.
Speaker A:I suppose driving up and down the farm will give you the.
Speaker A:It's like the ultimate Practice, isn't it?
Speaker B:John Millington.
Speaker B:I was with John Millington a few nights ago.
Speaker B:We were doing a thing from Alton Motor Club and I got up and I said to somebody, I said to the people that were there, if you ask John Millington, he will tell you, and he can't deny it, that he used to say I was a lazy driver and if Ron had tried, he could have been good.
Speaker B:Now, I don't know the answer to that because everybody does what they do.
Speaker B:But when the lads were preparing my relic car in the yard or in the building in the farmyard, the two lads that used to come and look after it as.
Speaker B:As well as John, I wasn't allowed to touch it because the only thing I could use was a welder or something like that, or a 30 mil spanner.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I would keep your hands off it.
Speaker A:The only thing you've got to do.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they would say, take it out and try.
Speaker B:And I used to say, no, you'll take it up road, Felix.
Speaker B:It's right for you, it'll be right for me.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And John is one of them.
Speaker B:He was talking to somebody one night and they said, what's it like sitting with Ron?
Speaker B:And he says, well, put it this way, I've never ever worried when he gets into sea.
Speaker B:I've never, ever.
Speaker B:Because he's so relaxed when he drives.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he said if you put four different tyres on corner of his car, he said he'd sell off.
Speaker B:He said, mate, it's slippy tonight, John.
Speaker B:And he drives around with problems.
Speaker B:Yeah, but he said he's so fanatic, so fanatical at the start that nobody's to get near his spotlights.
Speaker B:He has to finally touch his tire pressures.
Speaker B:Nobody has to touch them after I've set them.
Speaker B:Yeah, but, yeah, when we get set off, if you're putting four different tires on it, think, oh, that's slippy tonight, we'll ma it.
Speaker B:But that's.
Speaker B:That's what life's all about, is it?
Speaker B:Just enjoy it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, of all the cars you rallied, which was the one that you liked the most?
Speaker A:Or which was the one that you wish you haven't parted with?
Speaker B:I should never have started with Virginia, should I?
Speaker B:I let that go very cheap to somebody that.
Speaker B:Before historic rallying started.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, after the Motor News Championship finished, I supported the Mulcar Club because I thought a very, a lot about Brian Molyneux.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he used to, when they were trying to get closed roads on his way back home, he Used to come across the 66.
Speaker B:He used to come down day one and he used to call in to see my late wife and myself to tell us how he was getting on with closed roads.
Speaker B:I've never forgotten it.
Speaker B:And I said, brian, no need to come over here, just give us a ring.
Speaker B:He says, ron, you support us, we support people.
Speaker B:A wonderful relationship with Brian Molyneux.
Speaker B:And so we went back and we did the two little moles.
Speaker B:And my life, I think my wife navigated both times.
Speaker B:We finished second both time doing the little moles just in forests or little bits of broken tarmac.
Speaker B:It wasn't on public roads.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then John and I went back when they did.
Speaker B:We did the first Mull.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B: y Knight won it in a Atkinson: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we finished second in all Virginia.
Speaker B:And that was last time we took it out.
Speaker A:I mean, Mull has become a legendary rally, haven't it?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The stories that people tell.
Speaker A:How did you like Mole?
Speaker B:Loved it.
Speaker B:Absolutely loved it.
Speaker B:I really did love it.
Speaker B:We were so.
Speaker B:I'm not trying to Poor Tail, but if we look back over my finishing record on rallies, Mole has got to be the ultimate disappointment for finishing because we retired so many times.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Distributor drive on a Sunday.
Speaker B:When I knew why does the distributor drive sheer on a Sunday?
Speaker B:Why does your wiper motor mechanism drop off and you can't get it back on?
Speaker B:Things like that.
Speaker B:You know, I couldn't believe it.
Speaker B:And you can't go to Mull without your wipers.
Speaker B:We'd done first night going absolutely brilliant.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then lads said, wiper motor.
Speaker B:I says, wipers aren't working.
Speaker B:I said, just you can't get to them, lad.
Speaker B:Dashes to pull off.
Speaker B:So are otl.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Little things.
Speaker B:A pin came out of a gearbox.
Speaker B:It's never done it before.
Speaker B:Ian Grindrod was once watching on the old Vets Road and our rally car really was well used.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the thing.
Speaker B:Because we were doing the Motor in Use Championship, we'd probably done a rally only a week or so before, or two weeks before.
Speaker B:So we're up to Mull then, when a lot of lads were just doing Mull, building cars, all use everything.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Ian Grindrod was watching John and me on what they call the Vets Road.
Speaker B:And it's very yumpy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I saw.
Speaker B:We saw in Grindrod in Tobermari in the afternoon and he just came up to us and in his Lancashire, he says, have you two got a death wish?
Speaker B:And I said, what the hell are you on about here?
Speaker B:And he said, my God.
Speaker B:He says, you've no suspension on that car.
Speaker B:I says, we have.
Speaker B:He says it's rebounded, it's bouncing all the way road.
Speaker B:He says, you'll be.
Speaker B:You'd be travel sick.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I took that on board the year we went back to Mull.
Speaker B:The following year when we won Mull, that's when it had all new suspension on it and that were 85.
Speaker B:So I haven't told Ian Grinrod there, he did me a favour, but.
Speaker B:Yeah, he did.
Speaker A:Well, Ian was on the show a couple of weeks ago, God believe all.
Speaker B:Of Mr.
Speaker B:Geese, whatever.
Speaker B:To be ready.
Speaker B:How can I follow Ian Grindrod?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker A:Well, it's one of them things.
Speaker A:I mean, I know he's had his turn, but when you look at the people he's co driven for, I mean, it's a who's who of rallying.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, Ian Grindrod's a personality.
Speaker B:You get, you get it as it is for the England rod.
Speaker B:He don't, he don't.
Speaker B:He don't butter up to anybody.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:If he thinks you crap it, that means rubbish, you know.
Speaker B:And if, if it thinks you've driven well, it probably expects you to drive well, because that's why he's with you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I never wanted compliments of anybody when I was driving.
Speaker B:I'd rather somebody said to me, come on, pull your finger out or whatever.
Speaker B:John Millington probably has twice said to me, hey, just steady up a bit, fella, calm down a bit.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:If I'm getting a bit irate, you're a bit enthusiastic.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B: on the banks with an Rs: Speaker B:The old red map.
Speaker B: One Rs: Speaker B:90.
Speaker B:81 somewhere in there.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we did a seeding stage and we were.
Speaker B:I can't remember where we were seeded, but we were behind two Porsches.
Speaker B:And in the evening we're in our car, like, it just sounded like an ordinary RS.
Speaker B: s what it was, just a Sonaris: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we came down into this road behind these two Porsches.
Speaker B:A guy walks into Middley Road, he puts his hand up, he says, sorry, lad, you can't come down here.
Speaker B:He says, there's a rally on.
Speaker B:And John said, have a look outdoor.
Speaker B:He says, we've got the number there.
Speaker B:He says, we're following these guys.
Speaker B:So he pulled in there and I thought, just put a smile on my face.
Speaker B:But what I did Enjoy about that.
Speaker B:In the dark, I caught one of these Porsches and.
Speaker B:Bastard.
Speaker B:Yeah, and that, that, that would, that.
Speaker A:Would have really impressed him, wouldn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Did he have a.
Speaker B:Did he have a problem?
Speaker B:Did he have a flat tire?
Speaker B:Yeah, but it daylighted me all over us, I suppose, wouldn't it?
Speaker B:But I was used to driving it down a lot of those people, weren't you saying?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, that's the one thing now you look at modern rallying and I once said to somebody, I said, have you noticed what's not fitted to a modern rally car?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:I said, Spotlights.
Speaker A:They'll go out at night time.
Speaker B:No, they don't.
Speaker B:They don't.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:I mean, for them to do the motoring news, you would have cut your teeth on night rallying because it was all night time.
Speaker B:It was all night rallying.
Speaker B:You had to have your lights set up.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And that was it.
Speaker B:You drove on them lights.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I mean, that's why when we did the RAC rally in the Avenger, I wanted to set my lights up as I wanted them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And a good lad, Steve King was spammering for me and we got it all set up.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And Steve were brilliant in that service bars that week and I loved it.
Speaker B:And in the dark we were putting up some impressive times.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Compared to daylight.
Speaker B:I mean, I remember in the daylight that Sal Vandermeer were South African, catching me in daylight somewhere in.
Speaker B:Somewhere in Lake District, going up this hill and I just thought we were stood still and he came past me and he passed me on a right hand and he took some lights, lights out with his back tires.
Speaker B:But then I caught him past him in Wales at dark.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, you know, it's, it's, it just shows that having the experience of driving in the dark, doing motoring news events, we were a lot quicker, probably pro rata in the forest.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:In the dark.
Speaker A:And it has to be asked, I conclude you are.
Speaker A:What did you have up front of them?
Speaker A:Civiers.
Speaker B:They'd be sibies in them days.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think so, yeah.
Speaker A:Which regrettably you struggle to get these days.
Speaker A:Apparently they are brought into the country, but you, when you ring the importers up.
Speaker A:Can I have some?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker B:Well, it's something I was looking at the other day and it was something that somebody had put on the press or something and saying that these cities aren't now as good as the modern lights that you can get.
Speaker B:But I don't know what you can get now.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:When we finished off road rallying, we were using hellers.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because probably one of the sponsors, we supply Netlist, so that's why I pull away.
Speaker A:I mean, I've heard this before and on some of the events that you and I have done, where such like as the Morecambe Car Club, take a lot of the motoring news stages that were run at night time and you run them as a navigation run in daytime.
Speaker A:And a lot of the drivers have said, if we'd have known what them roles were like, would never have driven as fast because like you, they were just driving on a big bank of spotlights.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You never see the drops, dear.
Speaker B:You never see the drops.
Speaker B:I mean, when you're making your pace notes on Mul and you practice it on Mull and you see the drops and you have this thing like, whoa, I'll have to be careful when we come down here.
Speaker B:But once it's dark.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And once somebody says, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go, that actually has to go out of your head, you're off.
Speaker B:Because if you have that in your head, in my opinion, this is Ron Beecroft's opinion, you're an accident looking for somewhere to happen.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You've got to be 101% focused on what's actually happening.
Speaker B:What your navigator's saying, there's no ifs about it.
Speaker B:Might be like this.
Speaker B:Watch that drop there.
Speaker B:Don't go till near that.
Speaker B:If you'll get that in your head, you're enacted, waiting to let them.
Speaker B:That's how I see.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, when you were rallying at the halts, did you pay a lot of attention to where your competitors were?
Speaker A:Did you just like to, right, let's do what we're doing.
Speaker A:Get back in the car and go and go again.
Speaker A:Or did you think to yourself, I'm going to have to go faster and faster and faster?
Speaker B:Never thought that in my life.
Speaker B:Yeah, never.
Speaker B:I was doing my own thing.
Speaker B:Quite interesting.
Speaker B:When start of the rally, when Jod's putting the route down, I would probably go and have a sleep somewhere out away.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Somewhere in Conor.
Speaker B:Car park in half an hour.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:My late wife would come and get Rob, it's time to go.
Speaker B:I would go, get in the car.
Speaker B:10 minutes before time to go.
Speaker B:We'd go on the run out and I'd say, how long have I got?
Speaker B:John, just have a word with Marshall.
Speaker B:And probably often we will.
Speaker B:Car one, late years.
Speaker B:We've got 15 minutes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or 20 minutes.
Speaker B:And I just say, right, give us a Shout, only five minutes to go.
Speaker B:And I could just go to sleep.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And a lot of divers would come up and John would say, shh, be quiet.
Speaker B:Ron's asleep.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's asleep.
Speaker B:Does he manage to sleep before a rally?
Speaker B:And John says, yeah, he just drops off.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And John would give me a tap and I get out of my car, say, five minutes, fella.
Speaker B:And I'd have a leak.
Speaker B:I'd drink a Lucasade.
Speaker A:Other fizzy drinks are available.
Speaker B:Stretch me out.
Speaker A:That'd be in the good old days when Lucozade bottles came wrapped in, like.
Speaker B:Orange polystick, I stuffed in a little bag at back of my seat.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I knew exactly where it was.
Speaker B:And she me the car, get me belt.
Speaker B:So I'd crack it up, wait for oil to get warm, and then the adrenaline started to flow and I would put the car into gear with 30 seconds to go.
Speaker B:But I couldn't hold my foot on the clutch, right.
Speaker B:Because my left foot were trembling.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's adrenaline.
Speaker B:I had to pull it into neutral.
Speaker B:Think I'll have another go.
Speaker B:And I couldn't.
Speaker B:So it were five.
Speaker B:As soon as you get into five, bang it into gear.
Speaker B:And I could hold it.
Speaker B:And then we were off.
Speaker B:Yeah, possibly.
Speaker B:We would be probably one of the quickest out of the blocks.
Speaker B:I can't explain that.
Speaker B:I could be on what I call my pace virtually straight away.
Speaker B:Now, I don't know what the answer to that is or where it's come from.
Speaker A:I suppose it's what you might call a subconscious mental attitude.
Speaker B:You're a more experienced man than me.
Speaker B:A clever manda, mate.
Speaker B:I just did what I did and I loved every minute of it.
Speaker B:And I found it so easy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's why I loved it so much.
Speaker A:I think, without being boastful.
Speaker A:Over the years of presenting the backseat driver, I've spoken to a lot of exceptional drivers, both rally and race, and the one thing I've learned is they are, shall we say, unique, individual.
Speaker A:They don't know why, but it's just for a better term, they're born that way.
Speaker B:Possibly so.
Speaker B:Possibly so.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think you're probably right, actually.
Speaker B:I think that idea is back to what John Millingson says.
Speaker B:He's just lazy as well.
Speaker B:He just does what he does.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I found it so easy, right from day one driving cars, I just found it so easy.
Speaker B:And I used to drive, seemingly very fast.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, before I were rallying, I bought a little Mini Cooper and people used to say he used to frighten, frighten us to death in that damn thing.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I just used to love driving it and throwing it about.
Speaker B:It didn't matter to me whether front wheel drive, rear wheel drive.
Speaker B:Yeah, I did a lot of driving tests.
Speaker B:I did a lot of pre cts in a Sunbeam, a little Stiletto.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And I won my class all over with that and driving tests.
Speaker B:I took me Matt, I took me Mexico because Ilkley Motor Club was in what was then the shell league, and we had to put a team in at British car auctions to do the driving test.
Speaker B:And it was also an RAC championship meeting.
Speaker B:So we've all the top men who just do nothing but driving tests.
Speaker B:So their cars are all set up to do driving tests.
Speaker B:And I take my old cam in Mexico, and it's revving and riving.
Speaker B:But I was fairly handy at driving it.
Speaker B:And I beat Node in his Volkswagen.
Speaker B:I'm trying to think, man in his Mexico.
Speaker B:And I won the class.
Speaker B:And they came to me and he says, don't ever get a car for this game.
Speaker B:He says, we won't get near you.
Speaker B:But that sounds like blowing me trumpet.
Speaker B:But I just found that so easy.
Speaker B:I just found it so easy.
Speaker B:And that's driving.
Speaker B:I'm really lucky, aren't I?
Speaker A:One last question for a quick answer.
Speaker A:Do you miss it?
Speaker B:A quick answer to that.
Speaker A:It has to be a quick answer.
Speaker A:Running out of time.
Speaker B:Go on, then.
Speaker B:I miss it, but I don't regret it.
Speaker B:Yeah, I loved every minute of it.
Speaker B:Yeah, all right.
Speaker A:And some fantastic memories that went with it.
Speaker B:Wonderful memories and wonderful friends and wonderful cars.
Speaker A:Now, there were rally cars.
Speaker A:Now you'll probably sit back and think, you know, how much that's worth.
Speaker B:Today I am.
Speaker B:When you see what I sold mine for.
Speaker A:Ron Beecroft, it's been an absolute pleasure chatting to you.
Speaker B:Thanks.
Speaker A:Thank you very much indeed.
Speaker B:Thank you.
