rallyroots.com results@rallyroots.com
rallyroots.com
rallyroots.com

rally results service


Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest

Arctic Midnight Sun Rally

HERO-ERA

30th June-13th July 2024


Arctic Midnight Sun Rally 2024
Winners: Filip Engelen/Ann Gillis (Porsche Targa)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

Organiser: HERO-ERA

Date: 30th June-13th July 2024

Clerk of the Course: Nick Reeves

Countries: Sweden & Norway

Starters: 21


The Arctic Midnight Sun Rally was a 14 day adventure taking participants from Gothenburg in Southern Sweden up into the Arctic Circle and then, via the fjord indented Norwegian coast, to the finish at Oslo.

A total of 21 pre-1991 cars took the start on Sunday morning. They headed for the first overnight halt at Karlstad, with the morning coffee halt at the Saab Museum at Trollhattan.

Immediately in difficulties was the Alfa Romeo Giulia of Peter Hanimann/Helen Hanimann; it developed a fuel pump problem and the crew had to miss the day's competition and headed straight to Karlstad, where the problem was fixed.

There were four regularities, but, in most cases, the penalties accrued were minimal. At the Day End, three cars were tied for the lead on five seconds, and nine crews were on penalties of under 20 seconds.

Steve Robertson/Julia Robertson (Triumph TR3) had been expected to challenge for top honours, but a tripmeter failure saw them pick up penalties of 48 seconds on one reg.

Day Two was the longest, in terms of distance, of the event, heading north and covering 560 kms, with the finish being at Sundsvall. There were four more regularities to keep the competitively minded interested.

Once again, three crews were tied for the lead, but Ivan Pusnik/Tisa Pusnik (Saab 99L) were the only ones who had been at the front on Day 1. Notably, Peter Morton/Louise Morton (BMW 2002) were one of the leaders despite having suffered a throttle cable breakage during the day.

The third day followed the coast up the side of the Gulf of Bothnia to finish at Skelleftea. The now traditional four regularities were contested. For the first time in the event there were clear leaders at the end of the day; Filip Engelen/Ann Gillis (Porsche Targa) were one second ahead of three other cars. Pusnik/Pusnik fell to seventh after, along with a number of other crews, dropping time at the final timing point on Reg 2. Two cars picked up Wrong Approaches there.

Day Four was doubly significant, not only did the event pass above the Artic Circle, but there were two tests to potentially shake up the order. Engelen/Gillis set the fastest time on Test 4.1, but were adjudged to have not stopped astride the finish line, this added ten seconds to their time.

The Belgians did take fastest time on the second test of the day, but the first test line penalty was of vital importance as at the overnight halt, the pairing found themselves in second place, six second behind new leaders, Morton/Morton.

To celebrate entering the Artic Circle there was a hot chocolate and champagne party in daylight at Midnight.

The border crossing from Sweden to Norway finished Day 5, this was after two regularities had been contested. Over these sections Engelen/Gillis closed the gap to Morton/Morton by four seconds, but the positions remained the same. Alain Lejeune/Christian Chavy (Porsche 911) and Hanns Proenen/Holger Seeberger (Mercedes Benz 280E) were tied for third place, 16 seconds off the lead, while Jan Malmgren/Hannes Malmgren (Mercedes 350SL) were one second further back.

Drive shaft problems affected two crews; John Bacon/Lyndall Bacon (Porsche 911S) fixed their issue without the loss of any time, but Brad Mottier/Bill Hoff (Datsun 240Z) were over their maximum lateness at the lunch halt, adding ten minutes to their total.

Arctic Midnight Sun Rally 2024
Second Placed: Peter Morton/Louise Morton (BMW 2002)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

A rest day was taken at Narvik, before competition recommenced on Day 7. A feature of the Norwegian leg would be ferry crossings as fjords were traversed, the first being at the very start of Day 7.

The day contained three regularities and ended with a test at the Rossvoll Motorstadion, just before the overnight halt at Mo I Rana.

Engelen/Gillis could have taken the lead, but a cone fault on the test added ten seconds to their total and left them, at the end of the day, a single second behind Morton/Morton, who maintained their lead. Proenen/Seeberger were still tied for third, but they now shared that position with Pusnik/Pusnik.

Having recovered from their drive shaft issues, Mottier/Hoff now encountered further and more serious problems with their Datsun - the clutch failed. They were forced to cut route and they went directly to Trondheim, where the car was repaired. They rejoined the event on Day 9. Likewise, John Pyle/Daisy Pyle had to miss most of both Days 8 and 9 as they sought a fix for their Lotus Cortina's clutch problem.

Day 8, which ended at Trondheim, included three regularities and a test. Despite this activity, the two leading crews dropped exactly the same penalties over the day, meaning that Morton/Morton maintained their one second lead over Engelen/Gillis. Pusnik/Pusnik were fastest on the test and were now in a clear third place overall.

The tight battle for the lead continued through Days 9 and 10. On both days Engelen/Gillis did one second better than Morton/Morton, meaning that the two crews were once again tied for the lead when the route reached Roros, but that the Porsche pairing were in first position by the time that Molde was reached.

Two ferry crossings during Day 11 had to be accommodated into the schedule, but they caused no delays and two of the three planned regularities ran. The third reg had to be cancelled as roadworks had appeared on the intended tracks. Engelen/Gillis extended their lead to four seconds, having dropped just two seconds over the day. However, this was not the best performance, as both Pusnik/Pusnik and John Whitelock/Nicole Whitelock (Mercedes 280SL) zeroed all the timing points.

Starting at Sogndalsfjora, Day 12 ended at Bergen. Three regularities were contested, these allowed Engelen/Gillis to further increase their lead; they finished the day 15 seconds ahead of Morton/Morton. The big losers of the day were Pusnik/Pusnik, they had a nightmare third reg, adding 1m 53s to their total, all for early arrivals; they fell from third to eighth. Their place on the podium was taken by Alain Lejeune/Christian Chavy (Porche 911).

These top positions remained the same on the penultimate day, which took the route from the Atlantic Coast to Gello in the centre of Norway.

Engelen/Gillis took fastest time on the test that opened the final day and the Belgian's arrived at the Oslo finish, having put in the best performance of the day, with a victory margin of 15 seconds. Long time leaders, Morton/Morton, retained their second place to the end.

There was a change for third place after Lejeune/Chavy were penalised for a Wrong Test at Dagali Airport; this dropped them to seventh place at the Finish, promoting Jan Malmgren/Hannes Malmgren (Mercedes 350SL) to third.

Filip Engelen and Peter Morton shared the honour of being fastest over the event's six tests, while Ann Gillis was the clear winner of the least penalties incurred on the 40 regularities contested over 14 days.

Arctic Midnight Sun Rally 2024
Third Placed: Jan Malmgren/Hannes Malmgren (Mercedes 350SL)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

RESULTS