Blog
MobileWorxs support Team 14, at Club Triumph’s Round Britain Reliability Run 2023
- Marianne Allies
- Uncategorized
MobileWorxs Support Team 14, At Club Triumph’s Round Britain Reliability Run 2023
Every other year, devoted Triumph enthusiasts unite for the Round Britain Reliability Run, a charitable event orchestrated by Club Triumph. This tradition dates back to its inauguration in 1966 and continues biennially. Spanning nearly 2,000 miles, the circumnavigation of Britain serves as an ultimate endurance test for both the participating teams and their cherished classic cars. An impressive total of 1,370 teams have successfully completed this demanding journey since its inception. What makes this event even more special is that each team pledges support to a charity selected by the club committee.
At the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability run 2023, members raised money for the Huntington’s Disease Association (HDA), a charity that resonated with the members. Huntington’s is a genetic disease that slowly deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities, and gradually becomes fatal. At MobileWorxs we donated to support the efforts of Team 14 and thanks to the commitment and generosity of all the teams, the club achieved 100% of their target, currently standing at £72,814. Which builds upon the sum of over £800,000 raised by previous RBRRs for UK Charities.
On Friday the 6th of October, at the 28th Round Britain reliability run, Team 14 courageously undertook the 48-hour challenge of circumnavigating Britain in their 1971 Triumph 2500. We had the privilege of speaking with team member Nick Cahill to gain insight into their remarkable journey.
How did you initially become a part of Club Triumphs Round Britain Reliability Run?
A friend of mine initially got me to do it with him for the first time in 2014. We did it in his Triumph Spitfire, which we did with the roof down all the way. And then I did It again with him in 2016. After that, I bought my own car because I didn’t want to do it, just two people anymore as it was a lot of hard work with two people, and then three of us did it in 2018 and again in 2021.
How many cars get involved?
The provisional figures for this year were 102 starters, 16 retirements and 86 finishes.
How is the event organised?
A month before the event, we will go up to Gaiden in Coventry where the British Motor Museum is and we have the drivers briefing, where we receive the road book, have the advisory route explained and they’ll discuss road safety, emphasising to teams that it’s not a race. As well as discussing what you need to carry with you. And addressing what happens when the car breaks down or any other issues that could occur. And then the chosen charity will have a representative there, who then gives a presentation to everyone about the charity. The committee really do an excellent job of organising everything. They also are required to get a touring permit from the Motorsports Association. This is also one of the only events of its kind that runs in the UK.
Tell us about your experience at the Round Britain Reliability Club this year.
The start was pretty much as it always is. So, we go up the A1 at rush hour. It really started to rain as we got across the border into Scotland. We crossed the border at a place called Carter Bar, there’s nothing around it. It’s just deserted, just an open landscape. Unfortunately, it was dark, but it’s really lovely in the daytime.
We then reached the village, John ‘groats in Scotland. And we were the 5th or 6th car. We then had breakfast at the only hotel in the village, the Sea View Hotel, and bear in mind, there were 102 cars with at least two people in it. So, they must prepare a lot of food in a 2-hour window. but they always pull it off brilliantly. We also had another fantastic breakfast on Sunday at the bottom of Cornwall in lands’ end.
Anyway, we got back in the car and headed off across the top of Scotland, and pretty much spent all of Saturday travelling through Scotland. As we were coming down through Scotland, we were hearing reports about cars getting washed away in Perth. No one being able to move anywhere in Glasgow, because of the water. They had 18 centimeters of rain in 12 hours in Fort William. And somewhere else had three months’ worth of rain in 12 hours. It was a nightmare, and of course we’re sitting in our leaky, rusty, 50-year-old car!
We met a kid who was doing it for the first time in a Spitfire and he said to my mate Andy, “Ohh, I hate this, everything I own is soaking wet!” Then we saw him again on the Sunday morning when the sun was out, and he said “Ohh no, it’s brilliant now I’m really loving it” in the space of 12 hours. But that’s the effect the weather had.
Did you experience any problems?
There’s a checkpoint in Glasgow and then there’s another one at Tebay services on the M6. So, some teams decided to miss out Glasgow completely because of the flooding. When we got there, it wasn’t too bad. But, driving down the M6 is when we ran into our first problem, and we did a repair at Tebay services.
And then we got to the bottom of Wales and the same problem came back, which generated lots and lots of smoke inside the car, which wasn’t very pleasant. But we then did manage to continue at a low speed.
We experienced the worst problems at a place in the middle of Dartmoor called Dark Meat. It took us 2 hours to find the problem and fix it. But the last two times that I’ve done it with this car, we’ve had no issues whatsoever. We managed to rectify the issue, but we were a long way back at this point. So, we had to miss out the last checkpoint at Popham Airfield. Then we got to Networth at about 9:20 at night, signed the book and we were done.
Were you exhausted by that point?
We did take turns sleeping but Mark doesn’t really sleep, so I feel I felt a bit sorry for him. But Andy, the other guy, could fall asleep standing on top of a flagpole. Andy snored the whole way through Wales.
Would you do it again?
Yes, it’s great fun! Well, I mean it’s an excellent thing to be a part of, especially in terms of charity. I also get involved with other events which are organised by the Triumph club.
At MobileWorxs we’re proud to support the efforts of Neil and the rest of his team at the Club Triumphs, Round Britain Reliability run! If you’d to like to donate, please visit the Just Giving page
