London-Sydney Marathon SpecialHD). It took both cars 30 days to reach the finish in Sydney. Slotemaker and Janssen were 17th, the other equipe 56th.Exactly 25 years later, the second edition was held. This time for classic cars, year of build 1968 or earlier. The Dutch National Daf team entered 02-55-HD for a second drive to Sydney. The car was manned by David van Lennep, who participated in 1968 with 01-55-HD, and Paul van Doorne, grandson of Hub van Doorne. They finished in 33rd place overall.
Millenium edition
For the 2000 edition, 01-55-HD is selected to enter the rally. It is driven by Marc and Paul van Doorne, grandsons of Hub van Doorne. 95 pre-1971 cars prepared to full rally specifications will start in London on the 3rd of June 2000. They will cover 16.000 km. in 34 days, crossing 15 different countries. There are 59 special stages, making a total of 1.600 km (on roads closed for the public). The stages can be up to 88 km. and are a race against the clock, as each car will be timed to the second.
This is the route.
| 31st May | The team will drive to London today. |
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| 1st June | Today the briefing is scheduled. And the car will be scrutinized. |
| 2nd June | Another day of scrutineering and for the final preparations for the start tomorrow. 01-55-HD has passed the technical scrutiny, although some minor problems with the tripmaster have to be solved. |
| 3rd June | Starting time for the Dutch National Daf Team was 7.43 AM (GMT). Everything went well at the start and the car is running perfectly. Today, two special stages had to be attacked, both on gravel. The team took it easy, they didnīt want to take unnecessary risks on these sometimes quite tricky corners. The result: place 69 after SS1 and place 71 after SS2. |
| 4th June | The problem with one of the tripmasters continues. The team wants to change the malfunctioning one for the spare. Besides that, they have adjusted the brakes. The two special stages were both on tarmac. The first on the Col de Charbonnier was 13 km. long, the second 14 km. The Daf had a hard time coping with the Alsatian hills. Compared to other cars the 55 is a little underpowered for these conditions. |
| 5th June | Today the route leads to Prague. Everything is going well. The car is still running perfectly. Today the wheel is for Paul, while Marc drove yesterday. The team slipped down to 76th place, due to the lack of power of the Daf. Both Special Stages of today were on tarmac. They made a little error on the end of the second Special Stage when they stopped the clock. Then they were running a bit late on the way to Prague and had to hurry. There they want to inspect the car to be sure no problems will arise. |
| 6th June | Everything is going well for the Dutch Daf Team and the car is
running perfectly. There were two special stages today. The first
one was difficult for the Daf, because it was a lot of hillclimbing and the 55 is a little underpowered for that. This Special Stage was
driven by Marc. The second Special Stage suited the Daf very well. The twisty road and the bad road surface were no problem for 01-55-HD, driven by Paul. The team enjoyed this Special Stage. After this one, they headed for Budapest were they hoped to arrive at approximately 8.00 pm. |
| 7th June | Today the Rally goes from Budapest to Turgu Jiu over a distance of 745 km. Today there are two Special Stages. The first only thirty minutes after the start. It was 5 km. long and totally on tarmac. The second Special Stage had a length of 13 km. The surface varied from tarmac to gravel. The car runs excellent and gives no trouble at all. The team takes 75th place in the current leaderbord. |
| 8th June | 525 kilometres from Turgu Jiu to Kavalla. Due to a lack of information we donīt have a lot of news about the team. We hope that we can provide you with more information in the next days. The route today leads them trough three countries, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Like before, there are two Special Stages. The first on a concrete service road in an oilfield. It is 15 km. long. The second is 20 km.īs of gravel on roads used for the Eastern European championship rallying. |
| 9th June | Kavalla - Canakale (405 km) Instead of voice messages, there is now a written update on the website (www.dafteam.com or www.dafteam.nl) of the team. Two Special Stages were planned for today. Both on tarmac, both 25 kilometres. The team is quite happy with the performance of today. A lot of cars endured crashes, but the Daf team is still going strong. They are now in 70th place in the current leaderboard. |
| 10th June | Unfortunately there is no new information available. |
| 11th June | Restday Since today new information about the Daf Team is available. Today is a restday for all competitors. This also gives them the chance to do some hard needed maintenance on their cars. The team also expects to receive new supplies and a new GPS system. Hopefully the new system will work so that the car can be tracked via the website (www.dafteam.com). The Van Doorneīs also hope to send more video material in the next week. The team is in 68th place at the moment. |
| 12th June | Pamukale - Alanya ( 548 km) Today was a very though day for the team. Three special stages, all very demanding. SS1 was uphill on gravel, but a problem occured. The engine was unable to go over 3.000 revs and the team lost 1 or 2 minutes. But the problem solved itself before SS2. SS2 went better. It was uphill again. SS3 went well, but it was very daring. The problems seemed to be the variomatic and the engine. The team will clean all filters and will try to solve the problem before tommorrow. The team is in 70th place at the moment. |
| 13th June | Alanya Nevsehir (649 km) Today there were two Special Stages, both uphill and completely on tarmac. The first 22 km. long, the second 23. The team expects to drop in the leaderboard because the Daf isnīt suited for uphill stages. The problems with the car are solved and everything is going like planned. |
| 14th June | Nevsehir - Samsun (651 km)
The team has met some difficult problems. All the bearings of the crankshaft were broken. They were up all night trying to fix the problem. This morning they had to push the car over the starting line so they wonīt be disqualified. Te team gets 32 minutes penalty for missing checkpoints and not showing up on the Special Stages of today. They will have to drive all night in order to arrive in Samsun on time for the start. This means they will get very little sleep today. But that is not too big a problem as long as the car keeps running. |
| 15th June | The London-Sydney Marathon has come to a much too early end for the Daf team. This morning the car was repaired, but after an hour of driving it broke down again. There was a provisional repair and the team drove 600 km. to arrive 15 minutes before the start the rally that day. Unfortunately, the car broke down again. The heat combined with uphill driving made the engine fail. Thus, the team has to give up the dream of driving to Sydney. The car will be towed to Ankara and from there transported back to Holland. Paul and Marc van Doorne will pick up some spare parts in Ankara and will also travel to Holland. |
| 18th June | Chang Mai - Phethcabun (650 km)
Despite earlier messages the Daf team will continue to drive the London-Sydney Marathon. They brought the car on a truck to Ankara. There they managed to drive the car on the plane to Thailand. Unfortunately the plane had an 18 hour delay when arriving in Thailand. This meant that the team had even less time to solve the engine problem. But speaking in their words, a miracle happened, and they managed to overhaul the engine. So the car is running again and Marc will drive to give the exhausted Paul some rest. They are now 89th and last on the current leaderboard, but at least they have the possibility to continue. |
| 20th June | Cha Am - Nakhon si Thammarat (608 km) There is not much news to report. Apparently the team has not been able to send more reports about their experiences. The car is running well, including the rebuilt engine. Today is just a transportation day, with no special stages. The team is 89th and last on the current leaderboard. Hopefully more information will become available soon. |
| 21st June | Bad luck has struck again. Paul van Doorne has broken his elbow. He has to travel back to Holland, forcing the team to retire. This is a very unfortunate incident, especially after they had just got the car in working order again. After loading a truck, Paul jumped down from it. He landed on a piece of wood, causing him to fall. |
Download:
Movieclip 1968 of a 55 passing by at full speed. (MPEG / 1.088 kB)
Start in London. (MPEG / 613 kB)
01-55-HD driving through London. (MPEG / 1.652 kB)
Cam inside car on a special stage. (MPEG / 1.721 kB)
A few competitors and of course the Daf driving by on a special stage. (MPEG / 1.742 kB)
A compilation of LSM moments, with a few Daf onboard scenes. (MPEG / 509 kB)
Maintenance on the 55. (MPEG / 377 kB)
Overhauling of the engine of 01-55-HD. (MPEG / 48 kB)
For more information:
Website of the Daf Team: www.dafteam.com
Website of the organisers of the rally: www.twerally.com
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