This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

And they’re off. The Bubblegum Bangers convoy makes its way to the harbour to catch a boat to St Malo. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0646237)

THE excitement was palpable among the 152 Bubblegum Rally drivers who set off from Crabby Jacks car park on their European adventure on Saturday.

Crowds packed the car park to chat to drivers and admire their cars, all of which had been expertly decorated. At 11.30am, all 61 teams set off in convoy to the harbour to catch a ferry to St Malo, and from there the journey through six European countries to raise money for the Mines Awareness Trust began.

Organiser Brin Harrison was understandably excited just before heading off.

‘Sat here looking down on all the vehicles and seeing the people waiting to go shows me why it has been brilliant to put this on,’ he said.  ‘There are a lot of excited people and the effort that they have put into the vehicles is mind-blowing, as has the effort people have put into their fund-raising. It is overwhelming.’

Teams will face a variety of challenges along the way and although Mr Harrison remained tight-lipped about what was in store, he said it would definitely not be a case of driving from city to city.

‘There has not been an event like this coming out of Guernsey before,’ he said.

‘There were about 200 people who wanted to come on it this year but couldn’t, so the interest is definitely there for it to take place next year.

‘At the moment, I just want to see all the cars and people come back in one piece.

‘People are relaxed now but we have six countries ahead of us and there will be some exciting challenges to overcome.’

He said it was brilliant to see everyone in such good spirits beforehand.

‘If the 152 happy faces we have now are still happy when we get back on Thursday, then I will be happy too,’ he said.

• This is Guernsey is following the Guernsey Press team during the week. You can read their blog and see photos of their progress here.

Article posted on 29th September, 2008 - 2.29pm