XXth anniversary of Le Jog 6th to 9th December 2014

The 6^th December 2014 will see the start of the 20^th edition of the Land’s End to John O’Groats Classic Reliability Trial & Tour, the toughest event of its kind in Europe and possibly the world. Known to everyone as Le Jog (it even featured on a TV quiz show – “what event runs under the acronym Le Jog”), this Iconic event continues to attract crews from across the world and has become a “must do” on the wish list of all classic car enthusiasts.
To celebrate the 20^th running of the event, the route will include features and locations that have become part of Le Jog folklore. Starting from Land’s End, crews will go straight into Test 1 within the complex and then follow a route to Regularity One; a re-run of the very first regularity on the first event in December 1993. The 1993 event saw the introduction of the now famous Jogularity system on regularities and in celebration of this milestone, HERO will re-run that very first Jogularity (sorry to disappoint those of you who were on the first event and may have notes on the locations of the timing points – the timing points will be in a different location)
John Kiff, the route coordinator and one of Peter’s deputies was on that first event and is working with Guy Woodcock who joined the team in 2013 to ensure the 20^th le Jog will be an event to remember.
The Porlock Hill climb will again feature on the event as will a cream-tea stop provided by the ladies of Porlock village. Betty Cottles, another venue known to Le Jog competitors will be the location for lunch on Leg One.
Leg Two will start from Gordano services on the M5. Whilst not a location used on the first Le Jog, the venue has proved ideal for Le Jog with the added bonus of being able to provide a test site. The introduction of a joker system in 2013 to aid crews on the tough Welsh leg was received well by novice crews and this innovation will continue in 2014.
The traditional night navigation section along some of the well-known Rally roads in Wales will again be a feature, with the first car due into the overnight halt in Chester just after 2am. The restart on Sunday morning will take crews north east to another iconic venue, the ford test at Stanhope. From there via tests at Eastgate, the crews will take a route to Carlisle for the Sunday overnight stop. Carlisle has played a part in Le Jog for many years and the City Authorities have granted permission for a ceremonial restart from the precinct outside the Crown and Mitre Hotel on Monday morning.
The final two legs will start from Carlisle on Monday 8^th December and crews will head north across the border into Scotland. Plans include visits to several locations in Scotland associated with Le Jog since its inception; before the crews finally arrive in John O’Groats in time for breakfast.
The Civic Leader of Wick, Councillor Ross, will host a reception at the Assembly Halls on Tuesday evening 9^th December, and this will be followed by the traditional black-tie awards dinner.
HERO is delighted that a number of people involved in 1993 will be on the event, including John Brown (the originator of Le Jog) and Evan Mackenzie; both will be Stewards.
As plans progress and more information becomes available, further details will be posted on the website