Well that’s it! The 2011 Motoscape Rally, “Road Trip to Bologna” has come to an end! And I’m sure you all want to know who’s won?

Well we won’t keep you waiting, congratulations… on a joint first place finish for Wrong Gear and Tribu Dei Chihuahua! This is the first time 2 teams have tied in first place overall on one of our rallies, so the 1st and 2nd place prizes of £800 & £300 were combined then split between the teams, meaning £550 each, well done guys.

Also well done to 3 Birds in a Banger do Top Gun, they finished 3rd and walk away with £100!

Final Bologna Top 10:

1st Place (Joint): Tribu Dei Chihuahua!
1st Place (Joint): Wrong Gear
3rd Place: 3 Birds in a Banger do Top Gun
4th Place: More Than Just a Hard Shell
5th Place: Cupid Stunts
6th Place: Bottom Gear
7th Place: Team Paddy
8th Place: Team Webb
9th Place: GP Racers (Car 2)
10th Place: Diplomatic Immunity

Well done to all the teams!!!

As the teams arose from a steady night in Feldkirch, today was the day we put the cars to the test, for the almighty Stelvio Pass. If you’ve visited our website or read last years blogs you know this needs no introduction. It is simply one of the greatest driving roads in Europe.

Today we were driving from Feldkirch to Ritten / Rennon in Italy which is around 220 miles. Luckily this year, the weather forecast was good and the sun was shining all the way. The teams met as usual in the morning (everyone on time today too!) for the challenges and our pep talk on taking on the Stelvio. This really puts the cars to the test, stick around to see which cars survived and which  didn’t!

It was an extremely eventful day, with some teams spending a good 4 hours going up and down the Stelvio numerous times, and even taking their cars on the train through the middle of the mountains! The Arthur Ant Hill Mob couldn’t get their taxi to the top, but they managed to hitch-hike up there with some friendly tourists! The Motoscape Team also bumped into the 27 Club Trippers on our way to the top, so they followed us up there for a great photo session.

We got so many amazing photos from all the teams, some great driving shots, spectacular scenic pics and some hilarious clicks that show what the Motoscape Banger Rally spirit is all about. We know there’s a lot to look at so we’ve included them all together at the very bottom of this blog.

Other stories from the day included, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles getting an Italian army officer to pose for a very comical photo, the Bat mobile making it all the way to the top, Wrong Gears creative balloon techniques, all the amazing pics in front of the Stelvio sign and just a great bunch of laughs and fantastic memories for everyone to enjoy.

On the challenge side of things, due to a bus getting stuck on the Stelvio we extended the deadline to 8.00pm so the majority of teams could get back. Congratulations to Tribu Dei Chiahuahua who won today’s daily challenge and the £100 cash prize!

And the car side of things, the Stelvio deemed too much for more beloved bangers. Gert Lush’s Capri had some trouble back in Austria that they hoped could be sorted but unfortunately was not to be. The car was their parents from new so needs to get home! For the minute they have an hire car to complete the rally in and they are going to arrange for the Capri to make it’s way home one way or another.

Alex and the boys from Three Idiots Abroad found the Vauxhall Calibra run into cambelt trouble right at the bottom of the Stelvio. After 24 hours of desperately trying to get the right part it was confirmed this morning as another unrepairable banger casualty, but luckily (like most people this year) they had breakdown cover and now get to complete the route in one of my personal fav cars, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta!

The final team with major car trouble for the day was GP Racers. The brakes were beyond repair (in Italy anyway) so they are jumping in with GP Racers Car 2 for the rest of the route while the car gets shipped home for repair to be ready for their charity auction.

The rest of the cars are still doing really well though so it’s not all bad news!

Onto the evening and we arrived, slightly later than planned, in the town of Rennon (also known as Ritten) which is a beautiful historic town perched in the fabulous Dolomites. Many of the teams enjoyed a heavy night in the hotel bar sampling genuine Italian beers and of course various “Sherberts”.

Tomorrow we head to Bologna, which is the end of the trip for the teams on the 5 day route. They are all looking forward to the complimentary meal tonight and presentations tonight, followed by a night out in Bologna. Find out how we got on tomorrow!

Blurry vision and sore heads. That was how most of the people on the Motoscape Rally felt when they woke up this morning after a fantastic night at the wine festival. But after a quick shower and breakfast we all met up for the morning briefing ready to start the challenges on the beautiful River Rhine.

Today we were driving from Koblenz to Feldkirch in Austria which is approx 325 miles, and it’s one of the longer drives on the rally (which took its toll on some cars), but it gives teams plenty of chances to visit some amazing places. The sun was shining so first of all teams headed down the River Rhine to see the traditional villages and historic castles. Then some teams visited Baden Baden and the waterfall in Triberg. Other teams just headed for the Autobahn to be first at the hotel bar! Take a look at the scenic pictures (including some of our bangers!), you won’t be disappointed.

The teams trying their hardest to win this years rallies got to the hotel before 7pm to have their challenges checked, and congratulations to team Wrong Gear who were the winners for the day! An amazing effort from the guys to get to the hotel for 6.55pm considering they didn’t leave Koblenz until 11.30am as they had to have their brake pads changed. They got full points on the challenges, so their win and the £100 prize was thoroughly deserved!

It was another eventful day breakdown wise for some bangers. Fuel, Fire & Desire’s classic red kit car couldn’t be repaired unfortunately, so they took delivery of a nice shiny hire car in which to do the Stelvio Pass. It did however mean a rather late, after midnight, arrival at the hotel. Their traveling companions, Team Bayonet in the MR2 also suffered a terminal engine problem, but happily the breakdown cover came to the rescue once again.

Further car casualties were the Starship Enterprise team suffering a terminal oil leak in their rather nice Jag, and Veni Vermini Vomui’s Triumph 2000 also had engine problems but luckily both teams had breakdown cover  so are continuing the rally in a hire car. The Triumph will be fixed in Germany ready for the team to pick up on there way home.

Overall though there are still plenty of teams in the running for the cash prizes!

Happily there was better news for Three Birds in a Banger who managed to find a new brake cylinder, which was fitted by Ashley, Aiden and Jan, a big thank you to those three guys showing the rally spirit.

While some teams had problems with the cars, others had trouble reading a map! Both Team Gee and Team Reem had a long days driving and got back very late into the night.

Onto the evenings events, and Motoscape had organised a tasty meal for the teams in the hotels. It’s a great way for everyone to mix and get to know each other a bit better and have few authentic Austrian beers! We even made sure some food was saved for the teams getting in past 11pm!

After the meal some teams got an early night ready for the next day, others stayed in the hotel keeping the spirited atmosphere going and some even ventured into the Medieval town of Feldkirch to try out the bars down there!

It was another great night, and all everyone could talk about was the  forthcoming route for the next day, and getting themselves ready for the Stelvio Pass, one of the best driving roads in the world. Fingers crossed all the cars make  it!!!

After a great first day viewing all the bangers and meeting all the teams, it was time to get down to business. Today we were driving from St Omer to Koblenz in Germany and it was the first day of the challenges. We gave the morning briefing, distributed the challenges and information packs and the teams were on their way, with the majority working their route around visiting the famous Nürburgring!

The journey from St Omer to Koblenz is around 300 miles depending which route you take (with some bangers falling at the first hurdle, but we’ll get to that later) and the Nürburgring was the highlight of the day for many teams. Where in the world can you see a Masserati Gran Turismo and a Ferrari 360 next to a Banger Jeep designed as a dog, queueing to get on the Nurburgring, you guessed it, only the Motoscape Rally of course!

There was an amazing mix of Motoscape cars, rally cars and super cars, you could smell the adrenaline (or the petrol fumes might have just gone to our heads!) A lot of our teams took their pride and joys around the track (some numerous times) and had an exhilarating experience. Take a look below a small selection below with more coming soon:

While the Nürburgring was amazing for most teams, Sean and Tish from Fuel, Fire & Desire had a somewhat different experience. Their classic red kit car had an engine problem which caused an oil leak leaving oil all round the track, which in turn forced the closure of the complete Nürburgring, not many people can put that on their CV!

Their car wasn’t drivable after that and they had to leave it in the garage overnight (fingers crossed it gets fixed) and luckily the Three Musketeers and the Arthur Ant Hill Mob showed the rally spirit and gave them a lift to the hotel for a well earned drink!

Another banger that didn’t make it was Geoff and Tim’s BMW (Team V4 B4). They broke down on the motorway and the car was beyond repair. Maybe the old Beemer just wanted to end its days in its birthplace, Germany. Luckily they had European breakdown cover so they can continue the rally in luxury! A hire car!

4 Chavs in a Scooby and 3 Birds in a Banger have some other car problems, but looks like they will be able to get them fixed and carry on!

Back to the challenges, and between 5pm and 7pm the teams checked in at the hotel in Koblenz to see if they could make a flying start to the competition. A great effort by the teams who took on our tricky challenges, and congratulations to Team Gee and Macmillan Ricerocket 2 who tied on the most points to share the winnings on the daily prize, the drinks are on them in Feldkirch.

On to the nights proceedings, and each year we highly recommend visiting the traditional German town of Winningen for the final night of the annual Wine Festival, which the majority of the Motoscapers did.

The wine festival is a fantastic mix of live bands, traditional German food and drink, nightclubs and true mix of high spirited Germans, who really know how to party! It gave the teams a great chance to get to know each other, so thanks to all the teams for making it a great night.

The teams were getting into the spirit and dancing the night away in front of the live band, and showing the locals how it’s done!

The evening is further enhanced by what can only be described as an absolutely spectacular firework display. There is no way that words can describe how amazing these fireworks are. Everyone was blown away and the feedback from the teams was incredible.

The teams that came down to wine festival might have sore heads in the morning, but it was a night they won’t forget in a hurry. Check out the pics for an insight into part time in in Germany!

Day 2 was an eventful one, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. 2 bangers down (but the participants still taking part in the rally), 52 teams to go, lets hope everyone makes it to Feldkirch in one piece tomorrow!

Wow, wow, wow! What an incredible start to the 2011 Motoscape Rally. This is the most teams we’ve ever had and some of the most amazing bangers we’ve ever seen. The sun was shining and teams were buzzing as people congregated in the car park to register, get their freebies and stand in awe at the glorious vehicles!

We’ll get to all the bangers in a minute, but first of all the coveted title of Banger of the Year! It was a first this year, as it was a tie. Congratulations to Wrong Gear and Barking Mad, and excellent effort guys, well deserved.

Now for the rest of the pack, words can’t describe the bangers, so take a look at a selection below:

Here’s just some of the highlights from day 1 of the rally……….

This year’s bangers of the year winners. A great effort for the fancy dress teams, especially The Teenage Mutant Turtles, The Batmobile, Three Musketeers and many more. When You Wish Upon a Car’s hand painted Disney bonnet, the famous black taxi from the Ant Hill Mob, Teem Reem’s hand painted acrylic car, the Triumph and of course… The 27 Club Trippers risqué theme! A big big thank you to everyone and all your efforts.

Last night saw everyone go to the town square in St Omer for a bite to eat and  a few drinks (a few too many drinks for some teams!) It was a great night with all the teams getting to know each other, making a fantastic start to what’s going to be an awesome rally!  Roll on Koblenz

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