Dave Metcalfe passed away on this day 30 years ago after a road accident near his home in Cumbria. But the memories he has left continue to stand the test of time, as former co-driver Ian Grindrod explains:
Who’s the best driver I ever sat with? That’s a question I get asked a lot of the time. There are three names. There’s Colin McRae, Henri Toivonen and the guy I’m going to talk about for a while now.
His is maybe not the name you were expecting, but by God could he drive a car quickly.
When you get in a car and sit alongside somebody, you very quickly come to understand how talented they are. Equally, there are people I’ve sat with and thought within half a mile, “Bloody hell, let me out of here!”
The first driver I ever did a road rally with, I was sure he was going to be the fastest driver …for the first mile and a half before we crashed.
With Colin and Henri, I just knew. The control, the confidence, the speed – it was all there. People would say how amazing it looked from the outside, but on the inside of the car it was completely calm.
And that’s how it was with Dave as well.
After winning the British title with Jimmy [McRae] and Ford in 1987, I was offered a contract with Vauxhall to co-drive Malcolm Wilson in the Astra in 1988. I went with it. We had a good couple of years – especially in 1989 when we finished third at Rally New Zealand.
Towards the end of that season, Malcolm was moving to Ford, but I stayed where I was. I was asked to sit with Dave Metcalfe. Dave had been with us in Vauxhall Dealer Sport team as a junior driver in a Nova.
He’d put in some impressive results and I was interested to see what he could do.
Before our first event, Dave called me and asked if I wouldn’t mind popping up to his house on a Sunday afternoon. He wondered if we could just get in a car, I could get on the maps and he could drive us through some lanes.
I thought: “It’s a bit late for an interview…”
We got on very well. The pair of us had come from a road rallying background, so we knew what the sport was all about.
We had a few issues in that first year in 1990, but then in 1991 we finished every rally we started. The Nova was only a 1600cc engine, so the key with the thing was to carry the speed as much as you could.
On gravel, Dave could really make that thing dance. He was so brave and so committed and always under control. Not once did it feel dangerous.
But going downhill on Tarmac, that was when the fun really started.
I’ll never forget one place on the Isle of Man with Dave. Coming from the top of Little London towards the top of Druidale and you fork right towards Injebreck. You go over the top and when you start coming down the other side, there’s a big drop on the right and some trees that are all bent over because of the wind. Through that section there are three flat left-handers. Or theoretically flat.
We were completely flat out. I remember going through those left-handers thinking Bloody Norah! The car was hopping across the road as we went through each corner.
At those times with Dave, I just kept on reading the notes, but it was incredible to sit there and witness this talent. There was never any fear from my side. I always said to myself the first time I was afraid in a car, I would stop. I never did. Certainly not with Dave, it was just admiration for what he could do. Everything was under control.
I thought: “S***! I’m glad that didn’t break 10 seconds earlier!”
The last event we did with the Nova was Cyprus Rally in 1992. I’ll never forget the crowds out there, they were going wild watching this little car tearing through the stages. We were lying third or something and we were up against the likes of Alex Fiorio in a Lancia Delta. It was just unreal.
There weren’t many fast sections on that rally, but I remember one stretch where we were absolutely flat out through some sweeping corners. The thing was absolutely on the limiter. After that we turned onto a much smaller road, it was nothing more than a goat track. Not far up there, the steering rack broke and we had no steering at all.
I thought: “S***! I’m glad that didn’t break 10 seconds earlier!”
After that event, the Astra GSI arrived. The big event was obviously the RAC Rally, but before that we did the Elonex International. That was a British championship round based out of Telford, but running for a day through mid-Wales. Colin [McRae] was there in the Rothmans Legacy, he’d just won the British title for the second year and Tommi Mäkinen came over in the Nissan Sunny [GTi-R]. After that, there was Alister [McRae] in a Group N Sierra 4×4, Richard Burns in a Group A Peugeot 309 and a whole load of other big names.
We did a couple of spectator stages in Weston Park and then went into the long Hafren stage.
We were third fastest behind Colin and Tommi. Same in Pantperthog next up. Then the driveshaft broke.
We were really excited for the RAC after that. Things were going well for us. We came through Wales and up into Kielder, we were leading class A7 by almost 20 minutes and running 15th overall. It was amazing.
Anyway, we came to the last stage in Kielder before the night halt in Carlisle. I think it was some wheel studs had sheared. Now, Dave was a great mechanic and somebody who just wouldn’t give up on the thing until it was absolutely finished.
So, in the pitch black and no doubt pouring rain, he started taking bolts off the bottom of the seats to use as wheel studs at the side of the road in Shepherdshield. Fair dos. He was not going to be defeated.
Anyway, we worked away and then the team arrived with a new hub. We got that fitted, but by then we were so late. By then all the spectator traffic was out on and the B-road alongside Hadrian’s Wall was full of cars trying to get to Carlisle. I think we did about eight miles on the wrong side of the road at a fair old lick… only to get to the control 30 seconds late. We were out.
That was my last rally with Dave. I was at his funeral before Christmas. How can that be 30 years ago?
It was an absolute privilege to co-driver Metca. He was one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people you would ever know. But, bloody hell, could that boy drive. For me, he’d have gone all the way.
That’s why, when I’m asked the question, Dave Metcalfe will always be up there alongside Henri Toivonen and Colin McRae.
