Motoring journalist Alyson Marlow, who writes a column for several regional newsappers, has proved there is more to winning a rally than planting your foot on the floor.
Westcountry-based Alyson is a member of the Western Group of Motoring Writers and a veteran of several expeditions and rallies - and has completed a 5,675km Cape to Cape challenge.

Dodging reindeer, seeing the midnight sun, getting caught up in fast German autobahns and negotiating the tourist trap of Malaga may sound an unusual drive - but it was all part of the Cape to Cape Challenge, a gruelling 5,675km trek across Europe.

The annual event was this year celebrating its tenth anniversary and once again proved to be popular with women who like the challenge of a long distance drive and thrive in the team environment.

I was one of the women taking part in the event which is worlds away from any competition I have ever competed in before.

As part of a team entered by Mazda and driving the new Mazda6, my team of three included my husband/photographer/rally driver Innes and Iain Robertson, another motoring journalist.

Other teams with a vital female team element included a trio from Marlow and a duo from Plymouth - all using the event to raise money for charity and determined to complete the challenge.

Team RedRum was led by Sue Meakin, a riding instructor, who teamed up with her partner and his friend while SMB Motors from Plymouth had Janet Watkins as the female member.

Reaching the start in Norway was a challenge in itself with the trip taking more than 30 hours from the Harwich ferry docking in Cuxhaven, Germany.

The start line was at Nordkapp, Europe's most northerly point where the sun doesn't set during the summer months, providing an amazing spectacle - and making it very difficult to sleep.

It was here the women first showed organisational initiative with the three of us in the kitchen at midnight making sandwiches for the following day - the men-only teams were neither this well-organised nor this well fed!

From Nordkapp it was a dash to the other end of Europe - Cape Tarifa in Spain - a feat the Mazda team completed fastest in just 58 hours and 39 minutes - a win attributed to the team effort in the car.

We were in a standard production car and were up against some seriously prepared 4x4 vehicles and there were times when we thought we would never reach the south but our route, tactics and perseverance paid off.

It was all about teamwork with the men putting in more miles in the driving seat than me but every time darkness (or at least dusk) fell, it was my turn behind the wheel.

But my real strength was navigation - the only time we went wrong was when I was asleep in the back of the car!

It was a similar story with team RedRum which relied wholly on the navigating skills of Sue to guide them the many thousands of kilometres south to the finish - they also took a wrong turn when Sue was not on the maps.

The crews were monitored by a data logger on the route to ensure we kept within speed limits.

Although winning was a huge boost for the team, just reaching the finish line was a major achievement and with just two people on board, the Plymouth team took regular stops and finished 24 hours behind the main field - but the teamwork was just as strong.

And as for that old cliché that women can't read maps? Well, that myth has been well and truly buried somewhere on the road between Nordkapp and Cape Tarifa.

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