A behind-the-scenes look reveals why Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart’s hospitality unit is viewed as one of the most impressive facilities in the service park.

The hospitality fleet includes:
1 x 12 metre hospitality unit with 5x12 metre awning
1 x 7 metre Ecoliner housing two fridges, a freezer and gas BBQ
2 trailers to transport tables, chairs, disposable cutlery and crockery, drinks and promotional material
A local hire car for running errands and shopping

"It takes us exactly two hours to fully set up the hospitality unit", says driver Alan Elliott. "Everyone knows what needs to be done and gets on with it. Timing is everything during a rally and we, like everyone else, work to a very tight schedule. We keep records from year to year about how long it takes to drive to a certain service area, where the traffic hot-spots are likely to be, the location of petrol stations, things like this, to guarantee we are never late and know what to expect on route.

"Sweden is the only European event the unit doesn’t go to because the conditions are so extreme that the water tank and pipes would freeze up", adds Alan Elliott. "So, after Monte Carlo, it had a complete re-fit before Portugal and we are now totally self-sufficient within a very impressive unit. Water is our biggest problem and although the tank holds 400 litres, we fill up at every available opportunity, but we only use tap water for washing up. Everything else is prepared with bottled water, so you can imagine the volume we get through during one week".

Equipment and facilities inside the hospitality unit include:
A kitchen work area with fridge, industrial and domestic ovens
A hob
A microwave
A host of food preparation equipment, including electric blenders and mixers
A built-in generator
A leather-finished meeting and relaxation area for the drivers, co-drivers and team management
A built-in plasma television screen
A purpose-designed physiotherapy bed
A sound system
Full air-conditioning

"The unit is a very important focal point for the team", comments Andrew Cowan, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team director. "From here we are able to entertain sponsors and VIP guests, as well as our friends from the media, and also run a professional media service. The facilities are such that the drivers have somewhere to relax, albeit briefly, and the team has somewhere to hold private and strategic meetings".

Permanent office and communication facilities include a laptop computer with Internet access, a facsimile machine and satellite phone.

"The days of balancing your portable computer on your knee while trying to do ten other things have well and truly gone I’m pleased to say!" comments Adrian Atkinson, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart PR. "The facilities we have in the unit are second to none and enable me to relay information not only back to our press desk in rally headquarters, but also media who are working from their offices at home. In the past everyone has been reliant on good mobile phone signals. Now, with satellite communication, we are able to keep everyone in touch, no matter where we are in the world".

Equipment and facilities outside the hospitality unit include:
Tables and seating for approximately 50 sponsor, media and VIP guests
Colour co-ordinated flooring
Expresso and filter coffee machines
Fruit juice cooler
Two fridges for cold drinks
A second plasma television screen attached to the side of the unit for sponsor, media and VIP guests to watch live rally television coverage and stage times courtesy of www.ralliart.com

"The television screen was a big hit with the guests and journalists in Portugal", adds Adrian Atkinson. "We can set it up to get a direct link into our web site, where results are posted almost instantaneously, keeping everyone up to speed on what’s happening out on the stages".

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart was in fact the first team to issue permanent passes for the media to enjoy its hospitality.

The hospitality team

The unit is based in the UK and run by two companies. Procar operates the unit on behalf of Mitsubishi’s title sponsor, while Wings provides the catering staff.

A crew of six - three drivers, two chefs and one hostess - runs the unit. The drivers, Alan Elliott, Simon Parish and Lee Jones, are responsible for the set-up of the unit, but also assist with equipment and stock maintenance, and overall presentation.

Chef Natasha Steiner - who trained in South Africa - co-ordinates the catering along with fellow chefs Louisa Macfarlaine and Sophie Stewart, who also hosts ’front of house’. All are fully qualified cooks with previous quality restaurant experience. Between them, the hospitality crew speaks English, Italian, French, German and Spanish.

"In addition to the World Rally Championship, I also work in the Grand Prix bike championship", comments Natasha Steiner. "It’s a lot of time away from home and I’m probably on the road three out of four weeks a month. Having said that, none of us would do it if we didn’t enjoy it. Rallying is by far the most challenging though because we are constantly on the move, but the travelling is fun and we get to see a lot of the country we are visiting".

Event preparation

One week before departure, Natasha Steiner will arrange a meeting with Ralliart Europe in Rugby to discuss the rally timetable and catering schedule. Adrian Atkinson will also advise the number of media and sponsor guests in attendance and menus are planned accordingly. Some food, including meat and partly cooked bread, is bought in the UK and transported in the freezers out to the event.

On the Saturday prior to rally week, the drivers depart from the UK with the hospitality fleet. The catering staff fly out to their destination on Monday. Tuesday is spent shopping for provisions, undertaking food storage and preparation, as well as baking fresh cakes and pastries.

"We always try to shop at local markets because the produce is so much fresher, although there are some foods we prefer to bring with us from England", says Natasha Steiner. "In particular, the boys on the team know their bacon! Keeping them happy first thing in the morning with what is effectively a bacon ’buttie’ from home means a lot!"

"Shakedown on Wednesday is by far our easiest day because we only have to prepare lunch for the team and guests", she adds. "We tend to cook pasta, especially for the drivers and mechanics, who are working to a tight schedule".

The hospitality crew work incredibly long hours and, once the rally has started, a regular day will see them leaving the team hotel at between 02:30 and 03:00 hrs and not returning before 22:00 hrs over each of the three days.

The rally menu

During each day of the rally, the drivers and co-drivers all eat porridge and honey for breakfast at the first 10 minute service halt. At each following 20 minute service they eat small portions of pasta, sometimes with chicken, to maintain energy levels. Depending on the time of the end-of-leg 40 minute service, the crews will either eat in the motorhome or back at the team hotel.

"Breakfast in the morning is generally only for the team", says Natasha Steiner, "but for lunch and dinner we are catering for anything between 60 and 100 guests each day. Lunch tends to be pasta based with nice salads, fresh breads, cheese and a charcuterie platter, and deserts, but we always cook something more substantial for dinner. Either that or a bar-b-que, which everyone always enjoys and it keeps a bit of heat out of the kitchen! On top of that, we always have freshly baked cakes, pastries and biscuits, a big fruit bowl, ice creams and chocolate to keep everyone going".

"Despite the long hours and physical work, the guys on the team are still very health conscious", Natasha adds. "Fruit is in fact more popular than chocolate with the majority of them, but our ’best seller’ has to be the tea and coffee. We’re probably refreshing the flasks every 15 minutes!"

The typical shopping list for a rally

4 kg of freshly ground coffee
20 kg of pasta
30-40 litres of milk
40 cartons of orange juice
40 cartons of apple juice
70 fresh baguettes and 40 variety breads
150 filter coffees
200 expresso coffees
300 litres of water for drinking, tea and coffee
300 tea bags
400 canned fizzy drinks
1000 disposable cups

"I can only remember one nightmare event which was our first time to Sanremo when we were doing a drive day after the rally in 1999", recalls Natasha Steiner. "We went shopping the day before, but there were no shops open because it was a public holiday and we were leaving the next day at 04:00 hrs! We eventually found a village with a couple of small shops that were open and completely wiped them out of food - they thought we were totally mad! Having said that, they only had about three litres of milk and 10 croissants, which wasn’t much help! Needless to say we muddled through, but this is why we fill out reports after each event. Writing down the names of shops, keeping a record of telephone and fax numbers, what time they open and close is really important, especially if the staff change from year to year. It also means we can save time by faxing lists through to a shop in advance, knowing that the quality of the food will be up to our high standards".