Coming to grief on the road to Morocco
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Mark Stevens talks to Exeter chairman Tony Rowe about his love of classic rallying across all corners of the world
WIDELY regarded as one of the driving forces behind the rise of the Exeter Chiefs, Tony Rowe is no stranger when it comes to trying to get ahead of the chasing pack.
From his initial introduction over 25 years ago as a local sponsor to now overseeing the Devon club outfit in the guise of club chairman and chief executive, it's certainly been quite the journey for the 75-year-old businessman.
Rowe has been front and centre as the Chiefs finally lifted themselves out of the Championship in 2010 to eventually become both English and European champions within a ten-year period.
Exeter's progress over time has been nothing short of impressive, both on and off the field, but there have been the occasional road blocks along the way, the Covid pandemic of a few years ago being the most notable one.
Whereas others such as London Irish, Wasps and Worcester Warriors sadly fell by the wayside, the Chiefs were able to survive – thanks in the main to the financial input of Rowe – who these days believes there are brighter times ahead.
Indeed, as Rowe acknowledges, it's not been an easy time for anyone over the past few years, but his own sharp business acumen has got his club seemingly back on the straight and narrow.
“It's been tough and quite stressful at times,” says Rowe. “Over the past 25 years, we have always looked to ensure that our growth is sustainable, and the decisions we made particularly during, and following on from the closures enforced by the pandemic, have been in keeping with those principles.”
Now, with the Chiefs motoring along nicely again, Rowe is able to take somewhat of a breather from his hectic workload and enjoy one of his other pastimes, that of rallying around the world.
As a former powerboat racer, Rowe is somewhat of a speed-king – and alongside Mark Dilling, a past director at one of his old businesses – the two now travel to various parts of the world in Rowe's custom 1939 American flat V8 Ford Coupe, nicknamed ‘Doris', entering into the classic pre-war class. “The reality is, I'm 76 this year, so I'm too old for proper rallying,” admitted Rowe. “Therefore, classic rallying is great because it's staged stuff, where you have to get from A to B. It's something I really enjoy and with the stuff we do, we get to see various parts of the world.”
Recent trips have seen Rowe tackle a route from Anchorage in Alaska to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, another through Vietnam, as well one taking in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, where his trek was delayed for a short period after a high-speed crash with a local farmer.
“We were on a narrow road somewhere in the Atlas Mountains when, all of sudden, I came round the corner and there was little Citroen Berlingo van on my side of the road,” explained Rowe.
“I'm not sure if he was stopped or just moving very slow, but I tried to avoid him, he tried to avoid me, but we ended up crashing head on! What we didn't realise initially was that he had stripped all the seats out of the back of the van and there were about 15 goats inside with him and another farmer. It was all a bit of mess really, but we were towed away and overnight we had a brand new radiator fitted by a mechanic out in the middle of nowhere.
“Things were a little twisted and bent in place, but we were up and running again and we carried on with the rally.”
And Rowe's love for adventure, however, does not stop there, as previously he has been part of motorcycle groups who have travelled to various parts of the globe.
“I've been all sorts of places, including doing Cape Town to Cairo,” he says. “That was an interesting one because when we were in Northern Kenya, we were riding along and had tribesmen throwing spears at us at one stage. That was a bit hairy!
“Fortunately, when you're in a car, you just lock the doors these days and that's a lot more comfortable.”
Next on the agenda is another rally in the coming weeks in Ireland, where Rowe will take his son, Morgan, along with him for the latest exciting escapade.
