Hi All,
Another hectic few weeks so close to christmas, I thought I was having a break! However, I'm not complaining. I suppose the first bit of news, as some people had noticed on twitter, is we have purchased a Fiesta S2000 from M-Sport, with a delivery set between late January, and Early Febuary. The car will make its debut on the Galway International Rally, and we hope to contest the British Rally Championship, aswell as the Irish Tarmac Championship. We are also looking at the possibility of two World Championship events if the budget permits.
Then, the big one, we had the FST International Shootout which was just last week. It was a great all round competition, testing our physical, mental, and media skills on day one, followed by driving on the second day, this time however in my trusty ST car, not the R2 that I had driven on previous events. It went really good for me, 3rd in fitness, 2nd in the mental, and 1st in the media test left me sitting 2nd overall after the first day. On the second day, we had a driving test in Greystoke forest. This again went really well, as we set fastest time on each of the three runs over the 3.4km test. From 18, the finalists were wittled down to five, of which I was one of them. One final interview with Malcolm Wilson OBE and then that was it. So we waited for the result, and to my utter delight I had won! A years work experience at M-Sport, and the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, what more could I ask for?!
So I'm off to M-Sport to start work on the 11th January, for a year sure to be packed with interesting people, places, and occasions, so I can assure you I am looking forward to starting!
In the time between here and there, I have two prioritys, looking for new sponsors, and relaxing! So if anyone would like to support an interesting prospect in 2010, please get in touch!
Anyway, I better get back to my second priority!
All the best
Craig
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Cockermouth here I come!
Hi All,
Another hectic few weeks so close to christmas, I thought I was having a break! However, I'm not complaining. I suppose the first bit of news, as some people had noticed on twitter, is we have purchased a Fiesta S2000 from M-Sport, with a delivery set between late January, and Early Febuary. The car will make its debut on the Galway International Rally, and we hope to contest the British Rally Championship, aswell as the Irish Tarmac Championship. We are also looking at the possibility of two World Championship events if the budget permits.
Then, the big one, we had the FST International Shootout which was just last week. It was a great all round competition, testing our physical, mental, and media skills on day one, followed by driving on the second day, this time however in my trusty ST car, not the R2 that I had driven on previous events. It went really good for me, 3rd in fitness, 2nd in the mental, and 1st in the media test left me sitting 2nd overall after the first day. On the second day, we had a driving test in Greystoke forest. This again went really well, as we set fastest time on each of the three runs over the 3.4km test. From 18, the finalists were wittled down to five, of which I was one of them. One final interview with Malcolm Wilson OBE and then that was it. So we waited for the result, and to my utter delight I had won! A years work experience at M-Sport, and the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, what more could I ask for?!
So I'm off to M-Sport to start work on the 11th January, for a year sure to be packed with interesting people, places, and occasions, so I can assure you I am looking forward to starting!
In the time between here and there, I have two prioritys, looking for new sponsors, and relaxing! So if anyone would like to support an interesting prospect in 2010, please get in touch!
Anyway, I better get back to my second priority!
All the best
Craig
Another hectic few weeks so close to christmas, I thought I was having a break! However, I'm not complaining. I suppose the first bit of news, as some people had noticed on twitter, is we have purchased a Fiesta S2000 from M-Sport, with a delivery set between late January, and Early Febuary. The car will make its debut on the Galway International Rally, and we hope to contest the British Rally Championship, aswell as the Irish Tarmac Championship. We are also looking at the possibility of two World Championship events if the budget permits.
Then, the big one, we had the FST International Shootout which was just last week. It was a great all round competition, testing our physical, mental, and media skills on day one, followed by driving on the second day, this time however in my trusty ST car, not the R2 that I had driven on previous events. It went really good for me, 3rd in fitness, 2nd in the mental, and 1st in the media test left me sitting 2nd overall after the first day. On the second day, we had a driving test in Greystoke forest. This again went really well, as we set fastest time on each of the three runs over the 3.4km test. From 18, the finalists were wittled down to five, of which I was one of them. One final interview with Malcolm Wilson OBE and then that was it. So we waited for the result, and to my utter delight I had won! A years work experience at M-Sport, and the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, what more could I ask for?!
So I'm off to M-Sport to start work on the 11th January, for a year sure to be packed with interesting people, places, and occasions, so I can assure you I am looking forward to starting!
In the time between here and there, I have two prioritys, looking for new sponsors, and relaxing! So if anyone would like to support an interesting prospect in 2010, please get in touch!
Anyway, I better get back to my second priority!
All the best
Craig
Thursday 26 November 2009
Straighten things out!
I've kept quiet for a long time, but it's time to speak. I need to clear things up, yes I am rallying full time, but I can assure there is no money coming my way, there is a difference. I spend my day's organizing my rallying, the accounts, logistics, entries, accomodation etc.. but mainly keeping fit. I have been given this oppertunity to see if I can make a career, and if it doesn't work out, well then I'm off to college, simple. That's what I mean by full-time, it's not my job, I am on a break from education for a few years to see what I can do. It's a fantastic oppertunity which I cherish every day. This speak of daddy this and daddy that is becoming to hard to take, and I need to straighten things out. I work hard to find the budget for my rallying, and I am sure, if it wasn't for Motorsport Ireland, and the Irish Sports council, things would be looking very bleak for next year. How can you expect any 19 year old to pay for his own rallying? For sure I contribute as much as financially possible, but it is the same with most young people in rallying today, I say this as a majority, as I am sure there are a select few that pay there own way, and power to them.
This year I have had an awful amount of luck, and I am fully aware that the championships that I won, were down to amount of mileage, and seat time I had over everyone else, but mainly a lot of luck, I agree. With regards to the Billy Coleman award, that €50k was the deciding factor on wheather I would be rallying at all in 2010, and I cannot accept anyone saying I didn't need it. I will be the first to admit that both Kevin and Jonathan were on a serious pace this year, and that I was in a much superior car on every round. They have proved there point on more than one occasion, and they have caught the eyes of mant people. I enjoyed their competition this year. The NJRC was a championship I really liked, but I knew on each event I was opening a can of worms for certain forum members to start the slagging matches, but I knew the prize at the end of it all was worth anything.
I do not boast, and my feet are firmly on the ground. I do understand that I have done a lot of rallying this year, and that this is mainly the reason why things have gone so well this year, I am fully aware, and have never thought or said differently.
Please understand, I'm a young lad from Waterford with a big passion for what I do, and I want the best for me, but what I certainly don't want to do is leave anyone with a bad taste in their mouth's, as I set out to do no harm, just do the best I can in every way.
Apologies for the outburst, but some things you need to get off your chest!
All the best
Craig
This year I have had an awful amount of luck, and I am fully aware that the championships that I won, were down to amount of mileage, and seat time I had over everyone else, but mainly a lot of luck, I agree. With regards to the Billy Coleman award, that €50k was the deciding factor on wheather I would be rallying at all in 2010, and I cannot accept anyone saying I didn't need it. I will be the first to admit that both Kevin and Jonathan were on a serious pace this year, and that I was in a much superior car on every round. They have proved there point on more than one occasion, and they have caught the eyes of mant people. I enjoyed their competition this year. The NJRC was a championship I really liked, but I knew on each event I was opening a can of worms for certain forum members to start the slagging matches, but I knew the prize at the end of it all was worth anything.
I do not boast, and my feet are firmly on the ground. I do understand that I have done a lot of rallying this year, and that this is mainly the reason why things have gone so well this year, I am fully aware, and have never thought or said differently.
Please understand, I'm a young lad from Waterford with a big passion for what I do, and I want the best for me, but what I certainly don't want to do is leave anyone with a bad taste in their mouth's, as I set out to do no harm, just do the best I can in every way.
Apologies for the outburst, but some things you need to get off your chest!
All the best
Craig
Young Rally Driver of the Year 2009!
Hi all,
Apologies for the slight delay, things were very busy for the last week, then I was struck down with the flu all this week, starting to get back on my feet now.
We had some great news two weeks ago, with the announcment that I was voted Young Rally Driver of the Year, aka the Billy Coleman award. This gives me backing to the value of €50,000 for the 2010 season.
However, before the 2010 season, we still had one rally to go, IRC Rally of Scotland. It was to be an extremely tough event all round, with some of the muddiest conditions I had ever seen.
The rally started on Thursday evening with two runs round Scone Palace in Perth. We had a slight hic-up when I got lost and dropped a few seconds, quite embarrasing when there was such a big crowd there! We dropped time to Kris Hall in another R2 on both runs, but I didn't let this faze me as Super Special's are a pet hate of mine!
The rally started proper on Friday morning, and I knew after the first corner that we had made a bad decision by not putting enought cuts in the tyres to deal with the mud. However, we were quicker than Kris by 4 seconds, which I was happy with. The second stage was a lot muddier, and our bad tyre choice was made even more obvious, as we dropped 5 seconds to Kris. We came back to service and put on new tyres with more cuts, and wen't out to do two new stages. It was a good choice with tyres as I felt really at home in the muddy coditions, and were on for a good time. Unfortunatly 1km from the stage end, we broke a drive shaft while flat in fifth gear on a long right hand corner, sending us into a high speed spin down the road, coming to rest way down the road from where it all started. Unfortunatly with the shaft broken, it was the end of our rally, and a possible top 10 result. I was gutted, as I knew I hadn't shown my true potential. However we battled on and got the car ready for SupeRally the following day. In the IRC, instead of the usual 10 penalty per stage missed in the WRC, you just drive around being timed, but do not form part of the overall results. So this was an oppertunity to prove what pace we really had. We had a mixed day, as I had picked one particular stage to really push on, and on the first pass we got a puncture, and the seocnd pass it was cancelled after a car running ahead of us crashed and blocked the stage! Still, our other stage times were top front-wheel drive, and I feel we proved a point of what might have been!
And so we reach the end of an epic season, all but two activity's left before the end of the year. Firstly, I am returning to the co-driving seat, for a rally with another young driver with Irish blood, Dan O' Brien, on the Grizedale stages. It seems fitting that Grizedale was one of my first rally's last year, so now it's time for me to pass on what I've learned in the last 12 months! Then the following week, I have something that I have spend the whole year preparing for, the FST International Shootout. This shootout has a fantastic prize of a years work experience at M-Sport, something in which I could only dream of at present, and I will do all in my power to try and win the prize. The shootout covers many different aspects, mental and physical ability, your media skills, and I suppose most imprtantly, your driving skills. Combined into this trip will be my FSTi prize of a test sessoin in a Focus RSWRC, with tuition from none other than Mikko Hirvonen. This is set to be an amazing day, and I am sure I will try to glean as much as I can from Mikko!
As I brushed on earlier there is the simple matter of a thing called next year. I would ask you all to please stay tuned to the website for an exciting release in the next few weeks, outlining some very exciting news that has been developing over the last while!
In the mean time take care, and keep and eye out!
Craig
Apologies for the slight delay, things were very busy for the last week, then I was struck down with the flu all this week, starting to get back on my feet now.
We had some great news two weeks ago, with the announcment that I was voted Young Rally Driver of the Year, aka the Billy Coleman award. This gives me backing to the value of €50,000 for the 2010 season.
However, before the 2010 season, we still had one rally to go, IRC Rally of Scotland. It was to be an extremely tough event all round, with some of the muddiest conditions I had ever seen.
The rally started on Thursday evening with two runs round Scone Palace in Perth. We had a slight hic-up when I got lost and dropped a few seconds, quite embarrasing when there was such a big crowd there! We dropped time to Kris Hall in another R2 on both runs, but I didn't let this faze me as Super Special's are a pet hate of mine!
The rally started proper on Friday morning, and I knew after the first corner that we had made a bad decision by not putting enought cuts in the tyres to deal with the mud. However, we were quicker than Kris by 4 seconds, which I was happy with. The second stage was a lot muddier, and our bad tyre choice was made even more obvious, as we dropped 5 seconds to Kris. We came back to service and put on new tyres with more cuts, and wen't out to do two new stages. It was a good choice with tyres as I felt really at home in the muddy coditions, and were on for a good time. Unfortunatly 1km from the stage end, we broke a drive shaft while flat in fifth gear on a long right hand corner, sending us into a high speed spin down the road, coming to rest way down the road from where it all started. Unfortunatly with the shaft broken, it was the end of our rally, and a possible top 10 result. I was gutted, as I knew I hadn't shown my true potential. However we battled on and got the car ready for SupeRally the following day. In the IRC, instead of the usual 10 penalty per stage missed in the WRC, you just drive around being timed, but do not form part of the overall results. So this was an oppertunity to prove what pace we really had. We had a mixed day, as I had picked one particular stage to really push on, and on the first pass we got a puncture, and the seocnd pass it was cancelled after a car running ahead of us crashed and blocked the stage! Still, our other stage times were top front-wheel drive, and I feel we proved a point of what might have been!
And so we reach the end of an epic season, all but two activity's left before the end of the year. Firstly, I am returning to the co-driving seat, for a rally with another young driver with Irish blood, Dan O' Brien, on the Grizedale stages. It seems fitting that Grizedale was one of my first rally's last year, so now it's time for me to pass on what I've learned in the last 12 months! Then the following week, I have something that I have spend the whole year preparing for, the FST International Shootout. This shootout has a fantastic prize of a years work experience at M-Sport, something in which I could only dream of at present, and I will do all in my power to try and win the prize. The shootout covers many different aspects, mental and physical ability, your media skills, and I suppose most imprtantly, your driving skills. Combined into this trip will be my FSTi prize of a test sessoin in a Focus RSWRC, with tuition from none other than Mikko Hirvonen. This is set to be an amazing day, and I am sure I will try to glean as much as I can from Mikko!
As I brushed on earlier there is the simple matter of a thing called next year. I would ask you all to please stay tuned to the website for an exciting release in the next few weeks, outlining some very exciting news that has been developing over the last while!
In the mean time take care, and keep and eye out!
Craig
Tuesday 3 November 2009
FSTi World Champions!
Hi All!
Well, what can I say, 4 championships in one year, and a debut year at that! It was a tough rally in Cardiff, for sure the toughest of my career to date.
The recce went well, and I was happy with the notes, and confident to commit to them. We had a shakedown on Thursday morning, based in the classical Margam Park, made famous by the victory road for World Champions every year. It was a good feeling driving down the same stretch of road as people like Petter and Richard celebrated their World Titles in previous years. But in reality, the rest of the stage was very slippy and difficult, and to be honest, not a real representation of what the stages were like. So it was three blasts round the 5km stage, just to make sure all was OK, and we were ready to go. We had the ceremonial start Thursday night, based in Cardiff. It was well put together, and had a good atmosphere. The rally started on Friday morning with a 30km stage to get settled in. We started off very steady, but were fastest all the same. We continued this easy pace all through the day, and we headed into the final Myherin stage, full of confidence after a great day. But 1km from the end of the stage, we had a fault with the engines ECU. We were stopped for 9 minutes in the stage, before we rectified the problem and continued on. I was fully sure that this was the end of our championship campaign, as this promoted our nearest rival Patrick Anglade into the lead of the rally, and demoted us to 8th. But, with thanks to the FSTi's points scoring system, you get a point for every time you set a fastest FSTi stage time.
So we went out on Saturday morning with only one goal, be fastest on every stage. Unfortunately, things didn't start too well. We were seeded far down the field as a result of loosing all the time on Friday, and on the first stage we caught a car, and were held up for 8km. It was very frustrating, made even worse when we came to the end of the stage to find out we only lost the stage by 4 seconds! However, we carried on, and went on to set fastest stage times on the remaining stages that day. We returned to Saturday night service, where all the fastest stage time points were added together. We had actually worked our way back up to 3rd Fiesta. We had also won enough stages to secure the FSTi title, so all we had to do now, was finish!
We took Sunday, extremely careful, and just drove our way around. Rheola was our last stage, featuring the famous "Walters Arena". It was the slowest I have ever driven, and I felt so embarrassed, but, I done what I had to do, and we crossed the finish of the stage FSTi champions for 2009! It was an amazing feeling, and I was just so happy. Finally, all the pressure was off, I had done everything, all the championships that I entered, we had won them.
It was a big team effort all year, Gareth beside me, Tom Gahan and his gifted team of mechanics, and more especially, my own family. Without them this dream would not have been achievable, and I really wouldn't know where I would be without them.
For now, I have got a three week break before Rally Scotland, so it's time to really knuckle down on my fitness before the Fiesta Shootout in December. The mornings are cold and wet, so I am prone to getting the odd drenching, but I suppose it's just all part of the package!
I have my Billy Coleman award interview on tomorrow (Wednesday the 4th) and I'm hoping that it will go well, and I will portray myself in the correct way to the judging panel, as this award would be a crucial part of my 2010 rallying season.
In the meantime, please for call back and keep an eye on the news section and here in the blog.
All the best
Craig
Well, what can I say, 4 championships in one year, and a debut year at that! It was a tough rally in Cardiff, for sure the toughest of my career to date.
The recce went well, and I was happy with the notes, and confident to commit to them. We had a shakedown on Thursday morning, based in the classical Margam Park, made famous by the victory road for World Champions every year. It was a good feeling driving down the same stretch of road as people like Petter and Richard celebrated their World Titles in previous years. But in reality, the rest of the stage was very slippy and difficult, and to be honest, not a real representation of what the stages were like. So it was three blasts round the 5km stage, just to make sure all was OK, and we were ready to go. We had the ceremonial start Thursday night, based in Cardiff. It was well put together, and had a good atmosphere. The rally started on Friday morning with a 30km stage to get settled in. We started off very steady, but were fastest all the same. We continued this easy pace all through the day, and we headed into the final Myherin stage, full of confidence after a great day. But 1km from the end of the stage, we had a fault with the engines ECU. We were stopped for 9 minutes in the stage, before we rectified the problem and continued on. I was fully sure that this was the end of our championship campaign, as this promoted our nearest rival Patrick Anglade into the lead of the rally, and demoted us to 8th. But, with thanks to the FSTi's points scoring system, you get a point for every time you set a fastest FSTi stage time.
So we went out on Saturday morning with only one goal, be fastest on every stage. Unfortunately, things didn't start too well. We were seeded far down the field as a result of loosing all the time on Friday, and on the first stage we caught a car, and were held up for 8km. It was very frustrating, made even worse when we came to the end of the stage to find out we only lost the stage by 4 seconds! However, we carried on, and went on to set fastest stage times on the remaining stages that day. We returned to Saturday night service, where all the fastest stage time points were added together. We had actually worked our way back up to 3rd Fiesta. We had also won enough stages to secure the FSTi title, so all we had to do now, was finish!
We took Sunday, extremely careful, and just drove our way around. Rheola was our last stage, featuring the famous "Walters Arena". It was the slowest I have ever driven, and I felt so embarrassed, but, I done what I had to do, and we crossed the finish of the stage FSTi champions for 2009! It was an amazing feeling, and I was just so happy. Finally, all the pressure was off, I had done everything, all the championships that I entered, we had won them.
It was a big team effort all year, Gareth beside me, Tom Gahan and his gifted team of mechanics, and more especially, my own family. Without them this dream would not have been achievable, and I really wouldn't know where I would be without them.
For now, I have got a three week break before Rally Scotland, so it's time to really knuckle down on my fitness before the Fiesta Shootout in December. The mornings are cold and wet, so I am prone to getting the odd drenching, but I suppose it's just all part of the package!
I have my Billy Coleman award interview on tomorrow (Wednesday the 4th) and I'm hoping that it will go well, and I will portray myself in the correct way to the judging panel, as this award would be a crucial part of my 2010 rallying season.
In the meantime, please for call back and keep an eye on the news section and here in the blog.
All the best
Craig
Monday 12 October 2009
National Junior Rally Champions!
Hi All,
An up and down few weeks, but it has all come to a perfect end, National Junior Rally Champions, and a third place finish overall in Birr yesterday. It's turning out to be a fairytale season, with three championships already ticked off, with the possibility of a World championship on top of it, what more could you ask for in a debut year.
Anyway, we had a rally in a 4wd GpN car the week after Clare, the Bushwhacker rally. It went ok, and I was reasonably happy. We were 14th overall in the end.
We flew straight from here to Salou for Raly Spain. We started recce on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. Shakedown on Thursday, and a trip to Portaventura (Still a child really :) ) and we were ready to go. Friday started off ok, we caught Anthony Martin on the first stage and lost a few seconds to Greek driver Lambros Anthanasoulos (Winner of the PWRC Round in Acropolis this year). Lambros took time again from us on the next two stages, but then he had a brake problem and spun, elevating us to the lead by 8 seconds. Then we had trouble of out own, an untraceable electrical problem was cutting the car off after 8km of each stage, and would continue to do so until the end of the stage. Each time it cut out, I had to turn the master switch on and off to fire it up again, it was very frustrating. Still, we managed to maintain a 3 second lead into Saturday morning, and Tom and the crew from M-Sport were going to have a go and see if they could fix the problem in service.
On Saturday morning, we had the longest stage of the rally, El Priorat at 38km, was the longest stage I had ever driven. It was a disaster for us. Unfortunately, although everything was done to cure the electrical problem, it was still there, and we dropped over a minute on the stage. With two shorter stages before service, we knew we really had to push to try and win. We were fastest on these two stages, but only by a small margin. We returned to service and yet more parts were changed to cure the problem, and we set out to do the 38km stage once more. The problem had still not been fixed, and we were having to drive around the problem. It was hard work, and I was concentrating hard on trying to get around the problem without dropping much time, and unfortunately I heard a pacenote wrong in the confusion, and put the car off the road, and ending our day, and more importantly our chances of a win in FSTi. It was heartbreaking to watch Lambros drive past, but all we could do is focus on fixing the car for SupeRally, and trying to get as many fastest stage times as we could on Sunday. We got the car back at around 6pm and the guys worked until 1am that night to get it ready. We were able to restart on Sunday, and work out way back up to 4th in FSTi, and score 8 fastest times in total for the rally, thus keeping our championship alive!
It was straight back to Sweet lamb for the Pirelli Star Driver shootout then. We had two good days there, and Keith Cronin was eventually the winner, and I wish him all the best in his exploits next year. I'll also take this opportunity to congratulate him on his fantastic win in the BRC, going along with the recent trend of success in Irish Rallying, It's shaping up to be a great year.
While I'm in a good mood :) I would like to thank all the guys that helped put the car back into shape in Spain. Tom, Monty, Dad, Pat, and Dai, without you, the championship would have been over for sure.
And so it came to last weekend in Birr, and our third championship in the one year. It was a great day, setting some real giant killing times, eventually finishing 3rd overall, first junior, and National Junior Rally Champions!
So now we focus on Rally GB in two weeks, where we need to good points to ensure the World Championship. Finally after 6 weeks, I am allowed to return fully to training, and it cannot come soon enough! So I am looking forward to that I can tell you!
Keep posted for more updates,
Craig
An up and down few weeks, but it has all come to a perfect end, National Junior Rally Champions, and a third place finish overall in Birr yesterday. It's turning out to be a fairytale season, with three championships already ticked off, with the possibility of a World championship on top of it, what more could you ask for in a debut year.
Anyway, we had a rally in a 4wd GpN car the week after Clare, the Bushwhacker rally. It went ok, and I was reasonably happy. We were 14th overall in the end.
We flew straight from here to Salou for Raly Spain. We started recce on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. Shakedown on Thursday, and a trip to Portaventura (Still a child really :) ) and we were ready to go. Friday started off ok, we caught Anthony Martin on the first stage and lost a few seconds to Greek driver Lambros Anthanasoulos (Winner of the PWRC Round in Acropolis this year). Lambros took time again from us on the next two stages, but then he had a brake problem and spun, elevating us to the lead by 8 seconds. Then we had trouble of out own, an untraceable electrical problem was cutting the car off after 8km of each stage, and would continue to do so until the end of the stage. Each time it cut out, I had to turn the master switch on and off to fire it up again, it was very frustrating. Still, we managed to maintain a 3 second lead into Saturday morning, and Tom and the crew from M-Sport were going to have a go and see if they could fix the problem in service.
On Saturday morning, we had the longest stage of the rally, El Priorat at 38km, was the longest stage I had ever driven. It was a disaster for us. Unfortunately, although everything was done to cure the electrical problem, it was still there, and we dropped over a minute on the stage. With two shorter stages before service, we knew we really had to push to try and win. We were fastest on these two stages, but only by a small margin. We returned to service and yet more parts were changed to cure the problem, and we set out to do the 38km stage once more. The problem had still not been fixed, and we were having to drive around the problem. It was hard work, and I was concentrating hard on trying to get around the problem without dropping much time, and unfortunately I heard a pacenote wrong in the confusion, and put the car off the road, and ending our day, and more importantly our chances of a win in FSTi. It was heartbreaking to watch Lambros drive past, but all we could do is focus on fixing the car for SupeRally, and trying to get as many fastest stage times as we could on Sunday. We got the car back at around 6pm and the guys worked until 1am that night to get it ready. We were able to restart on Sunday, and work out way back up to 4th in FSTi, and score 8 fastest times in total for the rally, thus keeping our championship alive!
It was straight back to Sweet lamb for the Pirelli Star Driver shootout then. We had two good days there, and Keith Cronin was eventually the winner, and I wish him all the best in his exploits next year. I'll also take this opportunity to congratulate him on his fantastic win in the BRC, going along with the recent trend of success in Irish Rallying, It's shaping up to be a great year.
While I'm in a good mood :) I would like to thank all the guys that helped put the car back into shape in Spain. Tom, Monty, Dad, Pat, and Dai, without you, the championship would have been over for sure.
And so it came to last weekend in Birr, and our third championship in the one year. It was a great day, setting some real giant killing times, eventually finishing 3rd overall, first junior, and National Junior Rally Champions!
So now we focus on Rally GB in two weeks, where we need to good points to ensure the World Championship. Finally after 6 weeks, I am allowed to return fully to training, and it cannot come soon enough! So I am looking forward to that I can tell you!
Keep posted for more updates,
Craig
Wednesday 23 September 2009
It's about to get very busy!
Hi all,
We were out at the weekend debuting our new Fiesta R2 car. We had an amazing weekend, finishing 4th overall, and mixing it with much faster machinery. We took the mornings stages to settle into the car. We were held up slightly on the first stage, as the car in front had gone off, we were also hampered by going out on an RS7 slick which I felt was a bit too soft for the abraisive surface. Still, we held a solid 7th place overall going into the first service. We altered some suspension settings, and wen't onto a harder RS5 tyre, wen't back out and repeated the same three stages again, and we slowly picked the pace up, setting times well within the top 5. We were now on the pace of the top two wheel drive guys, which was my aim for the weekend, and locked in a battle from 4th to 7th! We came back into service and put two new RS5 on the front, and back out again, with the hope of really giving it a good go. We were 4th fastest on stage 7, which pushed us up to 5th, and a big push on the final two stages saw us move in front of the Bustard brothers, and get fourth. Indeed we were second fastest overall on the last two stages, taking time out of Mike Quinn and Ed O Callaghan, which I never expected to do in my first rally in the car. I am over the moon at how well the weekend wen't, and the performance of the Fiesta R2. It's shaping up to be a great car in Spain, and I am now really looking forward to an overall result there!
Looking towards the next few weeks, we have the Bushwhacker Rally this weekend, which will be my first taste of four wheel drive in competition. I am putting no pressure on myself, and I am hoping for a steady day, in what is purely a test session for the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout in Sweet Lamb next month.
Me and Gareth are flying straight from there to Salou for Rally Spain. It's the Fiesta R2's WRC debut, so it's very exciting to be part of something new. We are very much looking forward to the event. I have been studying in-cars from the various different years, and the stages look awsome. Exceptionally fast and flowing, more similar to my days of karting than anything else.
In the mean time, I'm just keeping fit, keeping a good clear mind, and hoping the next few weeks go to plan.
I believe there is a lot of Irish people heading to Salou for the rally, so hopefully I will see some of you there, and please give us all the support you can!
All the best
Craig
We were out at the weekend debuting our new Fiesta R2 car. We had an amazing weekend, finishing 4th overall, and mixing it with much faster machinery. We took the mornings stages to settle into the car. We were held up slightly on the first stage, as the car in front had gone off, we were also hampered by going out on an RS7 slick which I felt was a bit too soft for the abraisive surface. Still, we held a solid 7th place overall going into the first service. We altered some suspension settings, and wen't onto a harder RS5 tyre, wen't back out and repeated the same three stages again, and we slowly picked the pace up, setting times well within the top 5. We were now on the pace of the top two wheel drive guys, which was my aim for the weekend, and locked in a battle from 4th to 7th! We came back into service and put two new RS5 on the front, and back out again, with the hope of really giving it a good go. We were 4th fastest on stage 7, which pushed us up to 5th, and a big push on the final two stages saw us move in front of the Bustard brothers, and get fourth. Indeed we were second fastest overall on the last two stages, taking time out of Mike Quinn and Ed O Callaghan, which I never expected to do in my first rally in the car. I am over the moon at how well the weekend wen't, and the performance of the Fiesta R2. It's shaping up to be a great car in Spain, and I am now really looking forward to an overall result there!
Looking towards the next few weeks, we have the Bushwhacker Rally this weekend, which will be my first taste of four wheel drive in competition. I am putting no pressure on myself, and I am hoping for a steady day, in what is purely a test session for the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout in Sweet Lamb next month.
Me and Gareth are flying straight from there to Salou for Rally Spain. It's the Fiesta R2's WRC debut, so it's very exciting to be part of something new. We are very much looking forward to the event. I have been studying in-cars from the various different years, and the stages look awsome. Exceptionally fast and flowing, more similar to my days of karting than anything else.
In the mean time, I'm just keeping fit, keeping a good clear mind, and hoping the next few weeks go to plan.
I believe there is a lot of Irish people heading to Salou for the rally, so hopefully I will see some of you there, and please give us all the support you can!
All the best
Craig
Friday 11 September 2009
Withdrawal Sypthoms!
Hi all,
Well I would be lying by saying the last two weeks have been hectic! I've been winding down after all the hype and excitement after winning the two championships in Ulster, and have been finding time to catch up with everyone and everything that I have missed during my busy Summer. It's good to get a break every once in a while, so I'm relishing it at the moment, but at the same time treating the withdrawal sypthoms that come with it! It's been three weeks now since Ulster, and it's starting to sink in now. The more I reflect on the year, the more I realise how quickly it went. It was like only yesterday I was coming off the first stage of Galway, my first real rally, and my first time competing in the Fiesta Sport Trophy Series, and arriving to the start of the next stage, and my good friend and Fiesta Coordinator Richard Millener was there taking the Fiesta times, and I remember thinking to myself, this is where I find out whether or not I'm any good at this rallying thing, and it was going to probably be the deciding factor of how well my career will go. "Alastair pulled 5 off of you" said Rich. Hm, maybe I'm not too bad at this, until I was kindly brought back down to earth on the next stage where he took thirty seconds off of us, talk about being brought back down to earth with a bang, cheers Ali! Dad calls it character building, I call it getting whipped! But from there on it was progress for the whole year, and look where we are now!
But anyway, less of the sob story, were concentrating on the new Fiesta R2 car now, which we purchased a few weeks ago, and hope to collect next Thursday, and debut the car on tarmac at the Clare Stages Rally. I will be hoping to do well in Clare, and hopefully will rustle the feathers of a few of the top guys, as I know the car is capable of giant killing acts. In some ways this new R2 car compares to the old Gpa Novas of Dave Metcalfe RIP and Mark Higgins punching way above their weight, and so cheap and easy to run, I can't wait, I can assure you that! We then have Rally Spain on two weeks after, and I am really looking forward to this, my third WRC event, and first round on tarmac. There are six Fiesta R2's entered in Spain, as well as four or five more ST cars, so it is set to be a great rally, and I am looking forward not only to the Fiesta race, but also to seeing how close we can get to the JWRC guys, as we weren't a million miles away from them in the ST car, it's sure to be fun!
We have also got the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout to consider. This is going to be held in the Sweet Lamb complex the week we come back from Spain. This will be a test of my physical fitness, my media skills, and my knowledge of FIA rules and regs. The biggest part of the test however will be the driving. Consisting of driving a two wheel drive car, but more importantly a four wheel drive car. I have never driven a four wheel drive car in a rally before, so we have decided to rent a Subaru Impreza N12b for the Bushwacker rally in Omagh. We have rented a car from Robbie McGurk, and I'm sure it will be of the highest standard. I'm looking forward to it, and seeing how we get on with the transformation, and hopefully it will get me in shape for the shootout.
Otherwise, my fitness is slowly but surely getting back up to the level it was at, as I am still recovering from the appendix operation. I am hoping and praying that it will not effect me at the shootout, and that my result is a true reflection of the effort I'm putting in behind the scenes. Busy getting all my rallying accounts in order and it's proving difficult at the moment, so I better get back working on it again!
I'll try and update my twitter when I'm in Clare next weekend, so keep an eye on it!
All the best,
Craig
Well I would be lying by saying the last two weeks have been hectic! I've been winding down after all the hype and excitement after winning the two championships in Ulster, and have been finding time to catch up with everyone and everything that I have missed during my busy Summer. It's good to get a break every once in a while, so I'm relishing it at the moment, but at the same time treating the withdrawal sypthoms that come with it! It's been three weeks now since Ulster, and it's starting to sink in now. The more I reflect on the year, the more I realise how quickly it went. It was like only yesterday I was coming off the first stage of Galway, my first real rally, and my first time competing in the Fiesta Sport Trophy Series, and arriving to the start of the next stage, and my good friend and Fiesta Coordinator Richard Millener was there taking the Fiesta times, and I remember thinking to myself, this is where I find out whether or not I'm any good at this rallying thing, and it was going to probably be the deciding factor of how well my career will go. "Alastair pulled 5 off of you" said Rich. Hm, maybe I'm not too bad at this, until I was kindly brought back down to earth on the next stage where he took thirty seconds off of us, talk about being brought back down to earth with a bang, cheers Ali! Dad calls it character building, I call it getting whipped! But from there on it was progress for the whole year, and look where we are now!
But anyway, less of the sob story, were concentrating on the new Fiesta R2 car now, which we purchased a few weeks ago, and hope to collect next Thursday, and debut the car on tarmac at the Clare Stages Rally. I will be hoping to do well in Clare, and hopefully will rustle the feathers of a few of the top guys, as I know the car is capable of giant killing acts. In some ways this new R2 car compares to the old Gpa Novas of Dave Metcalfe RIP and Mark Higgins punching way above their weight, and so cheap and easy to run, I can't wait, I can assure you that! We then have Rally Spain on two weeks after, and I am really looking forward to this, my third WRC event, and first round on tarmac. There are six Fiesta R2's entered in Spain, as well as four or five more ST cars, so it is set to be a great rally, and I am looking forward not only to the Fiesta race, but also to seeing how close we can get to the JWRC guys, as we weren't a million miles away from them in the ST car, it's sure to be fun!
We have also got the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout to consider. This is going to be held in the Sweet Lamb complex the week we come back from Spain. This will be a test of my physical fitness, my media skills, and my knowledge of FIA rules and regs. The biggest part of the test however will be the driving. Consisting of driving a two wheel drive car, but more importantly a four wheel drive car. I have never driven a four wheel drive car in a rally before, so we have decided to rent a Subaru Impreza N12b for the Bushwacker rally in Omagh. We have rented a car from Robbie McGurk, and I'm sure it will be of the highest standard. I'm looking forward to it, and seeing how we get on with the transformation, and hopefully it will get me in shape for the shootout.
Otherwise, my fitness is slowly but surely getting back up to the level it was at, as I am still recovering from the appendix operation. I am hoping and praying that it will not effect me at the shootout, and that my result is a true reflection of the effort I'm putting in behind the scenes. Busy getting all my rallying accounts in order and it's proving difficult at the moment, so I better get back working on it again!
I'll try and update my twitter when I'm in Clare next weekend, so keep an eye on it!
All the best,
Craig
Wednesday 26 August 2009
In-Car Footage on Youtube
Hi all,
Here is some in car footage that has been kindly uploaded onto Youtube by Pro-Motion in car cameras.
Firstly, SS7 from the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally in the new Fiesta R2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6MI0kquRes&feature=player_profilepage
and SS6 from the Toddsleap.com Ulster International Rally, Torr Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx3KhnM_mMU&feature=player_profilepage
Enjoy!
Craig
Here is some in car footage that has been kindly uploaded onto Youtube by Pro-Motion in car cameras.
Firstly, SS7 from the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally in the new Fiesta R2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6MI0kquRes&feature=player_profilepage
and SS6 from the Toddsleap.com Ulster International Rally, Torr Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx3KhnM_mMU&feature=player_profilepage
Enjoy!
Craig
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Champions!
Well, what a weekend it's been! Two championships, in one year, in one day, on one stage!
Ulster was a landmark weekend for me and Gareth, Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK and Ireland champions 2009, in my first season of trying. Could I ask for more than that?! It's been a roller-coaster season, and everyone has put in a huge effort to get us here, and right now I'm just relishing the moment. Two weeks ago, I was in a hospital bed, with a burst appendix, wondering how I could convince the doctor to allow me to drive a road car let alone a rally car! And yet, here we are, champions!
The whole rally ran faultlessly. Our recce was suburb, some of the best stages I've ever seen, the Pre-event test, the shakedown, everything was pointing towards a great weekend. We started the rally cautiously, and steadily improved our pace. We had a fantastic run over Fridays last loop of stages, but Kris was right on it too. Incredibly over the notorious Torr Head stage, we only beat Kris by just 0.8, and we both admitted to being on the doorhandles, great fun, but the risks were high.
We started leg 2 15 seconds behind Kris, and unfortunately for Kris, his rally fell apart in front of us on the start line. A sheared wheel hub bringing his rally to an end. Honestly, I was gutted to be denied the battle, as I was going to do everything in my power to get in front of him, and I'm sure it was going to be a great day. However, these things happen in rallying, and I had my mechanical trouble back at the start of the year at the Malcolm Wilson, so I know just how it feels.
With the pressure now on to finish, we did just that, still winning the Fiesta event, and doing enough to secure the two championships. We still had four stages of the International rally to complete, and we had some trouble. A front anti-roll bar linkage came off, making it feel like the Titanic to drive on some of the fast stuff! We got it fixed in service, and while jumping in to the car, it dawned on me, these were going to be my last two stages in the ST, as we are driving the R2 car for the remainder of the season. It was quite sad I must say, as I can remember the day we got the car, and the excitement of it all, and now I was about to drive it competitively for the final time. We finished the rally, and brought the car back to parc ferme, and breathed a sigh of relief. The first BRC rally we finished since Pirelli back in April, and the first Irish Tarmac championship round I finished since Galway, right the way back in January!
Now that things have settled down, I would like to thank the people who made this dream possible for me.
Firstly, Gareth my co-driver, for keeping me on the right track all year, Tom Gahan and his fantastic team, for putting in a huge effort all year, always behind me and thinking outside the box, friends and family that helped out in every way, I thank you all.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my Mum, Dad and Sister, for being there for me, for the last 8 or 9 months. There work goes unnoticed, but it is crucial to my success this year. They go well above their call of duty every day, in order for me to achieve my long term goal, and for this, I thank you.
You would have also noticed that the site is now fully operational again, with the inclusion of a gallery, and other new features to come. Keep a close eye here over the next few days and weeks.
We are now concentrating on the next round of the FSTi in Catylunya. This will be my first tarmac WRC round, and I am looking forward to the challenge, especially in a new car, the Fiesta R2. We are also on the lookout for sponsorship in these tough times. We are considering the option of going to Trackrod, the final round of the BRC, in a 4wd Group N car, but at the moment, the budget isn't there. We will do our best over the next few weeks, and see what we can do, but at the moment, it doesn't look too good.
I'm in the doctors today, and hopefully, he will give me the go ahead to get back training, as I can see the effects of not training coming to light, so the sooner I get back in the gym the better.
Once again, please continue to visit, there's still more to come!
Craig
Ulster was a landmark weekend for me and Gareth, Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK and Ireland champions 2009, in my first season of trying. Could I ask for more than that?! It's been a roller-coaster season, and everyone has put in a huge effort to get us here, and right now I'm just relishing the moment. Two weeks ago, I was in a hospital bed, with a burst appendix, wondering how I could convince the doctor to allow me to drive a road car let alone a rally car! And yet, here we are, champions!
The whole rally ran faultlessly. Our recce was suburb, some of the best stages I've ever seen, the Pre-event test, the shakedown, everything was pointing towards a great weekend. We started the rally cautiously, and steadily improved our pace. We had a fantastic run over Fridays last loop of stages, but Kris was right on it too. Incredibly over the notorious Torr Head stage, we only beat Kris by just 0.8, and we both admitted to being on the doorhandles, great fun, but the risks were high.
We started leg 2 15 seconds behind Kris, and unfortunately for Kris, his rally fell apart in front of us on the start line. A sheared wheel hub bringing his rally to an end. Honestly, I was gutted to be denied the battle, as I was going to do everything in my power to get in front of him, and I'm sure it was going to be a great day. However, these things happen in rallying, and I had my mechanical trouble back at the start of the year at the Malcolm Wilson, so I know just how it feels.
With the pressure now on to finish, we did just that, still winning the Fiesta event, and doing enough to secure the two championships. We still had four stages of the International rally to complete, and we had some trouble. A front anti-roll bar linkage came off, making it feel like the Titanic to drive on some of the fast stuff! We got it fixed in service, and while jumping in to the car, it dawned on me, these were going to be my last two stages in the ST, as we are driving the R2 car for the remainder of the season. It was quite sad I must say, as I can remember the day we got the car, and the excitement of it all, and now I was about to drive it competitively for the final time. We finished the rally, and brought the car back to parc ferme, and breathed a sigh of relief. The first BRC rally we finished since Pirelli back in April, and the first Irish Tarmac championship round I finished since Galway, right the way back in January!
Now that things have settled down, I would like to thank the people who made this dream possible for me.
Firstly, Gareth my co-driver, for keeping me on the right track all year, Tom Gahan and his fantastic team, for putting in a huge effort all year, always behind me and thinking outside the box, friends and family that helped out in every way, I thank you all.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my Mum, Dad and Sister, for being there for me, for the last 8 or 9 months. There work goes unnoticed, but it is crucial to my success this year. They go well above their call of duty every day, in order for me to achieve my long term goal, and for this, I thank you.
You would have also noticed that the site is now fully operational again, with the inclusion of a gallery, and other new features to come. Keep a close eye here over the next few days and weeks.
We are now concentrating on the next round of the FSTi in Catylunya. This will be my first tarmac WRC round, and I am looking forward to the challenge, especially in a new car, the Fiesta R2. We are also on the lookout for sponsorship in these tough times. We are considering the option of going to Trackrod, the final round of the BRC, in a 4wd Group N car, but at the moment, the budget isn't there. We will do our best over the next few weeks, and see what we can do, but at the moment, it doesn't look too good.
I'm in the doctors today, and hopefully, he will give me the go ahead to get back training, as I can see the effects of not training coming to light, so the sooner I get back in the gym the better.
Once again, please continue to visit, there's still more to come!
Craig
Sunday 16 August 2009
Back on Form!
Hi All,
Firstly, I've been told that my new site will be online early next week, so this will allow things to be updated a lot quicker and more efficiently.
We have been out quite a bit since the last update, with the next round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK being the first, at the Isle of Man International Rally. It was an extremely tough event, with one day recce for 11 different stages, which was nearly as hard as the rally! With that out of the way and a good shakedown, we started the rally on Friday morning. The first stage was very tricky, and it saw the demise of my main fiesta rival, Kris Hall, and another possible threat Mark Donnelly, both with accidents. This put me in a great position for the championship, and I was leading comfertably after the first few stages. We put in a very conservative drive for the remaing few stages of the Fiesta rally, and at the end of the day, we won by over two minutes! Kris got back to fourth in the end, so it still keeps the championship quite tight. With the Fiesta rally over, we pushed on for overall results. We had a very good run over the last few stages of leg 1 to finish the day 10th overall and looking good for class R3 honours. Day 2 started well, with a few fastest times in our class, but unfortunatly on SS16, we got caught out on a tricky section of the Curragh stage, and rolled into retirement. It was an unfortunate end to a great drive, but at least we still had our Fiesta points from the previous day.
From there, we wen't to the next round of the Irish Junior Rally championship, the ALMC Junior Rally, this time, in M-Sport's new Fiesta R2 car. It was an exciting prospect giving the car it's Irish rally debut, and we created a lot of intrest in the car. It was a good day for me and Gareth, finishing second to Marty McCormack in his Citroen C2R2 Max. We had some electrical trouble to start with, but towards the end of the event, we were well able for the C2, which we were very pleased with. Overall the Fiesta R2 has a lot of potential in the right hands, and things are looking good for the future.
We wen't from there to take on our greatest task so far, Rally Finland. Again like Portugal, this was a round of the FSTi, and after missing the last two rounds, we needed to get back on top again. It was a tough recce, and we concentrated on getting as much detail as possible into our notes, and this definatly paid off when we did the rally. We had a superspecial stage on Thursday evening, and we got off to a steady start with 4th fastest time. The real stages started on Friday morning, and we immediatly set the pace. We moved into the lead and pulled out a lead of 40 seconds by the end of the day. Saturday started well with more fastest times, and we increased the lead to 50 seconds over Finnish driver Jussi Kumpamaki. However, mid way through Saturday, Kumpamaki started to charge and take time back from us. We had a 30km tes at the end of the day and we knew that we needed to push as hard as we could over this, and we did, pulling 3 seconds from Jussi, and I feel this was crucial for us. We started the final day with a 30 second lead. We chose to drive conservativly, only pushing if we had to. Jussi took 3 off us on the first stage, 3 off us on the second one, and with the second run over the famous Myhinpaa stage being cancelled, it left the short 6km Ruuhimaki to run, and with over 20 seconds in hand, we knew we could relax. We cleared the stage losing only 2 seconds, which gave us our second FSTi win by just 20 seconds after 3 days of driving, a great end to a tough week! We were also 26th overall, a great achievment for a rally as tough as Rally Finland. It was a great effort by all the team, and everyone really pulled there weight and the result was there in the end, thanks guys!
I was brought down to earth soon after the rally however, when I was admitted to hospital with appendicitus. It was removed on Friday last, and I was released on Tuesday 11th August. However I was still feeling well enough to resume National Junior Rally championship duties this weekend at the Cork Forestry, back out in M-Sports R2 car once again.
It was a great day, we finished 7th overall, and won the junior catogory, so it was nice to get the first win for the fiesta.
Looking ahead, next weekend is the Ulster Rally, which is probably going to be one of the most important events so far. With the possibility of winning both the Irish and British FST championships on the same day, it's an exctiting prospect to say the least. I'm trying not to think of the championships and drive how I usually do, which seems to work a lot of the time. And hopefully we will leave Antrim as champions all going well.
As I said the site should be online soon so keep an eye out for that
Thanks for your time,
Craig
Firstly, I've been told that my new site will be online early next week, so this will allow things to be updated a lot quicker and more efficiently.
We have been out quite a bit since the last update, with the next round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK being the first, at the Isle of Man International Rally. It was an extremely tough event, with one day recce for 11 different stages, which was nearly as hard as the rally! With that out of the way and a good shakedown, we started the rally on Friday morning. The first stage was very tricky, and it saw the demise of my main fiesta rival, Kris Hall, and another possible threat Mark Donnelly, both with accidents. This put me in a great position for the championship, and I was leading comfertably after the first few stages. We put in a very conservative drive for the remaing few stages of the Fiesta rally, and at the end of the day, we won by over two minutes! Kris got back to fourth in the end, so it still keeps the championship quite tight. With the Fiesta rally over, we pushed on for overall results. We had a very good run over the last few stages of leg 1 to finish the day 10th overall and looking good for class R3 honours. Day 2 started well, with a few fastest times in our class, but unfortunatly on SS16, we got caught out on a tricky section of the Curragh stage, and rolled into retirement. It was an unfortunate end to a great drive, but at least we still had our Fiesta points from the previous day.
From there, we wen't to the next round of the Irish Junior Rally championship, the ALMC Junior Rally, this time, in M-Sport's new Fiesta R2 car. It was an exciting prospect giving the car it's Irish rally debut, and we created a lot of intrest in the car. It was a good day for me and Gareth, finishing second to Marty McCormack in his Citroen C2R2 Max. We had some electrical trouble to start with, but towards the end of the event, we were well able for the C2, which we were very pleased with. Overall the Fiesta R2 has a lot of potential in the right hands, and things are looking good for the future.
We wen't from there to take on our greatest task so far, Rally Finland. Again like Portugal, this was a round of the FSTi, and after missing the last two rounds, we needed to get back on top again. It was a tough recce, and we concentrated on getting as much detail as possible into our notes, and this definatly paid off when we did the rally. We had a superspecial stage on Thursday evening, and we got off to a steady start with 4th fastest time. The real stages started on Friday morning, and we immediatly set the pace. We moved into the lead and pulled out a lead of 40 seconds by the end of the day. Saturday started well with more fastest times, and we increased the lead to 50 seconds over Finnish driver Jussi Kumpamaki. However, mid way through Saturday, Kumpamaki started to charge and take time back from us. We had a 30km tes at the end of the day and we knew that we needed to push as hard as we could over this, and we did, pulling 3 seconds from Jussi, and I feel this was crucial for us. We started the final day with a 30 second lead. We chose to drive conservativly, only pushing if we had to. Jussi took 3 off us on the first stage, 3 off us on the second one, and with the second run over the famous Myhinpaa stage being cancelled, it left the short 6km Ruuhimaki to run, and with over 20 seconds in hand, we knew we could relax. We cleared the stage losing only 2 seconds, which gave us our second FSTi win by just 20 seconds after 3 days of driving, a great end to a tough week! We were also 26th overall, a great achievment for a rally as tough as Rally Finland. It was a great effort by all the team, and everyone really pulled there weight and the result was there in the end, thanks guys!
I was brought down to earth soon after the rally however, when I was admitted to hospital with appendicitus. It was removed on Friday last, and I was released on Tuesday 11th August. However I was still feeling well enough to resume National Junior Rally championship duties this weekend at the Cork Forestry, back out in M-Sports R2 car once again.
It was a great day, we finished 7th overall, and won the junior catogory, so it was nice to get the first win for the fiesta.
Looking ahead, next weekend is the Ulster Rally, which is probably going to be one of the most important events so far. With the possibility of winning both the Irish and British FST championships on the same day, it's an exctiting prospect to say the least. I'm trying not to think of the championships and drive how I usually do, which seems to work a lot of the time. And hopefully we will leave Antrim as champions all going well.
As I said the site should be online soon so keep an eye out for that
Thanks for your time,
Craig
Tuesday 30 June 2009
I had to stop winning at some stage!
Hi All,
Gareth and I were in Scotland at the weekend, taking part in the RSAC Scottish Rally, based in Dumfries. It was the fouth round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy. It was our first rally on gravel in a long time, and a return to organizers pacenotes. The day started of very slowly. We dropped 15 seconds to Kris Hall on stage one, and were on the backfoot already. I found the pacenotes very hard to adapt to and they were a lot different than my own. However we hit back with a fastest time on stage 2, the spectator stage at Heathall, allbeit by only one second. On stage 3 another fastest time, this time by two second. We headed to stage 3 with the intentions of taking back a good chunk of time. A crippled car pulled out in front of us in the stage, and because of the extremely bad dust, we were held up for miles. We lost around 35 seconds, and plunging us down to fifth. We returned to service, and a new set of front tires, and the plan of action was to go like hell on the last two stages to try and claw back the lost time, and at least get into 2nd. We were 22 seconds behind Matt Edwards in second, going into the penultamite stage, and with a scorching time, fastest by 9 seconds, and beating Matt by 20, it left us with very little left to do on the last stage. A time 14 seconds clear of Edwards, put us well into second place, a job well done. We were very happy with the day, and I was happy with my pace. If only we weren't caught behind the slower car, perhaps things may have worked out differently.
We have a weekend off this weekend, but we return to tarmac the following weekend on the dreaded Isle of Man International Rally. This is a round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, the British Rally Championship, and also the Irish Tarmac Championship, so a lot is at steak. Tarmac has been our strongpoint in recent times so hopefully it will be a good points haul from there.
Also this week, we have confirmed to go to Rally Finland WRC, as it is a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy International. It's a great boost for me, and I cannot wait to see the classic stages around Jyväskylä, and re-commencing my battle for the FSTi crown.
In the mean time, fitness is top priority, so that's were my efforts will be drawn for the next week or two until the Isle of Man.
Please come back for more updates
Craig
Gareth and I were in Scotland at the weekend, taking part in the RSAC Scottish Rally, based in Dumfries. It was the fouth round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy. It was our first rally on gravel in a long time, and a return to organizers pacenotes. The day started of very slowly. We dropped 15 seconds to Kris Hall on stage one, and were on the backfoot already. I found the pacenotes very hard to adapt to and they were a lot different than my own. However we hit back with a fastest time on stage 2, the spectator stage at Heathall, allbeit by only one second. On stage 3 another fastest time, this time by two second. We headed to stage 3 with the intentions of taking back a good chunk of time. A crippled car pulled out in front of us in the stage, and because of the extremely bad dust, we were held up for miles. We lost around 35 seconds, and plunging us down to fifth. We returned to service, and a new set of front tires, and the plan of action was to go like hell on the last two stages to try and claw back the lost time, and at least get into 2nd. We were 22 seconds behind Matt Edwards in second, going into the penultamite stage, and with a scorching time, fastest by 9 seconds, and beating Matt by 20, it left us with very little left to do on the last stage. A time 14 seconds clear of Edwards, put us well into second place, a job well done. We were very happy with the day, and I was happy with my pace. If only we weren't caught behind the slower car, perhaps things may have worked out differently.
We have a weekend off this weekend, but we return to tarmac the following weekend on the dreaded Isle of Man International Rally. This is a round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, the British Rally Championship, and also the Irish Tarmac Championship, so a lot is at steak. Tarmac has been our strongpoint in recent times so hopefully it will be a good points haul from there.
Also this week, we have confirmed to go to Rally Finland WRC, as it is a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy International. It's a great boost for me, and I cannot wait to see the classic stages around Jyväskylä, and re-commencing my battle for the FSTi crown.
In the mean time, fitness is top priority, so that's were my efforts will be drawn for the next week or two until the Isle of Man.
Please come back for more updates
Craig
Tuesday 23 June 2009
The winning streak continues!
Hi everyone,
Apologies for the delay in updating my blog, it's been a busy few weeks.
Since I last updated, I have taken part in three rallys. The first of the trio, was the Jim Clark memorial rally, in Kelso, Scotland. It was my first tarmac rally in Britain and it was a great experience. It was not a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy, but was a round of the BRC. The Friday stages included two stages in full darkness, the first time I had ever driven in darkness. It was a great experience, and we showed some good speed. However on day two, we broke a driveshaft, and were forced to retire. However I was happy with my pace on day two, as we had been keeping an eye on Kris Hall's times, and we beat him on most of the stages that day, and as Kris is one of my main rivals in the Fiesta series, it was a promising result.
From there, we were invited to take part in the Fiesta shootout at the rally show at Chatsworth. This was a head to head knockout competition, with five of the other top FST UK competitors. It was a great event, and I had lots of fun in the process. We were fastest on every stage, and won the event by 10 seconds! The prize for this win was a drive in the new Fiesta R2 car the next day, as well as a passenger ride with Mikko Hirvonen. The R2 car is the car that will replace the ST car that I drive presently. It was an extremely positive spin in the car, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
At the weekend (20th June) me and stand in co-driver Kirsty Riddick, competed in the Donegal International Rally, as part of the Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland. It was a great event with classic stages. The day started off wet, I took the first few corners easy, and felt what the grip level was like. It was quite abraisive, and I was happy to push. We recorded a time 8 seconds clear of everyone. A great start. SS2 was cancelled and we headed straight to service. At this stage it had dried out, and we wen't back out to tackle the same two stages again. We were fastest on SS4 again, this time by 2 seconds to Mark Donnelly. SS5 was our best of the rally. We really pushed the car to its limit and recorded a time 12 seconds clear of everyone, and enough of a cushion if anything had gone wrong. A return to service saw a change in game plan. We had a 22 second lead, and the mindframe going out of service was to maintain that. SS5 was a run up the daunting Knockalla stage. We were second fastest, losing only .5 of a second to Shane Buckley. More importantly, this stage saw the demise of our championship rival Mark Donnelly with gearbox troubles. SS6 was another clean run, dropping 6 seconds to Buckley. We left service for SS7, where again we kept our noses clean, dropping minimal time, followed by a fastest time on the final stage to take our 6th Fiesta Sport Trophy win in a row! I was very happy with the weekend. Both Kirsty and I worked hard for the win, and I am hoping to keep this run of recent sucess going in the events to come.
This weekend, sees Gareth return to the co-drivers seat, and a return to gravel, at the Scottish stages rally, based in Dumfries. I am looking forward to getting back onto the loose, as it's been a while. We are currently fourth in the Fiesta Sport Trophy after a non- finish on the Malcolm Wilson rally. We need to win this weekend to get the title on track.
Please keep an eye here over the weekend, I will try and update you as events unfold in Dumfries.
Bye for now
Craig
Apologies for the delay in updating my blog, it's been a busy few weeks.
Since I last updated, I have taken part in three rallys. The first of the trio, was the Jim Clark memorial rally, in Kelso, Scotland. It was my first tarmac rally in Britain and it was a great experience. It was not a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy, but was a round of the BRC. The Friday stages included two stages in full darkness, the first time I had ever driven in darkness. It was a great experience, and we showed some good speed. However on day two, we broke a driveshaft, and were forced to retire. However I was happy with my pace on day two, as we had been keeping an eye on Kris Hall's times, and we beat him on most of the stages that day, and as Kris is one of my main rivals in the Fiesta series, it was a promising result.
From there, we were invited to take part in the Fiesta shootout at the rally show at Chatsworth. This was a head to head knockout competition, with five of the other top FST UK competitors. It was a great event, and I had lots of fun in the process. We were fastest on every stage, and won the event by 10 seconds! The prize for this win was a drive in the new Fiesta R2 car the next day, as well as a passenger ride with Mikko Hirvonen. The R2 car is the car that will replace the ST car that I drive presently. It was an extremely positive spin in the car, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
At the weekend (20th June) me and stand in co-driver Kirsty Riddick, competed in the Donegal International Rally, as part of the Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland. It was a great event with classic stages. The day started off wet, I took the first few corners easy, and felt what the grip level was like. It was quite abraisive, and I was happy to push. We recorded a time 8 seconds clear of everyone. A great start. SS2 was cancelled and we headed straight to service. At this stage it had dried out, and we wen't back out to tackle the same two stages again. We were fastest on SS4 again, this time by 2 seconds to Mark Donnelly. SS5 was our best of the rally. We really pushed the car to its limit and recorded a time 12 seconds clear of everyone, and enough of a cushion if anything had gone wrong. A return to service saw a change in game plan. We had a 22 second lead, and the mindframe going out of service was to maintain that. SS5 was a run up the daunting Knockalla stage. We were second fastest, losing only .5 of a second to Shane Buckley. More importantly, this stage saw the demise of our championship rival Mark Donnelly with gearbox troubles. SS6 was another clean run, dropping 6 seconds to Buckley. We left service for SS7, where again we kept our noses clean, dropping minimal time, followed by a fastest time on the final stage to take our 6th Fiesta Sport Trophy win in a row! I was very happy with the weekend. Both Kirsty and I worked hard for the win, and I am hoping to keep this run of recent sucess going in the events to come.
This weekend, sees Gareth return to the co-drivers seat, and a return to gravel, at the Scottish stages rally, based in Dumfries. I am looking forward to getting back onto the loose, as it's been a while. We are currently fourth in the Fiesta Sport Trophy after a non- finish on the Malcolm Wilson rally. We need to win this weekend to get the title on track.
Please keep an eye here over the weekend, I will try and update you as events unfold in Dumfries.
Bye for now
Craig
Thursday 7 May 2009
Business Resumed!
Hi All,
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At the weekend, me and Gareth competed in the Killarney Rally of the Lakes. It was an truely awsome rally, and we came away with the result we wanted, a win in the Fiesta Sport Trophy section. We continued on to day two, but unfortunatly, driveshaft failure stopped us from getting a top 15 position overall, plus 1st in class N3.
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It was an extremely difficult rally for both myself and Gareth, after our off, the last time on sealed surface. It took the majority of day 1 to find our speed, and some stages on day 2 to improve further. However I was happy with the pace on some of the latter stages on day 2, putting some more expensive machinery to shame!
Our Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland championship win is looking more and more possible as the events go buy, but their are still 3 though events to go, it's still wide open.
Our next rally, is possibly the Jim Clark Memorial Rally, based in Scotland. It's the next round of the British Rally Championship, but not a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy UK. At the moment we are trying to round the funds left right and centre, in order to take part. We are 7th overall, leading the BRC Junior Championship, as well as class R3, so we are keen to get another good points score on the board. Time and money will tell if we shall go!
I am also heading to The Manx Rally this weekend, to spectate and watch closely. We will be participating in the International rally later in the year, and it is a good oppertunity to go and see the island.
In the mean time, please continue to visit the website for up to date press realeases and updates to this blog
Bye for now
Craig
Monday 20 April 2009
Pirelli Star Driver!
Hi all,
Me and Gareth competed in the Pirelli International rally at the weekend. The rally started on Friday evening, with two stages. We were caught in Kris Halls dust, after he sustained a puncture, and lost some time, however we pushed hard on stage 2, and ended the day with a 6 second lead in the Fiesta's, and 13th overall.
Saturday started off very slowly, we were still building our confidence after last weekends off in the Circuit of Ireland. our lead was cut down to as little as 2 seconds, but we had enough in reserve to build our lead back up to 15 seconds. After SS6, the Fiesta Sport Trophy rally finished, which we had won! We had no time to dwell, as we were straight back out onto the stages for the second loop. However a devastating fire for Guy Wilks caused SS8, SS9, ans SS10 cancelled for the international rally.
At this point, we were 11th overall, and only 1 second ahead of Marty McCormack for top two wheel drive honours. We started SS11, in high hopes of stepping the pace up a notch or two, to fend off Marty, which we did so. We were 20 seconds faster on SS11, and 8 seconds on SS12, despite getting caught in Rob Swann's dust as we were starting to catch him. We were indeed 8th quickest overall on the last stage!
This signalled the end of the rally, and when all the times were added, we finished 10th overall, 1st two wheel drive, 1st in class R3, coupled with the Fiesta Sport Trophy win early in the day.
We returned to Carlisle racecourse, where we had our champagne celebrations.
However this was not the end. I was then approached by Mr BRC, Mark Taylor, and told there was a further presentation to be made to me. I was the Pirelli Star Driver for the day! This means I got to wear the coveted yellow jersey, and recieve automatic nomination for the Pirelli Star driver shootout at the end of the year for a fully funded drive in a Group N car in the British Rally Championship! Good news or what!
I was chuffed, and it was the end of my epic four week journey. A win in the Fiesta Sport Trophy Intenational, the the Irish series, and now the UK series, a feat that has never been done before, let alone one week after the other.
I have a break this weekend (for a change!), so I will be hoping to get back on top of my training again, and preparing myself for the next rally, the Rally of the Lakes in two weeks time.
In the mean time, please continue to visit the website for more updates and news.
See you soon
Craig
Monday 13 April 2009
Highs and Lows!
Hi All,
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At the weekend, me and Gareth embarked on our fist Tarmac rally together, the world famous Circuit of Ireland Rally. It was the second round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland series, while also being the second round of the Irish Tarmac Rally championship.
The Fiesta Trophy took place only on day 1, giving us the option to compete on day two for Irish Tarmac Championship Honours.
The day started resonably OK, as we settled ourselves back into tarmac rallying once more. By stage 3 we were setting fastest times, and we fought very hard with Mark Donelly from Omagh, and despite having some brake problems and a slight off, we won the Fiesta series. We were very happy with our days work, and we ended the day in 12th O/A and leading the N3 class.
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However, day 2 started with two runs over the classic Slieve Gullion Forest Park. There was heavy fog on the stage, and I saw this as an oppertunity to make up time, as I felt other people would not commit 100% in the bad conditions, a decision I now regret. It was about two miles into the challenging test, and we came to a fast left hand corner in fifth gear, which I tried to take flat out, the car got light over a crest, and snapped violently around, we hit a stone embankment with the back of the car, and we were thrown into a violent roll, which we continued to do several times before the car came to a rest on the inside of the road. It was a very big accident, but thankfully both me and Gareth were fine, the same however could not be said for the car.
We are now faced with the problem that we have no car for this weekends Pirelli International Rally, which is the third round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, and the second round of the British Rally Championship. We are busy trying to come up with a solution, and we can gurantee that we will be in Carlisle this week to take the start.
That's all for now, please come back and visit for more updates.
Craig
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Winners!
Well, what a hectic few weeks its been! But it's been well worth it!
The real rally started on Friday, where we instantly set the pace. We continued a winning streak all weekend, having fastest stage time on all but 2 of the 18 special stages. It was an amazing feat, and we won our class by just under five minutes. We also matched the record for the highest place for a Fiesta ST cup car to finish in a World Rally Championship, which was 25th overall.
Two weeks ago, me and Gareth competed in the Bulldog International Rally. This was the second round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, while also the first round of the British Rally Championship. It was my first time making pacenotes on Gravel, and it was a great experience. We finished 10th overall, and second in the Fiesta Sport Trophy Standings.
We travelled straight from here to Portugal, to compete in the first round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy International, as well as a round of the World Rally Championship. The week started on Tuesday, with two hard days Recce, making pacenotes for the 18 tough stages ahead.
After this, we participated in the Shakedown on Thursday, where we instantly set the pace in the Fiesta Class. The rally started that night, with a 2km blast around the Algarve Stadium in a head to head style race. We were paired with the German Patrick Anglade, and we won it with a second to spare
The real rally started on Friday, where we instantly set the pace. We continued a winning streak all weekend, having fastest stage time on all but 2 of the 18 special stages. It was an amazing feat, and we won our class by just under five minutes. We also matched the record for the highest place for a Fiesta ST cup car to finish in a World Rally Championship, which was 25th overall.
On the Monday after the event, I got a passenger spin with Ford World Rally Team driver Jari - Matti Latvala. It was an amazing experience, and an eye opener for what lies ahead!
We do not have long to celebrate however, because as I write this, I am packing my bags, getting ready to go and do the Recce for the Circuit of Ireland Rally, the second round of the FST Ireland series.
Please stay tuned to craigbreen.com for more updates over the coming weeks.
Craig
Monday 23 March 2009
Counting the Days!
Hi all!
Only a handfull of days to go, before a couple of very busy weeks ahead of me.
On Wednesday, I shall be travelling to Wales to compete in the Bulldog International Rally. This is the second round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy, which I am keen to get points on the board in, after a non-finish in the first round, the Malcolm Wilson Rally. It is also the first round of the British Rally Championship, in which I am keen to get a good championship result in. The stages are known to be very challenging, and I am really looking forward to getting started. I'm sure Kris Hall is going to be going to the rally with the same frame of mind, so it will be a good fight for sure!
From there me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts will travel to Portugal to compete in my first ever World Rally Championship Rally, the Rally de Portugal. It's the first round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy International, and we are seeded at No.90, and second Fiesta on the road. We will be facing stiff opposition from people, from all around the globe. It will be an amazing experience, and I hope to sap all the information I can from it. The rally starts and ends with a quick blast around the Algarve stadium, on a "head to head" style format, with two cars on the track at each time. On the Monday after the rally, I will travel to a special Ford World Rally team test, where I have been offered a spin with Jari Matti Latvala in this years Focus World Rally Car, something which I just couldn't turn down!
I travel home for a Day, and then make my way back up to Dundalk, for the Circuit of Ireland rally. This is the second round of the VK Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland Series, in which I currently lie second in.
The weekend after sees me head to Carlisle to contest the Pirelli International Rally. The third round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, aswell as the second round of the British Rally Championship.
As you can see, it's a busy few weeks ahead, which I feel I am more than prepared for. I have kept my fitness to above standard, and I am ready to relish the challenge!
I shall keep my blog updated over the next few weeks, and I will give a daily update day by day when we are in Portugal.
Please continue to visit and stay tuned for more updates and reports on craigbreen.com
Craig
Only a handfull of days to go, before a couple of very busy weeks ahead of me.
On Wednesday, I shall be travelling to Wales to compete in the Bulldog International Rally. This is the second round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy, which I am keen to get points on the board in, after a non-finish in the first round, the Malcolm Wilson Rally. It is also the first round of the British Rally Championship, in which I am keen to get a good championship result in. The stages are known to be very challenging, and I am really looking forward to getting started. I'm sure Kris Hall is going to be going to the rally with the same frame of mind, so it will be a good fight for sure!
From there me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts will travel to Portugal to compete in my first ever World Rally Championship Rally, the Rally de Portugal. It's the first round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy International, and we are seeded at No.90, and second Fiesta on the road. We will be facing stiff opposition from people, from all around the globe. It will be an amazing experience, and I hope to sap all the information I can from it. The rally starts and ends with a quick blast around the Algarve stadium, on a "head to head" style format, with two cars on the track at each time. On the Monday after the rally, I will travel to a special Ford World Rally team test, where I have been offered a spin with Jari Matti Latvala in this years Focus World Rally Car, something which I just couldn't turn down!
I travel home for a Day, and then make my way back up to Dundalk, for the Circuit of Ireland rally. This is the second round of the VK Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland Series, in which I currently lie second in.
The weekend after sees me head to Carlisle to contest the Pirelli International Rally. The third round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK series, aswell as the second round of the British Rally Championship.
As you can see, it's a busy few weeks ahead, which I feel I am more than prepared for. I have kept my fitness to above standard, and I am ready to relish the challenge!
I shall keep my blog updated over the next few weeks, and I will give a daily update day by day when we are in Portugal.
Please continue to visit and stay tuned for more updates and reports on craigbreen.com
Craig
Monday 9 March 2009
The ups and down's!
Hi Guys,
Apologies for the long delay in updating the blog, it's been a busy few weeks!
2 weeks ago, me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts, embarked on our first two rally's together- In the same weekend!
On the Friday and Saturday, we participated in the Sunseeker rally in Bourmouth in my Fiesta ST. This was a shakedown for the Malcolm Wilson rally the following weekend. The weekend went extremely well, and we finished the rally 23rd o/a 1st in class, and second two wheel drive.
This was not the end however- We rushed from parc ferme and wen't to Bourmouth airport, and flew back to Ireland. On Sunday, we took part in the Carrick on Suir Forestry Rally, in the Citroen C2R2, which I campeign in the national junior rally championship. The day wen't extremely well, and we finished 7th overall, and won the juniors by nearly 2 minutes!
It was an excellent weekend, and the results reflected both of our performances.
Then, at the weekend just gone, we headed to Cockermouth, to take part in the first round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK, the Malcolm Wilson Rally.
We started the rally full of confidence, and this showed, as we held 2nd place after 3 stages, only a mere 13 seconds behind fiesta leader Kris Hall. However on stage 4, disaster struck. Half way's through the stage, while going extremely well, the gearbox failed, and we were forced to retire. It was gutting, but at the same time we were very happy with our pace, and we now have something to look forward to, next time around.
We now have a small break before heading to Wales to compete in the Bulldog International Rally.
Stay tuned for more updates,
Craig
Apologies for the long delay in updating the blog, it's been a busy few weeks!
2 weeks ago, me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts, embarked on our first two rally's together- In the same weekend!
On the Friday and Saturday, we participated in the Sunseeker rally in Bourmouth in my Fiesta ST. This was a shakedown for the Malcolm Wilson rally the following weekend. The weekend went extremely well, and we finished the rally 23rd o/a 1st in class, and second two wheel drive.
This was not the end however- We rushed from parc ferme and wen't to Bourmouth airport, and flew back to Ireland. On Sunday, we took part in the Carrick on Suir Forestry Rally, in the Citroen C2R2, which I campeign in the national junior rally championship. The day wen't extremely well, and we finished 7th overall, and won the juniors by nearly 2 minutes!
It was an excellent weekend, and the results reflected both of our performances.
Then, at the weekend just gone, we headed to Cockermouth, to take part in the first round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK, the Malcolm Wilson Rally.
We started the rally full of confidence, and this showed, as we held 2nd place after 3 stages, only a mere 13 seconds behind fiesta leader Kris Hall. However on stage 4, disaster struck. Half way's through the stage, while going extremely well, the gearbox failed, and we were forced to retire. It was gutting, but at the same time we were very happy with our pace, and we now have something to look forward to, next time around.
We now have a small break before heading to Wales to compete in the Bulldog International Rally.
Stay tuned for more updates,
Craig
Tuesday 24 February 2009
The tension is mounting!
Hi Guys,
Starting to really look forward to this weekend now! As I said on my earlier blog, I am competing in two rally's this weekend, in two different countries!
I have also recieved exciting news of M-Sports new Fiesta R2, the car to replace the current Fiesta ST car that I drive. It seems the car will be available from the 1st July 2009, so I can tell you I will be anxiously awaiting that day, as it looks like the car is going to be a cracker!
I will keep you updated over the weekend on how me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts get on in our two rallys this weekend, Rallye Sunseeker, and Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally.
Keep tuned for more updates on craigbreen.com
Craig
Starting to really look forward to this weekend now! As I said on my earlier blog, I am competing in two rally's this weekend, in two different countries!
I have also recieved exciting news of M-Sports new Fiesta R2, the car to replace the current Fiesta ST car that I drive. It seems the car will be available from the 1st July 2009, so I can tell you I will be anxiously awaiting that day, as it looks like the car is going to be a cracker!
I will keep you updated over the weekend on how me and my co-driver Gareth Roberts get on in our two rallys this weekend, Rallye Sunseeker, and Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally.
Keep tuned for more updates on craigbreen.com
Craig
Thursday 19 February 2009
Were going to Portugal!
Hi Guys,
Confirmed today, we have entred Rally de Portugal in April. Its the first round of the FSTi Series, while also a round of the JWRC and PWRC, and of course the WRC. This is a fantastic oppertunity for me to have a try at rallying on the world scene, and I am anxiosly awaiting the start already! The rally will run from the 2nd until the 5th of April, with an extra perk being a passenger ride with either Jarri-Matti or Mikko (BP Ford World Rally Team Drivers) prior to the event at a private test. I'll be sitting a bit too far to the right hand side of the car for my liking, but our time will come! The event is based in a prime location, with the Super Special stage, service, scrutiny, parc ferme etc.. all contained within the grounds of the Algarve stadium.
Please stay tuned craigbreen.com for further updates regarding this exciting event.
Also I'd like to take this oppertunity to thank Sorcha Kelly for all the hard work she has put in for the two events she did. I have a new co-driver for the British Fiesta championship, and I wan't to try and keep this bond going as much as possible, so Gareth will see out the Junior championship with me, all things well. So thank you Sorcha!
We have been seeded 38 on the road for Sunseeker, which I am pretty happy with, and I am looking forward to getting back out again. I will be testing over the next few days, to try and get the car setup for the "sandy" like stages that are used in Rally Sunseeker. Again stay tuned here for more updates.
I'll update things soon again
Craig
Confirmed today, we have entred Rally de Portugal in April. Its the first round of the FSTi Series, while also a round of the JWRC and PWRC, and of course the WRC. This is a fantastic oppertunity for me to have a try at rallying on the world scene, and I am anxiosly awaiting the start already! The rally will run from the 2nd until the 5th of April, with an extra perk being a passenger ride with either Jarri-Matti or Mikko (BP Ford World Rally Team Drivers) prior to the event at a private test. I'll be sitting a bit too far to the right hand side of the car for my liking, but our time will come! The event is based in a prime location, with the Super Special stage, service, scrutiny, parc ferme etc.. all contained within the grounds of the Algarve stadium.
Please stay tuned craigbreen.com for further updates regarding this exciting event.
Also I'd like to take this oppertunity to thank Sorcha Kelly for all the hard work she has put in for the two events she did. I have a new co-driver for the British Fiesta championship, and I wan't to try and keep this bond going as much as possible, so Gareth will see out the Junior championship with me, all things well. So thank you Sorcha!
We have been seeded 38 on the road for Sunseeker, which I am pretty happy with, and I am looking forward to getting back out again. I will be testing over the next few days, to try and get the car setup for the "sandy" like stages that are used in Rally Sunseeker. Again stay tuned here for more updates.
I'll update things soon again
Craig
Wednesday 18 February 2009
Weekly update
Hi Guys,
Was supposed to be attending the Riponian rally a the weekend, but unfortunatly it was called off due to bad weather. We have now entred the Sunseeker rally, with the aim of testing the fiesta for the upcoming first round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK, at the Malcolm Wilson rally in Cumbria. The Sunseeker weekend, will be a very busy one indeed, as both me, and my new navigator Gareth Roberts, are flying back to Ireland on the Saturday evening to compete in the 2nd round of the Irish National Junior Rally Championship, in Carrick-on-Suir! At the moment, I am busy training and keeping on top of my game, looking forward to the peak season to begin.
Please continue to visit here for more updates and releases
Craig
Was supposed to be attending the Riponian rally a the weekend, but unfortunatly it was called off due to bad weather. We have now entred the Sunseeker rally, with the aim of testing the fiesta for the upcoming first round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK, at the Malcolm Wilson rally in Cumbria. The Sunseeker weekend, will be a very busy one indeed, as both me, and my new navigator Gareth Roberts, are flying back to Ireland on the Saturday evening to compete in the 2nd round of the Irish National Junior Rally Championship, in Carrick-on-Suir! At the moment, I am busy training and keeping on top of my game, looking forward to the peak season to begin.
Please continue to visit here for more updates and releases
Craig
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