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
Wednesday 23 September 2009
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
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