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
Thursday 26 November 2009
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
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