What a way to finish!

Hi all,



Just down from the clouds after a terrific week in Wales, our second world championship event in the S2000. A little more pressure this time as we had acquired a SWRC entry for the event, and moved in with the priority drivers. It was a top class entry, with newly signed Skoda UK driver Andreas Mikkelsen, and championship pace setter Jari Ketomaa on the entry list, it was a perfect opportunity to pace myself against the best S2000 drivers in the world.

We had a great test the weekend before, and with some recent engine developments from M-Sport, I was confident that we could go there and give a good account of ourselves.

The route was similar to last year, some changes, such as 12km of tarmac on Epynt before joining the original Crychan stage, and a new stage to me, Resolfen to replace Rheola which has been struck down by a tree disease.

A good recce and shakedown made way for the most difficult day of the rally in my eyes. Friday consisted of six stages based in Mid-Wales, Hafren (the longest stage of the rally) Sweet Lamb and Myherin. We started with a clean run through Hafren, and Sweet Lamb and were looking forward to rounding off a good morning loop in Myherin. However just 7km into the stage we had a rear puncture, dropping us two minutes. It was a bitter blow so early in to the event, but we tried not to let it affect us too much and we pushed on. We had a better second loop, however we had damaged the rear arch liner after the puncture and this allowed the mud and water to get into the car, leaving us with some soggy feet at the end of the day, but still 5th in SWRC.

Day two was the longest, with a 10km sprint through muddy Radnor (another classic stage new to me) Monument Hill, Four Ways-Crychan, and Halfway (All three based close to the Epynt military ranges). We were quite cautious through Radnor, as it was very tricky, tricky enough to see the demise of rally favourite Seb Ogier. But with really good runs over the Epynt stages, we started our comeback. With Monument Hill catching out third place man Brynildsen, we were up to fourth and getting more into the swing of things. Saturday evening stages brought us into the dark and more progress. Halfway was in complete darkness, and with the absence of the corner pods it was difficult whenever the car was sideways, but still the time was respective. In concentrating so much on what was in front, we hadn't noticed that Patrik Sandell was closing fast after having problems of his own on Friday.
We started Sunday morning one minute ahead of Patrik, and one minute behind third place man Xevi Pons. There were two stages repeated, Resolfen at 30km and the famous Margam stage at just 7km. We had a slow run through Resolfen 1, dropping over 20 seconds to Sandell, however Jari Ketomaa crashed out, promoting us to third in SWRC.We had still taken 20 seconds from Pons so we were still in shouting distance of him. Margam 1, again we took time from Xevi but more importantly Patrik took another 8 seconds, putting him only 25 seconds going into the final loop.
It was the first time in a long time that I had to enter the final stages of a rally and have to push, but I was willing to do anything to keep on the podium. We went to Resolfen 2 and drove the best stage I have ever drove in my life. There were a handful of places where I felt I lost a bit, but everywhere else was 100% and dragging every last drop from the car, and it showed. Patrik only took 6 seconds from us, and at the end of the stage, admitted it was his all too! Another surprise, was toward the end of the stage, we started to catch Xevi, and knowing we were only 40 seconds behind, we pushed that extra bit, and managed to get ahead of him, albeit by just 0.4 of a second. So with just the last Margam stage to go, we had a safe but reasonable run through, keeping ahead of both Xevi and Patrik to secure second in SWRC, and 12th overall.
It was a fantastic way to round off our season. A season plagued with bad luck and misfortune early on, but with our trip to Finland, came the turning point. Aside from the roll in Trackrod, we have enjoyed success after success, with the win in Ulster, qualifying for the PSD Shootout in Sweden, seceding in the PSD Shootout, and now our first SWRC podium.
This bodes well for our new adventure in the WRC Academy in 2011. We had also planned on going to Monte Carlo, but after much thought we have decided that Rally Sweden may be the better option, as I have not done a snow rally before, and at the end of the day, it's the WRC where I want to be in the coming years.
So the winter season is quiet for rallying, but provides the perfect setting for training and recovery before going head first in 2011.
I'll try and have another blog before the new year, but if not, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and don't drink too much!
All the best,
Craig