Thursday 12 May 2011

What do we have to do!

Hi all,
Just home from another disappointing weekend in Sardinia. A great start and a steady pace, brought to a premature end by an unseen rock on SS4.
We arrived in Olbia on Sunday the 7th, fresh from our 3rd place finish in Formula 2 at the Pirelli International Rally. We had a guest lecture with Mario Isola and an event briefing on the Monday, and straight into recce on Tuesday morning. It was obvious from the recce that this was going to be the most difficult rally I have ever done. Really demanding twisty technical stages, some set high in the Mountains and Wind-Farms, other on low twisty tracks. We had another guest lecture on Wednesday by none other than Petter Solberg. It was a fascinating 45 minutes, hearing Petters climb to the top of the WRC ladder was truly inspirational.
Anyway, with all the formalities over, it was time to do the shakedown on Thursday morning. It was a very slippery road, not like that of the rally, so we only done 3 runs to make sure the car was ok. We had a ceremonial start in the evening and we were ready to start. Friday AM and we were away, a long run out to a smooth and wide first stage. We took it very steady, and were amazed that we were fastest by 2 seconds. This stage saw the demise of Alastair Fisher with mechanical failure, which was very disappointing. Onto stage two and again, another fastest time, it was all looking so good. Stage 3 was very tricky and slippy, and with a small lead already formed, I decided not to take any chances, dropping just two seconds, our lead was still in hand.
Onto stage 4, and our dreams were shattered. Roughly 8km into the stage there was a slight right hand bend, with a bump on it. The car bottomed out and we made contact with a rock in the ground with the sump, and in turn, broke it. The oil immediately drained and with a quick flick of the oil light, I shut the engine off, saving it from any lasting damage. It turned out I wasn't the only one to hit it, 7 other WRC Academy crews fell fowl of the same rock. We were very lucky to be only one of two of the seven that were able to restart using SupeRally on Saturday, as the rest had suffered terminal engine trouble. We re-started back in 8th place. Saturday started with a very committed fast stage set 120km from Olbia. It was a stage I really liked, and the aim of the game was stage wins. We were quickest in the stage by over 20 seconds, and enforced our pace on the day. We then had a very tough and rocky stage set in the mountains, and only a few corners into the stage, I could see it was going to be extremely tough on the car. I decided to slow right down, knowing that we had gained enough time on the first stage, and save the car. The final stage of the loop, and again very rough. Keeping in mind what had happened the day before, I again took the stage with caution, dropping only a hand full of seconds.
Back to Olbia for a 30 minute service and then to repeat the same loop. The plan to push on the first stage worked once more, quickest by 10 seconds this time, removing any pressure from behind. Then it all started to go horribly wrong. We started the second to last stage, comfortable back up into 5th place and just wanting to get home. Unfortunately, early into the stage we caught up with two slower drivers and were forced to drive in their thick dust for 10km. We dropped back to 6th, but with only 3 seconds to 5th, I was more than confident that we could get it back. However just a few corners into the last stage, the rear hub parted the car without any reason. Our hard work had been undone, and it was just so bitter. However, we did manage to make some make-shift repairs and got back to the finish in Olbia (a mammoth task in its on right) and picked up points, albeit in last place.
So, another horrible end to a WRC Academy round, but I suppose that's the sport that we know and love! But, we have to pick up and move on. In the WRC Academy, you score a point for a fastest stage time, and were off to Finland next so.....You've guessed it, maximum attack! It should be very exciting, but before that, we're back to tarmac for the first time in 8 months, with the Jim Clark Rally, and then the Rallye Ronde Limousine. I'm really looking forward to getting back on the black stuff, and getting a good set-up ahead of Rally Deutschland and Rally de France. We're also going to Rally Estonia for practice before Rally Finland, so some very busy times ahead, but for now the pressure is off, and it's time to prepare!
That's all for now, keep an eye out for tweets! :)
All the best,
Craig