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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)