Morning!

I have been training hard over the past few days, so apologies for the lack of blogs. I have been going for long runs and have also been putting a few hours in on the bike. Yesterday was fantastic, it was a brilliant day to train. I know I am bias but West Cork and in particular Béal Átha Leice (BallyLickey) is beautiful on a sunny day, like it was yesterday. The waves were rolling off the Atlantic Ocean and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

The week ahead is one that I am well prepared for. I have been looking forward to the Pirelli Ray since finshing the 2010 Bulldog Rally. Some of the stages are classic tests and I am looking forward to tackling the likes of Keilder and Kershope on Saturday.

I hope that the fallout from the Icelandic Volcano has not hampered any of your travel plans this week. We are lucky, we already have a ferry booked for Tuesday. This was to get across to Carlisile a day before shakedown on the Thursday. Myself, Barry and the team are ready for the off and are looking forward to getting back into the Pirelli Star Car and TEG prepared Subaru Impreza.

I had a great time last year on the Pirelli and came home with the overall win. I would love to make it a second Pirelli win but it will be difficult as I will be up against the likes of Gwyndaf Evans, Alastair Fisher, Dave Weston Jnr, Adam Gould, Euan Thorburn, Jonathan Greer, David Bogie, Daníel Sigurðarson and P G Anderson.

It is a field packed with great drivers. But I will be going for it as I want to build on my great start to the year and my title defence.

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend as much as I have enjoyed mine. Thank you for all the goodluck wishes for the Pirelli Rally, it means a lot to me.

Keep the race in its place and I’ll see you on the stages!

Keith