The second round of the British Rally Championship and our second win. I could not possibly have asked for a better start to the 2009 season with a win on the Bulldog rally but to go to the Pirelli rally (my first time in Kielder) and to win was just unbelievable.

We had finished our recce at around 2pm on Friday and I wasn’t 100% happy with my pacenotes after recce. The first stage of the rally was Friday evening and I was pretty tense before the start, not helped by the fact that I was uneasy about recce. I felt I started the first stage fairly tentatively, nonetheless I nearly slipped into a ditch on the second corner. This did not do my nerves any good and we had a half spin later in the stage. It was not an ideal start to the rally but we were still there so I was content. I drove very cautiously through the second stage and with no moments I felt a lot better heading into Park Ferme. I was disappointed to have dropped so much time Friday night but I knew I was not driving well and that I could go a lot faster if I could get into a good rhythm on Saturdays stages.

Saturday started better and we were very close to the leading pace. On stages 6 and 7 we had our first fastest stage times and I was gaining in confidence as we were starting to close the gap to Mark Higgins. Then on stage 8 the rally leader Guy Wilks car went on fire and it couldn’t be put out. That stage was scrubbed and the following 2 stages were also cancelled as 10 crews including us had used our extinguishers to try and put out the fire.

That just left stages 11 and 12 and there was 10.2 seconds between Mark and myself. I pushed as hard as I could through those last 2 stages while trying not to go over the top. We took just over 12 seconds off Mark between the 2 stages, which was enough time to enable us to win the rally by 2 seconds.

I knew that Mark had left Service after fitting his two ‘Joker’ tyres(an extra pair of tyres that competitors can take advantage of only once during the season), so that meant he would be pushing hard. As I was using tyres that already had stages done, when I came off the last stage there was wire out through the two front tyres in places.

It was a great feeling coming off that last stage to win the rally because in Wales we both had problems but here it was a straight fight through those last 2 stages and to come out on top was absolutely fantastic.

Pinch me again!

Other News
Earlier this week there was a strong rumour going around that I would be doing the ‘Lakes’ in the Focus that Kris Meeke was to drive on the rally. This will not be happening!!

I will admit that there was an offer on the table and it was very, very, tempting. However, after careful consideration it was decided that it would be foolhardy to accept the offer even if the remaining funding could be organised.

Given the start that we have had on the BRC, all physical and monetary efforts have to remain focused on that championship. I still hope be ‘00ing’ on the ‘Lakes’ in the Evo ahead of the Jim Clarke Rally when the BRC changes to tarmac.