I suppose that I’ve got some mixed emotions after the first outing of the year in Galway last weekend, as there were some very good points but ultimately it was very disappointing to crash out on the second stage whilst leading a round of the Irish Tarmac Championship in a Group ‘N’ car.
Of course it wasn’t the first time that we have led a round of the Tarmac Championship…….we led in the Isle of Man last year too, but that time there were no WRC competitors, as they chose not to compete.
This time around though, we were in the company of WRC cars that have previously won some rounds.
Realistically, I felt that the pace on the first stage was not that fast and I was slightly surprised to be leading after that stage, although by a slender margin. This did not have any effect on my attitude and I drove slightly better on the next stage. Unfortunately, visibility near the end of the stage was down to 50-60 yards and at the end of a long straight where we were doing about 130mph+ there was a crest and I had not marked a specific braking point as there was a gravel road ahead. With the fog it wasn’t possible to know where we were exactly on the straight until we eventually hit the crest and then I braked hard, which should have been enough to slow down, but,  the car locked up under braking and I had to pump the brakes in order to slow. We could not scrub off enough speed to take the corner as I had it described. There was that small gravel road almost in front of us and I would have shot up there except that there were some spectators standing there so I tried to go around the corner.
The rest is history.
Although we were out of the rally and we were bitterly disappointed, at least we were able to get the car back on the road for the ‘Sunday Run’. As it was Barry’s first time sitting in the car with me I was just happy to get some extra mileage together. We set another couple of fastest times too, but we also played around with suspension settings, however we could not find a better set-up than what we started out with.
On the subject of the new navigator, lots of rumours are floating around, or so I’ve been told. I would like to clarify that Greg and myself are still the best of friends and we have certainly not ruled out competing together again!
The next rally will be in the Subaru and although I am looking forward to it, I am also apprehensive as it will be totally new to me!