Matt and I have not competed on many autotests that allow a passenger, but the Boundless by CSMA event was one that did. As he is often quicker than me on grass I thought it would be useful to sit alongside him, and vice versa, to get quicker. We had a pact we wouldn’t talk to each other unless the other person was about to do a wrong test, as that’s what we are used to, so having scrutineered, signed on and walked the tests it was time to crack on.
The grass in the field used was quite long, so early tests were somewhat slippery. The handbrake on the MG is not too bad and proved useful to get the front of the car turning in when it wanted to understeer.
The tests themselves were a little more complex than other autotests I have done recently, and so I made sure I walked them as many times as possible prior to starting and luckily, I got the tests correct all day without a wrong route. There were a couple of times I asked Matt “which way?!” but it all seemed to work out in the end.
We were both in a slightly odd position where we weren’t really fighting for the positions in front, but both had a small gap behind to maintain (and not lose with any silly mistakes!). We finished up consecutively in the results with Matt sixth and myself seventh, and I also took home the Best Beginner award due to the regs for this event.
Suze Endean 