Returning to winning ways at Rushmoor

Our first visit to Rushmoor for a targa rally saw us take an early bath after a driveshaft snapped. Our second visit saw us there in the Micra and win the event outright, and our third visit there in the MG? Well to our surprise, we managed to take the overall win once again!

We were seeded at Car 1 which I hadn’t really thought about, but in the days leading up to the event and on the day itself people kept asking how we felt about it. I was quite relaxed about it really and just saw it as a number, but it did mean I wanted to ensure we were on time all day and didn’t hold anyone up by not being ready to start!

With Matt driving and me in the left hand seat, we were pushed all day without much left out there to give. It wasn’t a clean run either with an overshoot and reverse and a few little moments, but it was enough to do the necessary.

I was also driving and finished 5th in class and 9th overall. A top ten finish should be pleasing, but I was only 11 seconds off 4th. Having had a penalty for hitting a cone and having to stop and resolve something in the car on test two, it felt one of those rallying “what if” days for me as a driver.

It was the first time I’d really tried the new engine on tarmac after the rebuild and she goes well. A great result as a navigator, and some pace showing there as a driver.

On test photos by M&H Photography.

Navigating on a 20/20

It has been four years since I’ve navigated on a 20/20, but Devizes & District MC running one in the area I moved to in 1996 meant I thought there’d be some familiar lanes. As it was, we actually went past the cottage we’d moved to, part of my old route to primary school and many other familiar places.

I was on the maps for this one, in the MG ZR, and I was a little apprehensive as I can start to feel sick on anything longer than a 12 Car in the dark. I had all the anti-sickness stuff I would normally use, but unfortunately around half way through I started to feel very ill. It only happens on navigational events (e.g. a tulip roadbook is fine) but it was a shame as we’d started the event well.

It got to the point I had to think about cutting some of the route, but we wanted a result and finish so carried on as best as we could. You never know how the event is going for other crews, so when the results were emailed through later in the week, it was a pleasant surprise to find us 7th in class and 7th overall.