2009 News...

The Wyedean Rally is was the opening event of the 2009 BTRDA Formula First Rally Championship and the English Rally Championship, but it was also the first event for the Yellow VW Lupo. My co-driver for this rally was Joe Cruttenden who has co-driven for me on a couple of rallies last year.

Snow, ice and more snow should be the main heading for the rally. The day before the rally, it was touch and go whether it would take place, but the decision was made by the organisers at noon Friday to proceed. The 2 bridges over the River Severn had been closed due to the ice, causing much road chaos. The rally started early Saturday morning with the stages covered in ice and snow most of which had fallen the few days before. It was a great experience driving on and through the snow and although the conditions made the driving very difficult, it was a lot of fun. I've never had so many near misses or spins on a rally before and in the later stages of the rally, I took it even more carefully so that I could at least finish. I did finish the rally, 8th in class, out of the 16 starters in the class and amazingly all 16 finish the rally. This was a good result for me especially knowing that the conditions did not suit the Lupo and I'm looking forward to the next rally.

The pictures above shows me tackling the Chepstow Park stage on the Wyedean Rally. More photos can be found if you click here Rally Gallery.

Thanks to Joe Cruttenden for being my Co-Driver for the rally. Thanks also to John Goff and the Rallyschool support team for preparing the car and keeping us going. Also thanks to the Myerscough boys for coming down and spannering for me.

If you click on the following link you will be able to see Neil Johnson's article on our Wyedean rally experience. Neil is the Motorsport reporter for the Lancashire Telegraph. Press coverage.

If I can get the right people and the finances together, I'm hoping to compete in the North West Stages Rally around Blackpool on the 20th/21st February. This is not a BTRDA event but its as near to a local event for me as I can get and one I've wanted to do for some time. A lot will depend on whether John Goff of the Rallyschool will loan me the Lupo for the event and also if we can get onto the entry list, as the rally looks to be already over subscribed.

Bye for now.