2009 News...

Today I finish 4th in the BTRDA Rally First 1.4 class and overall 61st at my first attempt on the Plains rally. The Plains is based at Welshpool and contains of some of the classic Welsh stages such as Dyfi and the Woodyard. 113 crews started the event and only 84 finished.

After a poor 1st stage where I was to cautious, we decided that we must get a move on. I then had a great battle throughout the rest of the rally with Roy Gravestock who also competes in the Rally First Championship. This culminated on the last stage, the Woodyard, where I started the stage, 3rd in class, 3 seconds ahead of Roy, but on the last corner, 50mtrs from the finish, I got a puncture which lost us 6 seconds. I managed to drive out of the stage but it meant Roy had beaten me by 3 seconds. This is my 2nd tyre failure in as many rallies and we are getting to be pretty good at changing wheels - any jobs going at Kwik fit for Summer?

I was gutted that I had just missed out on 3rd, but this result has moved me up to 2nd overall in the Rally First and Rally First RF1.4 Drivers championships.

The picture above shows us tackling a downhill hairpin on the Gartheiniog stage which is part of the Dyfi Forrest. More photos can be found if you click here Rally Gallery

If you click on the following link you will be able to see Neil Johnson's article on our Plains rally experiences. Neil is the Motorsport reporter for the Lancashire Telegraph and regularly supports my efforts on the stages. Also there is the article that appeared in Motorsport News relating to the Rally First crews on the Plains Rally. Press coverage.

Thanks again to Joe Cruttenden for being my Co-Driver for the rally and also thanks to John Goff and the Rallyschool team who prepared the car for the event.

My next rally will be the Dukeries which includes stages in Sherwood Forrest area of Nottinghamshire on 13th June 2009. This will be the fourth round of the BTRDA Rally First Championship and I'm aiming for a top three finish.

Cheers