2010 News...

Well our weekend didn't go exactly to plan.

We went into the Somerset Rally based at Minehead on Saturday 24th April 2010 confident and keen to get a good result, but on corner 9 stage 9 we hit a dip in the road at about 80 mph which caused the Near side bottom ball joint to come out which it turn meant we had very little control and we ended up in the undergrowth stuck on a tree stump. We managed to get the car of the tree stump but on investigation we discover that we had also pulled the drive shaft out. This meant we were going nowhere so we cleared the car from the stage best we could and had to wait to be towed out. This was my first DNF in the Rally First Championship and only my second in 3 years.

After a 300 hundred mile drive overnight to Anglesey I entered my second rally of the weekend, the Lee Holland Memorial Rally. We also had a different VW Lupo prepared by the Rallyschool in Shropshire. The day started well, but on the 1st run of the 2nd stage we hit the one of the tyre chicanes and damaged the driver's side of the car, so much so that we couldn't open the driver's door. We managed to fix the car in the time allowed ready for the 2nd run of the 2nd stage and we complete the rally without any more incidents. I finished 3rd in class and 20th overall out of 38 starters.

I now need to concentrate on the Rally First Championship, and get some more points on the board as all the main competitors scored points on the Somerset.

The photos above show us tackling the Porlock Hill Climb Stage on the Somerset Rally and the second photo taken during the Lee Holland Memorial Rally at Anglesey. More photos taken on the Somerset Rally can be found if you click here Rally Gallery. More photos taken on the Lee Holland Memorial Rally 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 recent article in the Lancashire Telegraph.Press coverage.

My Co-Driver for this rally was Joe Cruttenden who Co-drove for me last year.

The 1400 VW Lupos I used on these rallys were prepared by John Goff and the Rallyschool team (www.rallyschool.co.uk ) based in Shropshire.

My next event will be on the 15th May 2010 and will be the Plains Rally.

Bye for now