Not the Boxing Day Rally 2010 +33 days

Well that was unexpected. It all came together at the last minute but I found myself navigating on last Saturdays "Not the Boxing Day" rally. I hadn't intended doing any navigating this year but as it's been a while since I've been out on an event I took the opportunity to guide Denis Bell round. Denis is a gentleman driver and as he delighted in telling me he is now in his 7th decade of competitive motorsport. He had managed to borrow his wife's car for the day and as it had to be returned at 6pm to do the shopping run we weren't going to be setting the stages alight.

The event itself is of a format that has become quite popular in NI over the last few years and involves using private lanes and yards for timed tests. Some are like mini rally stages and others are like open autotests. There is no restriction on cars or licences so its open to everyone and I can see more events like it springing up and being very popular in future.

Denis and I had a great day. We didn't make any mistakes, didn't do any damage and got on well in the car. Denis has plenty of stories about rallying in the old days and from his time selling Toyota's he has been lucky enough to meet a good few of the driving legends that I will only ever get to see on video. It was really interesting to get the chance to talk to someone from a different generation who has the same interests as I do.

Our "rally" car for the day:

Queuing for Test 2:

Start line of Test 2:

Interesting double car transporter:

Monte Carlo 2011, finish.

What a rally! One of the best I've watched for a long time, and even better as I got to watch 12 of the 13 stages live on TV. The live coverage that Eurosport is able to broadcast is very impressive, and years ahead of the WRC. It looks likely that it will stay that way too after it was announced that the WRC will be screened on ESPN this year, which is a subscription only channel. On the face of it this seems like a poor choice but I assume someone must know that they are doing, for the future of the WRC I hope.

Bryan Bouffier's name topped the time sheet at the end of the Monte Carlo, but that doesn't give you the full picture. A good tyre choice, or rather a poor tyre choice by other crews moved him from 7th overall to leading the rally in just one snow covered stages. I think if the weather hadn't intervened he would have had trouble breaking into the top 5. The real star of the show was Juho Hanninen. Up until stage 7 it looked like no one would be able to catch him. His turn of speed for a man who isn't considered a tarmac expect was remarkable. It is clear to see that he has lifted himself above the IRC regulars and that he fully deserves his chance in the WRC.

I was pleased to see that the 207 is still a match for the Fabia. I had worried that the championship wouldn't be that exciting this year if it was just between the Skodas, but it looks like there will be a good battle. Guy Wilks had a good event, set some quick times and didn't put a foot wrong to finish with 3rd place points, which gets his 2011 campaign off to a good start. Andreas Mikkelsen only made it 4 corners into stage 1 before sliding wide on cold tyres and hitting a wall. Let's hope that his luck changes before the next round.

Chris Patterson and Petter Solberg were having a great run until it snowed and with the chance of victory gone it seemed to knock the wind out of Petter sails. Petter was fully on the pace up till then, running as high as 2nd and leading Peugeot which just goes to show the man's class. Unfortunately the car let them down on the road section after the last stage and they were not classified as finishers. Eamonn Boland had a good rally, consistently running in the top 5 in Group N and finishing 28th overall and 6th in class. Daniel Barry was also setting some good times in Group N, until he got caught out on the wrong tyres in the snow on stage 8 and put the car off the road.

Results:
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/ramc_main.php

Tour of the Mournes 2011

Tonight was supposed to be the first round of the Northern Ireland Navigation Rally Championship with the Tour of the Mournes rally organised by Rathfriland Motor Club, but unfortunately due to the bad weather during the crucial weeks leading up to the event it has had to be called off, which is a great shame. The Tour of the Mournes is one of my favourite navs of the year because the weather is unpredictable, but this time it is that very variable that has forced it to be called off. With the event route being up in the mountains, in January, the grip level is constantly changing and for me it just adds an extra bit of excitement to the driving.

I competed a couple of years ago in an old Passat estate that had been bought for £100 to do the Scally Rally and it was brilliant fun. The big car was a bit of a handful and getting stopped at a few junctions on the ice was a real test of my ability, but we got round to the finish with no damage and a respectable score which earned Neil and myself a trophy for 3rd in class.

I hope that the bad weather doesn't become an annual event and the Tour of the Mournes returns again in 2012.

Monte Carlo 2011

The Monte Carlo rally start tomorrow and it looks like it could be a classic. The weather has been very mild so the route is almost totally free of snow and ice making the event a much more normal tarmac rally and the entry list is swollen with talent. Petter Solberg makes his debut in the IRC series and if things follow a similar path to the last two years then it should be Petter who is standing on the top step of the podium come the end of the rally. However I'm not sure that Petter will have the machinery to climb that high, the 207 is no longer a match for the Fabia. I don't think the Peugeots will be able to stop a Skoda pilot from taking the victory but there are so many top class drivers taking part that it could go to any one of the top 15 starters.

It will be interesting to see how Guy Wilks gets on compared to Andreas Mikkelsen, who took Wilks vacated seat in the Skoda UK Fabia. I hope they both have a good clean run but I think Mikkelsen will finish ahead in the final standings.

From the photos I've seen so far of the Citroen DS3 R3T it is a fantastic looking car, if I had the money it would be my current car of choice.

People of interest for Irish motorsport fans are Chris Patterson navigating Petter Solberg at No.2, Eamonn Boland in his Evo 10 at No.36 and Daniel Barry in his Evo 9 at No.47.

IRC website:
http://www.ircseries.com/html/

Dakar Rally 2011 - Finish.

Congratulations to Nasser Al-Attiyah on winning his first Dakar rally. Nasser kept out of trouble, didn't seem to suffer from as many punctures as the others and his car was good as gold, all the things that need to come together to win such a grueling endurance event as the Dakar. It's a great achievement for the Qatari and I can see him winning many more Dakar rallies in the future.

Carlos Sainz eventually finished 3rd, behind his teammate Giniel de Villiers, after having a few terrible stages. On Stage 10 he got the car stuck on a hill with no one to help him, losing 18min 13sec, and then on Stage 11 he hit a hole and broke the suspension on his Touareg 3 losing a further 1h 14min 50sec which put him completely out of contention. Sainz drove well for the rest of the rally and now holds the record for Dakar stage wins in the car class with 24, beating Peterhansel who has 23 wins.

With a 1-2-3 finish for Volkswagen I don't see that they have anything else to prove on the Dakar. I wonder will they be back next year? There have been rumours going around for quite a while of Volkswagen entering the WRC, which is very exciting. It would be great to see them there, especially as their great German rival BMW is starting a full WRC campaign in 2012 with MINI. It will also be very interesting to see if VW Group choose to use a diesel engine in their WRC car like they have done in almost all of their motorsport activities in recent years.

Final results:
http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2011/us/stage-13/rankings/overall-cars-page-1.html

MSA 'Go Rallying' starter pack

I would like to be in a position to do some stage rallies next year, nothing fancy, just whatever the cheapest tarmac events turn out to be. So the first thing I'll need will be the correct competition licence. This year I have a "Non-Race National B" so to do any stage rallying I will need to upgrade to a "Rally National B Stage". Unlike my current licence this one can't just be applied for, I will need to pass a test. This is known as the BARS test and so far as I can tell it involves a written test on safety and then a practical test where I will have to show an examiner that I can control a rally car safely and I wont be a danger to anyone on a special stage. The BARS test can only be taken at a MSA approved rally school and there is only one in NI.

Before I can take the BARS test I need to buy a 'Go Rallying' pack from the MSA. The pack cost £57 and for that high price I was expecting it to contain some useful items or information that would help me get started in motorsport, but unfortunately I was left disappointed.

'Go Rallying' pack contents:

Information letter,
Form to apply for the "Stage Rally National B" licence,
Go Rallying & First Aid in Motorsport CD,
Interactive year book DVD,
Blue book/Yearbook,
Demon Tweeks catalogue,

List of approved rally school,
Notes for filling out the licence form,
Return envelope.

Of all that only the form to apply for my licence and the CD/DVDs are useful. The form and the videos could be put on the internet and it would do away with the need for a starter pack altogether and save every new competitor £57. For an organisation that should be trying to encourage people to get involved in motorsport this seems like a very poor introduction. They should be trying to take barriers out of the way not putting them up. Unfortunately it looks like the MSA are taking advantage of their monopoly position and ripping off competitors right from the very start of their motorsport careers. Motorsport is an expensive enough hobby, without the governing body adding to it.



MSA 'Go Rallying' starter pack:
http://shop.msauk.org/product_details.asp?id=4073

Dakar Update

So it's now a full week into the Dakar and it is as spectacular as ever. As I had hoped, Carlos Sainz is leading in his Volkswagen with a margin of 1min 22sec over his team mate Nasser Al-Attiyah. Stephane Peterhansel now trails by 21mins 11 sec in his BMW, this is mostly due to a succession of punctures. There is still a long way to go and anything could happen. The battle between Sainz and Al-Attiyah is really hotting up with only 9 seconds separating them on Stage 6. If they keep pushing each other this hard it could easily lead to mistakes that might let Peterhansel back into the fight.

Robby Gordon had a terrible Dakar 2011, he really had no luck at all. He lost time in the rain on Stage 1 due to only having 2wd in the slippery conditions and he had to swap helmets with his navigator during the stage because of a broken microphone. He lost an hour on Stage 2 due to getting the car stuck off the road, he then had several transmission problems and was finally excluded on Stage 4 for not being able to getting a wheel bearing changed in the time allowed. It's a real pity that he didn't make it as far as the proper sand dunes as his Hummer looks brilliant floating along the sand at high speed.


Video of Stage 6, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOFA0GYezdA&feature=player_embedded

British Rally Championship goes 2wd for 2012

It was announced this week that for 2012 the BRC will only be open to 2wd cars up to 2000cc and I have to say that I support this change. A lot of people will be disappointed at the lose of the 4wd cars but it should help to put a cap on costs. It might not seem like that now, when a competitive Group N car can be built for much less than a new R3 class car like the Citroen DS3 R3, as a rough estimate £50k compared to £100k. But, if a talented driver was to find the budget to compete in a top level S2000 car like the Skoda Fabia then it would force the other drivers to come up with similar machinery or get left behind. The Fabia at over £250k is way beyond even a well funded BRC team.

The move to 2wd also opens up the BRC to a much larger range of cars which could potentially bring back some manufacturer support. The basic spec of the cars, is similar to the spec of the F2 cars that were used in the heyday of the BRC in the late 90's when it was regarded as the best in the world for developing new driver talent. If the rule changes can get the BRC back to that level of competition and recognition I for one will be very pleased.

Press Release:
http://www.rallybrc.co.uk/news-stories/514-04012011-brc-spells-out-its-future-from-2012.html

1997 Ulster Rally, just as a reminder of how good F2 was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DJEdUt8X6E

The rally Nova

It's about time I introduced you to my rally car. Actually calling it a rally car at this stage is a bit of a stretch if I'm honest. It's really just a stripped out road car with some safety gear added for my own protection but it puts a huge smile on my face none the less.

The glamour shots:

These photos were taken on the hill climb section of the Knockalla stage of the Donegal International Rally 2010 (the day before the real rally cars got there). At this stage I'd owned the car in its component parts for about 4 years but the build had stalled quickly after the initial burst of energy. Finishing up my University course and then trying to build up some money after getting a proper job meant that I hadn't looked in the direction of the "rally car" for nearly 3 years. But with a flurry of activity brought on by a week off work for Easter my brother and I (well mostly my brother, hes the mechanic of the house, I hand him tools) started into the Nova and got the new/other engine fitted and the car back on its wheels. So with a lot more small jobs done, a cheap respray and a pass from the nice MOT man the rally car was finally out on the road where it belongs.

Paper work

My plan for this year is to compete in some Hill Climb and Sprint events as well as the full Northern Ireland Navigation rally championship, and as it's January it's time to renew my competition licence. There are many different grades of licence and I think it's a bit confusing so I'll try and make it as simple as possible.

To start Navigation rallies no competition licence is needed for the beginners class, but you will need to be a member of each club. Joining the individual clubs can get a bit costly and if your doing the full season then it's actually cheaper to get a "Non-Race Clubman" licence. You will need a competition licence in the future if you get a taste for Navigation rallying and want to move up to the higher classes.

As I am aiming to compete in Hill Climb and Sprint events, which are classified as "Speed" events I will need to upgrade to the next level which is the "Non-Race National B" licence. To my knowledge this should cover me for all Hill's and Sprints in Northern Ireland. The licence will also allow me to compete as a navigator on Stage Rallies, should any opportunities come up.

See here for the MSA competition licence application form, including prices:
http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/2011_Initial_Application_Form.pdf

and see here (page 17) for a list of what licences are required for each type of event:
http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/bluebooks/11/124-141%20Comps%20-%20Licences.pdf

Dakar 2011

The Dakar Rally kicked off yesterday from Buenos Aires and while I don't follow any other rally raid events I do love the Dakar. It's just such a monstrous event at over 9,500km. It must be one of the last truly epic motorsport events and the television images that it produces are absolutely stunning.

Volkswagen have once again turned out in force and I can't see them being beaten. I will be rooting for a second victory for Carlos Sainz. The man is a true legend in rallying and he is a great ambassador for the sport.

I watched an interview with Robby Gordon on Eurosport and he thinks he is in with a chance this year. He has a new lighter, more powerful car so he could well do it. He put on a great performance last year taking a stage win and in 2009 he finishing 3rd overall. I wish him luck but in truth, I can't see a 2wd car being able to take the victory.

New year, new project.

Well as it’s the start of a new year it seems like a good time to take on a new project. I plan to use this blog as a way to archive my adventures in motorsport. I hope to post up photos and video from the events I compete in and the events I help to organise as well as updates and modifications to my rally car.

Motorsport is a difficult hobby to get started in so hopefully this blog will show people how I’m going about getting started and it might ease their own entry into the sport.