Erne Safari 2011

The final result wasn't what I had hoped for but I had a good time none the less. It took me a few sections to shake off the rust from not having done a nav rally for what seems like a long time, but once I got back into the way of driving again it was really good. The Passat isn't the most suitable car but it performed well. The route wasn't overly tight so the Passat's size didn't cause any problems.

The main issue on the night was a lack of lights and that's an area I hope to have a look into before the next event in Cookstown on the 25th March. I just couldn't see far enough up the road to feel safe about trying to push on to get back on our minute. Some conventional uprated bulbs will be a good start, but I also have a HID kit that came with the Passat that I could refit.

Other issues that don't have such an easy fix are the brakes and the suspension. I could feel on a couple of occasions that the brakes were getting too warm so I had to look after them for a few miles until they cooled again. This was possibly only a problem due to there being no relaxed section on the rally so the car didn't get its usual half distance break to cool down. On the suspension side there were no real issues, I just felt that the car was sprung a bit soft for what I was asking it to do, I had to be careful of the sump and the front bumper was grounded out a few times.

As can be see from the results link below we were classed as DNF, which is very disappointing and not actually correct. Unfortunately just after TCH I got distracted, didn't notice a corner coming up and took the "safe" option of going a few meters through an open gate into a field. The field turned out to be very wet and we got stuck for the rest of the rally. Thankfully a local farmer towed us out and there was no harm done. We went to the finish at the hotel to hand in our time card and then went home. There was no point staying as we wouldn't be getting any trophies on this occasion. We were due to finish at TCJ so we had visited more than two thirds of the controls and should have been classes as finishers but the regulations weren't followed correctly. I've sent an email about it so I hope to get it sorted out, class 2 is going to be very competitive this year so we need all the points we can get.

Erne Safari Results:
http://www.enniskillenmotorclub.co.uk/es11/ESResults2011.pdf

CMC Donaldson Fuels Rally regs and entry form:
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Regulations%20permit11.pdf
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Entry%20Form11.pdf

Finally getting started!

Tonight will be my first event of the year and I'm really looking forward to getting back out competing, it feels like its been a very long time coming. Unfortunately I damaged the Nova this week so I wont be able to use it tonight which is big let down. It looks like the rally car will be off the road for a few months as the damage is quite substantial so my Passat estate daily driver will be called into action to make its rally debut. I installed all my rally equipment last night and it makes the dash look a bit like a space ship from the 1980's but hopefully it will help keep me on time tonight when I don't have the agility of the Nova to fall back on.

Tonight's event is the Erne Safari and is organised by Enniskillen Motor Club. It starts in Irvinstown so it will be a bit of a rush to get down on time but hopefully the rally will be worth it. We missed the first round of the championship so have no points on the board as yet, a good strong finish will be needed.

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

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

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.