RDRC S4 Round 3 - Rally Mont Blanc (14th - 17th April)

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My rally was the worst so far but there was no steam coming from my ears because I was prepared for this. I was never good on tarmac and I rarely finished my rallies in WRC cars.

It started great. During first round of day one I was right behind Tiago. The problems started on intermediate tyres immediately on SS4 where I didn't adopt to it quickly and I was braking to late and ended up in the cornfield and almost in the trees. I hit one of them and engine started to smoke but everything was OK. On SS5 in the rain the same thing happened in the second hairpin. My wheels locked up and I could only watch as I plowed into barrier.
I didn't start on SS6 because my team couldn't finish the repairs in time. :rolleyes:

On the second day one more retirement on the downhill section of SS8. I was to fast going out of the corner so on the next one I was to wide, and on the grass I couldn't change the direction to save the engine. The damage was once again to much for the expertise of my crew so I didn't start on SS9. :whistling:

On SS11 I had to CFH after I went off the road in the fast turn. Front right wheel was damaged and I couldn't keep the car straight. In spite of that I finished the stage with the loss of one minute. There I decided to drive the rest of the stages without repairing the damage because of my slow mechanics and their clear lack of experience in these situations. :giggle:
I took the maters in my own hands and changed the setup on the front right to compensate the damage. I finished the rest of the rally with ease and a hammer nearby in case of a quick tweak.

Congrats to all podium finishers and to the organizers of the event. I liked variations in weather conditions very much. :thumbsup:
 
Congrats Magnar! Well you're always faster than me in Tarmac :D. But anyway I've decided to just go steady, I don't wanna risk the points anymore.

Congrats also to Oscar, Paul and Joao.

Thanks all!

Well not much faster than you, just 5 seconds. It's nothing. I was just lucky that I ended up first and had no more problems along the way. And it was also just 11 seconds down to Aleksi at 3 position. Very close.

I am very happy for my first victory in a championship round and thanks to all drivers and those who organize this!!
Congrats to Fernando and Aleksi it was close.
 
Why i quit so soon...:cry: If i tried to concentrate i could go a little bit further in my class... Well it was a lesson for me to never give up at the first obstacle... The car it was the first time too in a rally that i´ve tried, but it´s not a excuse... I have to control my temperament and for the next time i´ll try to do better...:D
 
What a disaster, that's what happens when you don't get any practice.
Stage 1: Somehow managed to miss the start:confused:
Stage 2: Very messy start but settled down and finished feeling a little better.:unsure:
Stage 3: Not too bad a stage. Was going well but clipped a tree and spun, also spun just before 1st hairpin. Far too slow.:thumbsdown:
Stage 4: Very cautious but still managed to find myself surrounded by corn!!:cautious:
Stage 5: Had intermediates on for this part of the rally, they just didn't give me enough grip. Slid down a bank CFH. Another slow cautious stage.:sleep:
Stage 6: Retired, hit a small tree just after the 1st hairpin.:O_o:
Stage 7: Sloppy handbrake turn. At least there is less chance of errors on this short stage.;)
Stage 8: I hate hairpins!!!!! Bust my radiator and made an b*ll*cks of almost every hairpin. I hate hairpins!!!:poop:
Stage 9: More agony, more hairpins, more mistakes but on the plus side I wiped out three spectators.:devilish:
Stage 10: Co-Driver "Hairpin - Right - Cut" Straight into a huge rock! Co-Driver "I think the gearbox is broken"
Me "Do you think that big rock on the inside of the hairpin caused it?"
Co-Driver "What rock?":mad:
Stage 11: Another retirement with more radiator damage.:cry:
Stage 12: Retired, Steering damage this time.:cry::cry:
Stage 13: Completed this stage but I took ages.:whistling:
Stage 14: Nice easy finish to a disastrous rally.:)

So that's what I was doing while you were all having fun.
At least Round 4 can't get any worse.:notworthy:
Thanks to all who organise these events, I enjoyed every second of it.:D
 
Congratulations to the podium finishers, especially Magnar on winning his first win. Fantastic mate! Plus really nice for the team, after my poor performance. I was very limited for time, so had to dive with no practice. Only now having time to type something up. :)

Sorry to see you hit trouble Tiago, looks like you were well on course to win the event. But it was not meant to be, though I wish I could have been closer to you in EU3. Seems this session was less crowded this event. Also had a nice fight with Dudo the first 4 stages, we weren't seperated by much, wasn't happy to see you hit trouble. I think we could have had a nice fight.

For me the rally was going quite nicely, few moments aside...no big mistakes. But caution was first priority for me over speed. The third loop of stages I picked up minor suspension damage after sliding straight at a hairpin on SS8 in the fog. Silly mistake, had to carry the damage through those 3 stages, but not all bad.

Moving onto the 4th loop of stages, and finally onto the dry tarmac with dry tyres. (good news, or not) I unfortunately had to make a tough decision on the first of these stages. Not so far through SS11 I think I was pushing too hard, clipped the bank (I think) in a high speed bit and rolled the car. It was not such a bad acident, the car went onto its roof and rolled back onto its wheels and I tried to carry on. But my god I have never experienced damage like this. I think I rolled my car on the very next corner in the middle of the road. lol. Anyways, I really struggled through the stage trying desperately not to retire which was difficult.The steering wheel was shaking so badly, steering bent, braking took me towards the edge of the road. I dare not go above 4th gear. This is a situation I've never been in, as through the stage I'm thinking whats the best decision to make now. I will already loose maybe 2 minutes in this 1 stage. There is still 3 more stages, and even if I take a repair next stage its more time than if I just pull over and retire. So thats what I done, saw how much time I was losing, got to the finish stopped the car before the line and retired. Meaning I got only the 5 minute penalty. Basically trying to make the best of a bad situation. I've only just sneaked back into the points (9th) overall, through the last of the proper stages. So I can be happy for this, and try not to think what could have been. :p

Great rally everyone, big thanks to the organisers. Another great job, look forward to the next event! :)

PS: Roy, I have not watched my replays. But I remember having a big scary moment on SS3, pretty much flat out through the forest I cut a corner or something, fully airborn in 6th gear etc etc. (Around 1.30 - 2.00 minute mark) Maybe entertaining for some. :)

EDIT: Oh also hope your recovering well mate.

Cheers
 
Results have been edited (one DQ, no replays), and are now final. Points in a tic.

As usual, please shout if you notice any mistakes.

Sorry for the different epileptic designs, we had a roster change.
I'll try to edit the older points and results, so at least they all look the same :D
 
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