Well, they say 'third time lucky', but I didn't expect to get this lucky!
I knew coming into the rally there would be a bit of a learning curve with the N4 S2000 Pug, the car handles great, but unlike some of the more 'punchy' cars out there, the pug has plenty of power to get it into trouble, but not quite enough to get it out, correct gear selection seemed to be so much more critical to the overall speed of the car.
All that said, with 14 stages in front of me, cumulative damage and not much of an idea as to what the conditions would hold and only one trial run, in dry conditions in the Pug meant the odds were stacked against me. I wrote the car off 5 times in my trials... Not a good start!
Then, off we went - I put in some 'in the middle' times, but consistently in the top half of the field - had another epic battle with Al - 0.16 was the smallest gap that we managed to achieve, which is unbelievably close. This was on SS9, Al must have seen me in his mirrors on the finish of that stage as he fell off the road and stranded the car - unfortunate to see the battle end, but this again bolted me up the standings.
Thanks to Al and everyone in the OC4 session for the close competition - it came right down to the wire and it was an unexpected result to finish as well as I did - but it proves the old rally adage 'to finish first, first you must finish!'. Thanks to the organisers, it was a fantastic way to finish S2 and has proven to be a worthwhile 'trial' of the new car for the S3 season coming up soon...
Look forward to many more battles with the crew and cant wait to get back in the seat!!
Drive fast - take chances!
Keegs