Skoda Rally Blog

So, I’d managed to get myself a ride as navigator in Chris Temple’s first event. I’d never met him before (the joys of the Internet!), but got to Down Ampney around 7:30, and actually before he’d turned up. He’d got scrutineered the night before, so it was easy to get ourselves all done – just check my suit and helmet, and then sign on. We were ready to go.

Chris’ car is a mini, and I’d not been in one for years – since I last owned one in ’91, I think. Luckily I still fitted, and into a nice seat and harness, too. We went off to the first stage with plenty of time in hand, and I gave Chris some advice. I remember how nerve-racking it was to do my first event (I still get nervous now!), and kept reinforcing the mantra that a finish was the main objective for the day.

I’ve not been to Down Ampney before, but it was (to me) more interesting than many SV events, because there were different surfaces – a bit of gravel, some mud (some of the cars coming off of SS1 were filthy), quite a bit of poo and so on, and a few rough places as well. The stage layout was interesting, and there were a few dodgy moments on SS1, and the rear of the car was all over the place – the road tyres Chris had one were not very grippy at all, and quite ‘interesting’. But SS1 was done with no real drama, and Chris was unable to speak for a bit – I was worried he was crestfallen, but in fact he was too excited. Excellent.

SS2 was a repeat, and Chris had a real “pendulum” moment – 2 over-compensations led us off the road – no real damage, but a bit stuck. And right in front of Lee Harding and his brother! Ah, how we laughed! Got Chris calmed down, got the car started and waited for 2 cars to pass, Lee pushed us out, and we were away again. There were a couple of other moments, but it was going OK, all things considered. You certainly feel “in touch” with the road in a mini – you’re so low and there’s so little that separates you from the road (or anyting else), so it’s a bit like being on a roller skate. Fun though.

The next few stages went OK – each time I was trying to get Chris to be smoother, not over-compensate or over-drive the car, and also to plan ahead what was going to happen. And each time it was an improvement – times were coming down (apart from SS2, but even then we only lost 6 seconds, not bad considering a spin and an oversteer-off), and he was having fun. An over-cut corner led to a bent rim and slightly off steering, but nothing serious.

However, on stage 8, we were following a car that was on lap 2, and at the split we were to turn left. The other car turned right, and I was saying “left, left”, but Chris did the thing that’s so natural to do, and followed the car in front! We’d gone past the point of no return, so had to finish the stage (only losing a mile, which was handy) and taking a stage maximum. As it turned out, without this he wouldn’t have been the last finisher, but never mind. Each moment or error was meaning something was learned, and that was the point, as far as I could see. Nothing was bad enough to lead to any “proper” or day-ending damage, so it was all good.

By the end of the day, Chris was driving much better, not over-driving the car, braking more decisively, later and smoothly, steering better and correcting the car more accurately when it was getting out of shape (which was still often, although a lot less with 25psi instead of the original 32!). Better tyres and brake pads would be the best upgrade for the car, and then time for some more events!

Every now and then, something good happens completely out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting to do any navigating this year, and a chance message on a forum led to me meeting a few people from the forum, having a good day out with Chris, Kev and Andy (Kev will be navving for him in the future), and hopefully giving Chris a decent return for his faith in having me as a nav and driving instructor!