Skoda Rally Blog

I wrote my last entry straight after coming back from NAA Stages, and it wouldn’t take an expert to tell that I was a bit crestfallen. Having thought about it, I wouldn’t have minded being slow. And I wouldn’t have minded being crap/dangerous. But managing to combine the two is what really gutted me. I was never thinking I would be good, but I did think I’d be OK. As I may have mentioned, I used to drive a bit on gravel when we used to go out late at night in old Escorts, and I was OK. Not great, but I learnt how to control the car, and remember doing 80 down forest tracks in my Mk1, without any major moments. But I really was depressed about the whole situation. Tarmac rallying is a bit of fun for me – the forests are “real” rallying for me – the stuff that originally turned me on to it. I know now that tarmac is a lot more fun that I thought it would be, and the right events (Fat Albert and Caerwent) can offer a really good time. But I want to do another forest event. And I went to see Steve Colville during the week, and he’s persuaded me to enter the Temperst Rally on the 6th November. This is a BIG event – it’s part of the British Rally Championship (albeit we’ll be doing a ‘cut down’ version), and is hardcore. Unlike us! But I’ve sent (and e-mailed) my entry, so we could be “in”. Possibly – I’ve not heard back from the Entries Secretary, but they’re doing the seeding today, so I guess I’ll find out soon enough if we’re in or not. In the meantime, some mods are needed for the car:

Spotlamps – some of the stages will be in the dark!
Maplight – for Kev to see where we’re going
Tyres – Fortunately Gary Hayter of Ebblake Tyres has some good gravel tyres for us. That should help!