Driffield, the result.

The Armstrong Massey Rally didn't quite have the desired result but it was still heartening! Tyre problems kept us off the leading pace, we only had tarmac tyres and the venue's muddy nature suited forest M&S tyres far, far better. Those problems resulted a couple of time consuming spins and a general lack of grip on the muddy (and rough) gravel sections.
At lunch we were 3rd overall and expecting to stay there with no chance of moving up and little competition from behind. We reinforced our position and were actually in second overall as stage 7 started. The first 6 runs through the stages had resulted in very rough conditions on the gravel sections forcing Adrian to slow and drive around holes and troughs rather than drive with full commitment. These conditions weren't popular in the car and we were exceptionally happy to be where we were overall!
Sadly stage 7 saw us push the car onto the trailer and head home. The clutch wasn't functioning quite as it should and it was decided that we would be better served by retiring and stripping the car than pushing for a second place trophy and risking damage. Conditions had also resulted in the worst retirement and damage rate I've seen at any single venue rally so we were relieved to still have a fully functioning, virtually undamaged car to push back onto the trailer!!
Our stage time were consistantly far quicker than those using comparable tyres and at points we were astoundingly close to those running with full forest tyres so we're delighted with our performance # which may seem a little strange. The team are also pleased that we still have a car in 1 piece that should be ready for another event once the muck and sludge had been washed off. The two pictures show just how bad conditions were, they were taken by Matthew Rudd of matthewruddphotography.co.uk. Visit his site here to see more of his excellent pictures.

Notice the frontal damage caused by the water and ruts.

Not ideal but....

Our result on the Thor Hammer Stages wasn't what we'd hoped for. The gearbox broke on stage one (first gear appears to have disintegrated!) forcing us to retire. We did manage to do later stages once the car had checked over in service so it did still prove to be a very useful test session. Our stage times were well on the pace, despite having a broken 'box.
We learnt a fair bit about the car despite our small amount of running. It now handles as Adrian wants, more oversteer than understeer. it brakes exceptionally well and (when the 'box is working properly) accelerates well too.
Whilst its disappointing to have retired it isn't too bad because we now have chance to rebuild the 'box and we still got about 20 miles of competitive mileage under our belts. With one more small shakedown at a private venue we should head to Jersey knowing the car well.

Down Ampney result.

There were 2 good things for me to take from the Owen Development Stages at Down Ampney:~
(A) my race suit is really, really comfortable, light and generally excellent. The time card pocket on the leg worked perfectly ~ I don't think I'll ever be able to rally without one again!
(B) Despite being a gravel car and running in full forest trim at the weekend the Escort was competitive until the clutch broke followed by yet more driveshaft issues.
Until we retired the Roofing Rally Team Escort had been performing well despite its high ride height and soft suspension. The brakes even coped well despite being a bit smaller than is ideal for tarmac.
We had a slow start in the morning and dropped to the tail off the top 10 but once we'd changed tyres and had a lunchtime break Adrian got the car performing as it should and we set about trying to capture 3rd overall. Looking at the times on the event website we weren't far off achieving that, that was until our mechanical gremlins reduced us to frustrated spectating.
We now have a few items to focus on before our next event:~ (1) sort the driveshaft issues (2) find me a helmet (3) get some testing on proper gravel forestry roads.