Yesterday the championship kicked off again at Brands Hatch after a 6 week break over Christmas and New Year. Brands Hatch hasn't been my favourite round in the past as we've struggled to get a good result there but I was really looking forward to getting back out in the car and seeing what we could do.

It was very icy and slippery at the start of the day, making it the first dry round of the season so far. We'd anticipated using a dry set up but due to it being so icy we decided to change to our Michelin wet tyres to maximise grip on stage 1. We managed to have a good, clean run through the first stage and were delighted to set the quickest time in class B, and 15th overall out of 87 starters, in very challenging conditions.

We continued to have a good run for the rest of the morning, although some of the quicker cars closed in on us as conditions and grip improved. By the end of stage 6 we were sitting 3rd in class (1st of the championship class competitors) so we were really pleased with that and hoping to take maximum championship points.

Conditions remained challenging on stage 7 and we had gone back on to intermediate tyres to maximise grip as temperatures began to drop. Unfortunately the car started sliding going round a corner just after the rally school section. I tried to correct it but we had a spin and hit a kerb. This did significant damage to the car, including the left rear wheel and we were unable to continue, unfortunately suffering our first DNF of the season.

It was disappointing for us not to finish the event but the pace we had up to that point gives us the confidence that the pace is there and we are hoping for a strong result at Cadwell Park in 2 weeks. As the championship allows each competitor to drop one round, hopefully this result shouldn’t impact too significantly upon our championship hopes.

Next weekend I head to Finland for some ice driving with Matt Edwards, before we return to Cadwell Park on 2nd February.