The Alan Healy Memorial Rally at Cadwell Park was once again the scene for the final round of the MSN Circuit Rally Championship. We went into the event with me sitting 2nd in class B, 8 points behind MX-5 driver Paul Sheard.

Unfortunately we didn’t get off to the best start. On stage one we were forced to pull over after hearing a scraping noise and suspecting a puncture. I pulled over and Jamie got out to check. Fortunately we didn’t have a puncture but lost over a minute as we stopped to check.

We got back into service and it turned out to be a direction post which a fellow competitor had knocked onto the stage and we had run over. It was stuck under the car and when we drove back into service it stuck to the ground sheet. Fortunately it didn’t seem to have done much damage but resulted in the smell of burning plastic in the car after!

We had a slightly cautious run on stage 2 then were pleased with our progress on stages 3 and 4 as we aimed to make up time from our stop on stage 1. For stage 5 as the conditions dried out we swapped our wet tyres for intermediates on the rear and softs on the front which worked really well and helped us improve our standings ahead of the lunch break.

Unfortunately stage 6 was where things went wrong. On the second lap we went round a nine right and through a gate but unfortunately ran a little wide and clipped some tyres and the gate which launched us onto two wheels. Luckily we didn’t roll but damaged the steering in the process so when we landed back down I wasn’t able to steer the car and we went through the fence. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to restart due to damage to the steering and radiator so that was the end of the event for us and our championship hopes.

We were sitting comfortably in 2nd in class B in the championship so in spite of our disappointment at not finishing the event were pleased to finish 2nd in class again after a somewhat challenging season. Keep an eye out for my season report for the MSN Rally Championship which will be on the website shortly.