Then it started to go wrong… On the fourth stage the exhaust fell off. That made it very noisy inside the car, and meant I didn’t hear Neil calling a note that a corner tightened quite a lot… The result was we went straight off into the trees in fifth gear and at 100mph. It was quite a big accident, but we were lucky – we went through about three or four trees and were quite a way off the road, but we just managed to miss all the trunks.
That ripped the wing mirror and roof vent off the car, but the damage to the bodywork was all superficial. The problem was we ran out of time to recover it, meaning we had to take advantage of SupeRally and the ten-minute time penalty that imposes and start again the next morning. That effectively was the end of the event for us. I think they call it character-building…
It was without doubt the biggest off I’ve ever had. I was quite shaken up, but we got straight back out again on Saturday morning and set some good times. After a big accident like that, the most important thing is to get back out on the stages as quickly as you can. By that time we were using the event more as a test session, rather than worrying too much about the times.
Unfortunately we didn’t finish on the Saturday either – we had to retire at second service because the exhaust had come off again and the fuel tank guard had ripped right through, and we couldn’t afford to have a fire. We did get more and more used to the car though. It’s a lot twitchier than the MG – you think the back end is stepping out but actually it isn’t; it’s just the way the car handles. I had never driven a car with a flat-shift sequential gearbox either, but once you get your head around the way the car works, it’s really rewarding to drive and I definitely feel more at home in it now.
