The rally was on the Chinese/Russian boarder and it was absolutely fantastic to have the opportunity to experience the local food and culture. The rally was very, very fast with many long straights and sweeping corners, but it was still quite narrow, which was an interesting challenge. It was quite hard to judge braking points when we were reaching 130 mph.
We started the final day of the rally in eighth place overall but annoyingly dropped to ninth by the end of the event. However I was delighted to achieve my first ever top-ten finish on an international status event and reached my pre-rally target.
It was celebrations all round with David winning his seventh Chinese Rally Championship round in a row too. The WY team did a great job with the car that was faultless, and Craig did an outstanding job while also really enjoying the experience. Hopefully we can do a few more events in China together. David and Ieuan were once again great and giving both Craig and I advice through the rally that kept us pumped up at all times.
Back in England and the next date on my diary was the MSA British Rally Academy training day. It was an interesting programme with team building exercises, sponsorship training, and most importantly driving and pace note training with WRC regulars Marcus Gronholm, Matt Wilson, Phil Mills, Dan Barrett and Scott Martin. Its good to be able to get advice from such experienced people and I tried to soak up as much information as possible.
Next on the list is the Trackrod Rally in Yorkshire. I can’t wait to get back onto gravel with the Suzuki. I have experience of parts of the stages from doing the North Humberside Rally in 2007. I really enjoyed them back then, so now I can’t wait for the event to get underway.
Nick.
To find out more about Nick visit his personal website:
http://www.nickrowland.co.uk/ or simply
CLICK HERE.
