After the Chatsworth BRC day, Suzuki held its first official test at Bill Gwynne Rally School. I was able to borrow one of last years works cars for the day and found it very useful to spend some time with James Wozencroft in the car to give some pointers. James used the car in the BRC and Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2007. It was also good to meet the other Swift Cup competitors, who all seemed to enjoy the day.
I had also found a new co-driver in the form of Tim Sturla, who has previously competed in the JWRC and BRC. We got on really well on the test and it was a big relief to have it all sorted once again.
However, I was not totally happy with my night driving and quickly looked for ways to have another go. However with all the cars busy getting prepped for the rally and everyone at FX Motor Sports flat out, I managed to once again call upon the trusty Nissan Micra armed with some second hand spot lights.
I did a low budget one hour test at Sweet Lamb one evening with a couple of good friends from the F1000 car club, and although it was not ideal, it really helped me get another feel for driving in the dark.
So, after a really busy month it was a relief to finally get to the Pirelli. The shakedown went really well and I found the whole thing so exciting. Being in the TQ/ FX Motor Sports team is such a privilege and, although a little daunting at first, great to be part of such a big and professional team at my age.
The recce also went pretty smoothly and I was feeling really happy with the car and the notes we had made.
Then, disaster struck on stage 1. I started the test really going for it, but it was not long at all before I noticed lots of what looked like steam or smoke coming out of the bonnet, and the temp gauge going through the roof. It was hard to describe how I felt but I initially really struggled to slow myself down as I was desperate to put in a good performance, however sense quickly set in and I backed right off as I tried to keep the engine temperature down, not revving the engine and backing off on the straights. We nursed the car to the end of the stage but we were going no further. It turned out the fan belt had broken somewhere in the stage, possibly a stone had hit it by fluke. I was gutted.
