“Last year, our first in the National championship, was a big step forward for me and Gemma [Price - my co-driver]. I wasn't fully prepared for the event and in that situation, it bit back at me,” he explained.
“It was hot and very tricky and we went off the road on the seventh stage. I feel we were unlucky to get stuck on a stump, as several other cars had gone off at the same spot but managed to get back on again.
“But there were times on the event where I felt very tired, physically and mentally and like I wasn't able to continue. I simply wasn't ready for the conditions but I learned an awful lot, which has meant that this year, I will be much better prepared.”
Tom's fitness programme over the winter has concentrated on building stamina and upper-body strength, to cope with the demands of competing on the Talsi event and the others in the championship. He mixes rowing and running to build overall endurance and combines that with resistance training to increase strength, particularly in the arms and upper body. However, Tom admits that this weekend's rally is the toughest challenge he is likely to face this season.
“The Talsi rally has a huge variety of conditions. Most of the stages are very fast and open, on loose gravel with many of the locals comparing the stages to those in Finland for the World Rally Championship round. However, there are also stages on the event that are very tight, twisty and technical and to succeed, you have to be completely reliant on the pace notes to understand how to deal with the blind crests and the fast, open corners.
“The stages are also quite soft, so they tend to cut-up quite badly and a lot of rocks get pulled out into the road, which we need to be very wary of. This will make things tricky for us, with two wheel-drive but at least, it will be the same for our competitors.”
Having completed the recce two weeks prior to the start of the event, Tom has a much clearer idea of the challenges ahead.
“The recce was a very long weekend – we didn't get home until 4am on Monday morning! But it was very good. We are allowed three passes over the stages for the Latvian National championship events and they will definitely be needed. It's quite a tricky event and will be a huge challenge but one I'm definitely looking forward to.
![Tom Cave in action on the 2008 Rally Kekava. [Pic credit: Arturs Tinte, www.lifemirror.lv]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/436708.jpg)
