George Cooke and I met in the service area for our second attempt at the Horiba and despite the weather being misty and not at all nice we were looking forward to rallying together.

The car and crew flew through noise (94db so no problems there) and scrutineering with no problems and moved on to signing on. Once we had signed on I open my documentation to find the stage plans are completely free of route directions and in some cases even start and finish locations! George returned to the service area and the service crew (thanks for your help lads) and I ~ along with many other co-drivers ~ marked up the maps.

Out for stage one and all went well apart from me forgetting to call a hairpin right, close to the end of the stage ~ George coped and we survived. Stage 2 was the same as stage 1, except I remember to call the hairpin this time. And we manage to improve our stage time by 11 seconds.

Stages 3 and 4 are the same but for stage 3 the starter motor is not keen to start the car, we complete the stage with no mishaps though. During service the service team have a look at the starter but can not do much due to time constraints and it still will not turn the engine so we head off to Stage 4 with a bump start. We manage to complete stage 4 but only just, as we stop at the passage control so does the engine ~ it will not start again!! Next car into the control is Mark Weller and Paul Robinson in their Mark 1 Escort who kindly tow us back into service. We have an hour and a half service to fix the problem before we have to be at the start of stage 5. The service team decide the alternator is at fault and get to work changing the it. The new alternator fixed the problem and we headed off into stage 5 with renewed hope (we had lost about 3 mins on stage 4 thanks to the problem).

Stages 5 & 6 are completed with no problems or dramas to mention, the new alternator works well and we move into the final stages hoping for a finish.

Stages 7 & 8 pass with nothing of note occurring, we came through the event with little to report except the alternator problem and a few minor off track moments. Both George and I were very pleased to reach the finish (this having been George’s first rally in 2001).

The 309, with it’s added AAT livery, will be next out on Jersey in October. We are hoping for an equally enjoyable two days rallying and both want a finish on this taxing tarmac event.

Final result: 29th overall, 6th in class.

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