This event, I just don't know what to tell you really. We've had a bit of everything: sun on Saturday gave way to fog and rain on Sunday, the stages (I didn't even think this was possible) became even rougher, we've had mechanical issues, driver error and all sorts. But here's the important bit: we WON our class!
So we took a bog standard Hyundai i20 1.2 Classic 3dr from factory fresh to a class win at Wales Rally GB - one of the toughest WRC events - in under a year. That speaks volumes for the work done by 586 Motorsport who have built, maintained and run it for us, and the solidity of the original product. I know it doesn't look standard, but underneath the spare WRC panels this is still essentially a road car.
The main reason day three was so rough is that all the international class cars had been through each stage twice before we got there. It was like trench warfare from start to finish. The 4wd stuff had dug so deep into the Kinmel Park stage that it was nearly underground, but I couldn't care because the car that went off ahead of me was a V8 Vauxhall Firenza driven by Jimmy McRae.
It was as we were waiting at Kinmel that we heard Rob Tuer, the chap who was leading our B2 class by a country mile, go through. His Super 1600 MG sounded dog-awful. Co-driver Jack Morton and I exchanged a meaningful glance.
Kinmel was another country park stage - easy to drive and unlikely to catch you out. Alwen and Brenig, the last two stages of the rally, were a different matter.
Welsh forests are full of traps. There'll be grip on one corner, but you'll turn in identically at the next and get nothing. On the whole I couldn't believe the purchase the DMack tyres found on slick rock and thick mud, nor the fact we didn't suffer a single puncture, especially on the last day. The general theme was sloppy mud over harsh rock, carved by the passage of snorting WRC cars. I think there was a moment or two when the sump guard wasn't grinding the surface, but I can't be sure...
I had an off in Brenig, taking a slightly wide line into a tight two right half-long (that's a real note, by the way), but must have misjudged my turn-in by about six inches, so instead of grip, I got nothing and the nose ploughed straight into the undergrowth. In these circumstances there's only one thing to do: keep it absolutely pinned and pray.
We popped back out. Others weren't so lucky. It's the last seven miles of the whole rally, people just want to get to the finish and yet we saw at least five cars off in that stage, including a Subaru that had rolled within 300 yards of the finish. I bet it wasn't because he was trying too hard, but that he, like me, made a small misjudgement and it cost him big.
Jack and I were elated just to have made it through. We pulled over just after coming out of the last stage, shook hands in a gentlemanly manner and took a selfie (it's the slightly blurry one). But rallying isn't just about being fast through the stages - you also have to navigate yourself around the road sections and get to places on time. It's not over until the final stamp is in the time card.
And as we were coming out of Brenig we saw our class leader pulled over at the side of the road. We drove on and halfway back to Llandudno got the good news via text. He hadn't made it through Alwen. We'd won. I drove like a complete granny all the way back to final time control in Llandudno.
Then it was podium, silverware, team hugs, big smiles and well, that's it, adventure over. But that can't be the end. This has been too much fun.
TG drives Wales Rally GB: day one
TG drives Wales Rally GB: day two
First picture: Jamie Matthias
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