Now many people would believe that drivers and co-drivers have a fairly easy run up to an event if there is a team preparing the car and that they don't do anything until they arrive at an event. For sure this may be the case for a grassroots style stage rally, however for an event like the Hemicuda Rally in Belgium this simply is not the case. Preparation began somewhat 5 or more weeks in advance with team schedules, fuel schedules and even pace notes being made. In order for an event to run as smoothly as possible it is important to make sure the preparation is completed to a high standard and that as a co-driver you are able to answer any question that may be fired your way. In order to do this as a co-driver I spend a lot of time before an event reading through the regulations and any other information I can get my hands on for an event and making sure I know it all inside out so that I become a walking, talking set of information. Anyway, all the prep was completed in the run up to the event and this even included a base set of notes created by my driver (Richard Weatherley) through the use of past YouTube videos of the stages which are then cross referenced with the roadbook if available.
After weeks of prep everything is ready to go and the time had come to head to the event on Friday 17th October, which for me means a day full of travelling due to living in the South West of the UK. 5 hours of driving from Devon to Kent via the A303 and the ever slow crawl past stone henge due to a multitude of people slowing down simply to cast an eye over some rocks and I had arrived at Richards. We wasted no time and after a quick hello we got straight to the task at hand by going through 3 of the 4 stages together with our notes to ensure that we had as good a set as possible before the recce on Saturday. An hour of recce with the videos and we set off to the Euro Tunnel to catch our train across to Calais, which was surprisingly the smoothest security checks we have had as it seems I am always stopped and Richard loves to remind of the fact it is only ever when he is with me that he gets stopped.....must be something about me. This time was different though and we flew through passport checks and security to get onto our train, which is where we went through the final video of the event. It is always handy to do this as it not only makes use of the time on the train, but also allows us to stay sharp in terms of the notes. After a quick run through of the notes, we were happy and the train pulled into Calais where we then set about heading to our accommodation for the weekend, which this time was only an hour from the train on the outskirts of Koekelare. Arriving an hour later and then a quick trip to the shops for supplies and we were ready for a long day ahead tomorrow (Saturday and Day 1 of the event).
Saturday on this event is a long and busy one as it is not only a day full of recce and admin checks but it also hosted stage 1 of the event in the evening. With this in mind I made sure that I got up a little earlier to get a quick run in just to get myself moving for the day, but I also find it helps to focus the mind on the task at hand. 2.5 miles of dark running before 7am and a scare from a kitten that was hiding below the road in a drainage ditch ready to jump out at me and I was ready for the day ahead. On the way to recce signing on we met up with the EDSL team to pass on all our kit and paperwork that they would require for scrutineering, but also to share a bit of classic banter and comradery as after all it is a team sport and we appreciate the work that they put in!
A quick 10 minute drive later and we were in the center of Koekelare at Cafe Monroe to sign on for the recce but with signing on opening at 8.30am and it being 8.15am we made the most of the spare 15 minutes by going and getting some freshly baked pastries for breakfast. Signing on time had arrived and we set about ensuring that we completed everything as quickly as possible and then just double checked the contents of our pack to ensure we had everything needed. Once happy we set about locating the service area and simply getting our bearings ahead of the recce beginning as we weren't allowed on the stages until 9am. Bearings acquired and a recce plan of checking through the notes of Sunday's stages first was in motion so we headed out to stage 2 (Kortemark) for our first run of recce. The road book was simple enough and with a few landmarks added for ease on the day, we were into the stage and checking the notes we had gone over multiple times prior with the videos. We were extremely pleased to say that the notes for this stage were absolutely perfect and we felt that there was nothing more to gain by going over the stage again. Thus meant we were heading to stage 3 (Houthulst) and this is where the plain sailing event started to fall apart everso slightly. An error on the road book from the organisers made us miss a junction by 2.6km thus meaning there were multiple crews driving around in confusion attempting to get the roadbook to work. Not one to give up and just head to the stage start via google maps, I sat working it out with a map and got to the bottom of the issue 3 hours before the organisers released an amendment for the section. Crisis resolved and roadbook now altered we were into the stage checking through the notes, which flowed nicely but due to some "traffic" on the stage we opted to loop back around and run it again whilst it was fresh and this proved useful. Now onto stage 4 (Koekelare) and whilst we were travelling there we had the realisation that Richard had forgotten his fire retardant underlayers so we needed to source some before we could compete later that day! It seems that we were in the perfect place as a shop not far away sold anything and everything rally based, so after a successful couple runs through the next stage on the recce we headed off to the shop. As much as forgetting the kit was not ideal this did allow us to have a bit of a break from the recce and also feel like children in a toy shop....oh the things we could have brought!!! A huge thanks to the guys at Alltech Seys, Langemark for their service and keeping us in the event.
Break finished and a quick bite to lunch whilst on the move, we were at the start of the final stage to recce which was incidentally the first stage of the event (Middelkerke). We felt that this stage was the hardest of the event due to the nature of the roads being so narrow and bumpy, but also with plenty of ditches around ready to swallow you whole! 2 runs of recce and many a note altered we were ready to go for the start of the vent later that day. With a few hours to wait we utilised the time by heading to service and meeting up with the team who had now been through scrutineering with the car. To make sure we were ready for later we ensured everything was in the car that needed to be for the event, as well as getting ourselves dressed appropriately too, although this was a welcome task due to a chilled wind and the race suits being multiple layers thick thus keeping us warm!
The time had come to get the event on the road and complete stage 1 of the event. With a start time of 6pm and the sun due to set within the next hour we opted to run our lamp pod just incase there was a delay and darkness began to set in. Off we went to the first stage all excited to get going and even though there was no delay we didn't mind the fact we had a small bit of extra weight on the front of the car. Lining up on the start line I reminded Rich that we needed to be precise due to the nature of the stage, but also that even though our finishing position on this stage would deem our starting position on Sunday we didn't need to try and be heroes. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and we were into the stage fully focused on the task at hand and flying through the stage. Any "rust" from both myself and Rich due to being out of the car for 2 months was instantly gone and we were happy with our performance on the stage to take 11th fastest thus sitting 11th fastest overnight. Off to service for a quick check over and then into Parc Ferme where we were parked alongside some incredible machinery and a huge array of Rally2 cars. Citroen parked and we were picked up by EDSL's very own Alex Waterman who took us back to the service area where we would drop him and take the recce car back to our accommodation for a well deserved rest after a long day. A quick trip out for a bite to eat and then we were back and into our beds ahead of day 2.
Day 2....no run this morning due to an early start and the excitement of a full days rallying laying ahead being enough to get me going! Back to Parc Ferme we go and this time our taxi driver was EDSL's Ryan. As ever the C3 was sat pretty and then fired up without any issues so we headed to service for a quick check on tyre choice before the first loop of 3 stages. Hardly any time passed in service before we were then off to the first stage of the day. As ever we were chatting away on the road section and were feeling good ahead of the day, so we lined up on the start line of stage 2. Again, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and we were in and what a start we had, we were on it! Sadly, though the stage was cancelled half way through due to another car having an accident and blocking the road. I am pleased to report that they were OK and after a brief delay in the stage we were sent out of the stage at a previous junction to make our way to stage 3. At moments like this it is a bit of a spectacle as there was a long line of rally cars following one another through village roads all heading to the next stage. Anyway, stage 3 and hoping for a clean run we lined up and did exactly that.....except a jump start on stage 3 resulting in a 10s penalty but with 7 stages still to go of the event we put this behind us and cracked on. Stage 4 seemed to suit Richard perfectly and we were 6th fastest through so we held our heads high going into service ahead of the next loop of stages.
Loop 2 of day 2 seemed to fly by without a hitch and we found ourselves in a tight battle for the top 10 with a number of Belgian crews but also with a couple UK crews, so the fight was on! After the 2nd loop which meant 7 stages of the rally completed we found ourselves laying 9th overall with a handful of seconds to catch ahead of us, but also a handful of seconds over the crew laying 10th. It was still all to play for and in service ahead of the final loop there was a lot of talk about strategy for the final loop due to the weather forecast throwing a potential spanner in the works....
Rain was set to come, but with multiple forecasts all saying a different time it was simply a case of when would the rain come? Would we get through all 3 stages before it comes or will we get caught out on dry tyres in the rain? We eventually decided that the rain would come at some point during the loop so we took a gamble of running wets and began our rain dance....there was even talk of us having a BBQ later that day just to try and tempt the weather gods to rain on us sooner than predicted! Out of service and out of re-group the clouds began to gather, so we were hopeful that it would rain for the whole loop. Spits of rain began to fall on the way to stage 8, but sadly that was all we had at this moment in time meaning that we were out on wets in dry conditions. This didn't phase us and we reckon that the wet tyres only cost us 5 or so seconds in that stage, due to the amount of gravel and surface changes thus allowing the wets to perform fairly well. Onto the next stage and the spits of rain began to fall again...once again getting our hopes up, but alas it was not meant to be yet again. With the fight still very much on we were pushing on through the stage and got caught out on a slot SqR resulting in a half spin. We were sideways across the road with the car refusing to go into gear and when it did we had to do the classic Austin Powers manoeuvre of shunting back and fourth before being able to carry on. 39s lost at this single point of the stage and we had dropped down the standings from 9th to 12th with what seemed like little hope to reclaim any positions due to a relatively short stage remaining for event. However, during regroup it began to pour! Finally! The BBQ was canceled and our rain dances had worked, so we headed to the final stage of the rally knowing that we had the right tyres compared to all those ahead of us that had opted to take either soft or medium tyres instead of wets like us.
Upon arrival of the start line the rain had made puddles and turn the dry grippy tarmac into something that could only resemble an ice rink due to how shiny some of the roads were. For one last time we got into the right mindset and headed into the stage and oh boy what a stage that was. A seriously mature, committed run from Rich saw us have one small moment under braking on shiny tar where the whole car went silent, but gathering this us and then proving the ability of the tyres, car and crew he got us over the finish line to take the stage win by 9.9s over anyone else! This is a huge milestone for us as a crew as it is our first closed road rally stage win and I for sure hope that this is the first of many. Absolutely buzzing with the stage win we were also able to over throw others and comeback from 12th to 10th overall. Not only that but we came 5th in the class 3I and finished 3rd FIRC Crew home which is great points haulage!
For sure we would have liked to have not lost nearly a minute in total throughout the event as this would have helped our overall position, but this is rally and not everything is plain sailing all the time. We have come away from the event with smiles on our faces and what more can you ask other than that? If you don't enjoy it then you shouldn't be doing it.
A huge congratulations to Richard Pex for taking the FIRC Championship win with 1 more round still to run. It has been a great year comparing ourselves to the flying dutchman and we hope to tighten that gap over the next few events.
Thanks must go to the organisers and marshals for putting on a sterling event but also to the EDSL team for all their hard work and for keeping the car in top form for us. Obviously I cannot forget the man in the car with me and I am appreciative of him having me in each event so thanks must go to Richard Weatherley and the TCS Micropumps and Weatherley Design team!
Now to begin preparations for the next one! Rally Kortrijk.....3 weeks and counting.
