Towncross South Downs Stages, Goodwood Race Circuit, Saturday 3rd February 2007

Goodwood. Home to the famous and popular Festival of Speed and historical Revival, I count it as an honour to be able to say that I have competed at such a prestigious race track. Last year was the first time the team had been to Goodwood, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the day. This year was no different. We arrived at the venue at about half past seven, and suddenly scrutineering, documentation and noise testing was all over in the blink of an eye, or so it seemed!

This year the organisers had made some interesting changes to the stages. Instead of starting on the track, every stage started in the car park where we had left our trailers. It was an exciting start - a hairpin left followed by a hairpin right straight into a very tight hairpin left, then a narrow 90degree right run before you turned left onto the track. Then began the fun with the chicanes and high speed! On the first stage we had a slight off towards the end of the first lap, but soon recovered. The soft mud we went into knocked our rear wheels out of balance, so for the next 2 stages as we picked up speed, the car was vibrating wildly! On stage 2 as we went through one chicane we knocked into one of the pallets, leaving behind our left wing mirror and door handle! Other than those 2 mishaps, we had a pretty smooth run, apart from a bit of a wobble on the last couple of stages as we entered the track on a hairpin right.

There were no major problems with the car in the run-up to the event, or during the event itself, which was a blessing from God for which we are truly grateful. We thank God for keeping us safe throughout the day, and for blessing us with good weather and a fun day.

We were very proud of our final result too! Seeded car number 21 of 38, we finished 15th out of 33, only 12 seconds behind another Cosworth that clearly had a lot of money behind them. We were running with gravel set-up on the rear of the car, pretty much unheard of in rallying circles! We averaged about 52/53mph throughout the day, with a top speed of 99mph at the very end of the last stage of the day.

All in all, everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we praise and thank God for His many blessings upon us.

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Bill Cammack Memorial Rally, Manby, Lincolnshire, Saturday 24th February 2007

The day started out very wet, causing concerns for us, as we only had 2 wet tyres. To make matters worse, at the drivers briefing we were informed that there was a lot of standing water on the stages, in some places it was ankle deep. So we stuck the wets on the front of the car, and prayed for safety!

Stage 1 gave us an insight into how crazy the event was! There were so many cars on the stage at one point, that there were often three or four cars all bunched together on chicanes etc. Following a large water splash on a hairpin bend, we had a rather large spin, but recovered from that quickly.

Stage 2 was cancelled due to a serious accident, and althouogh the driver had to be taken to hospital, there were no hugely serious injuries, although it had potential to be much worse. The driver returned to the event later in the day, for which we thank God.

Around about stage 4 we ran into a hay bale, knocking it clean out of the way! We were concerned that the front of the car had sustained some damage, but on return to service were relieved to discover that we'd only pushed the number plate in a little bit.

As the day progressed the weather brightened a little bit and the stages dried out somewhat, but it was still very wet and slippy in places. Stage 7 saw us involved in another big spin on the same corner as the first one, but other than that, we had fairly clean runs on all stages.

The end of the day brought a beautiful double rainbow with it, reminding us of God's promises fulfilled. The rainbow reminds us of His promise to never flood the earth again, but it was also a welcome reminder of His promises to protect us and to care for us.

Overall we finished 14th out of 28 finishers, having been seeded 25th out of 41 entrys. I was also awarded a trophy for Highest Placed Lady Competitor, which I feel so blessed to have been given. Of course, it was all a team effort, and if any one member was missing, we would have ground to a halt!

Once again, God provided us with another days entertainment, new friendships, and many things to thank Him for. We thank you again for your prayers, and praise God for His goodness to us.

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