Can we hold on to 2 ^nd overall in the championship? It’s the final round of the Heart of England Rally Championship, and this one was a bit of a roller-coaster!

We arrived at Donington Park the day before the rally and promptly got the Rover through noise check and scrutineering. We stayed overnight in the service van on what was a very windy, cold and wet evening. A game of cards, and some dancing in the van to get us warm, was enjoyed before an early night was had. Compete with hot water bottle!

A bit of a rough night, but the morning soon came round and we jumped into our thermals and race suits, put the kettle on, and got the car ready. We had borrowed some 14” tyres from our friend John Petrie, and with smaller Mazda MX5 wheels, we were hoping we would be quicker in places we have previously been sluggish. We were running 22psi slicks on the front, and 18psi wets on the rear.

We arrived at MTC1 at our allotted time of 09.50, and were raring to go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and we’re off! The first stage was very slippery in places, and we kept off the racing line while the track was still damp. We had a bit of moment coming down into the dip, as the fast 45 left was very slippery. A bit of tank slapping, but thankfully I kept it planted and managed to hold it on the tarmac. On our final lap of the circuit, we saw our friends Helena and Ade Mayall joining us at the merge. Now, Ade and I have fond memories of an epic battle at Down Ampney in 2019, in a similar meeting on the merge situation. The result was that I spun the Escort as Ade put the pressure on. You can imagine his face and hand gestures as he happily trundled past! Obviously, I didn’t want a repeat this weekend but as it happened, I was ahead as they came from the merge and once again the pressure was on! I had an advantage, as I’d already done two loops so knew where it was most slippery. We did a mile or so before the wet surface put us sideways and before I could correct it, we were facing the Alfa 33 of Ade and Helena. I’m sure they had as much laughter in the car as we did!

We were hoping to see a notable improvement in our class position with the smaller wheels, and we were happy to see we finished stage one 4 ^th in Class, just 1 second behind 3^rd. Could we keep up this pace for the remainder of the day?

On the start line of Stage two, we realised we hadn’t adjusted our tyre pressure after SS1. It was too late to do anything, so off we went. Needless to say, another tank slapping moment on the same section of the circuit occurred. We also came too quick into a chicane and locked the wheels, resulting in us deviating slightly from the course and narrowly missing the kitty litter. Back in service we looked at the results, and we had been given a 19-minute stage maximum. It seemed a cruel penalty considering we didn’t gain any real advantage, so we went to contest the decision. We argued our case, but the decision was final.

We went away feeling pretty disheartened, but we took it on the chin and thought ‘Rules are rules’. Sam and I decided, it was time to concentrate on holding onto our championship 2 ^nd place. After all, we only needed to finish the event to secure that. With that in mind, we decided we would take it easy, not push too hard, and just get the car home without any drama. After SS4, a crew servicing across from us told us that several other crews had the same penalty and had also complained. As a result, everyone had their penalty reduced to a more reasonable 30 seconds.

We were now pumped up and ready to push on with just the two final stages left. We set of on stage 5 just as the sun was setting. We had just had a downpour so the surface was once again very wet in places. In one direction we faced low level sun in our eyes, and the other dark skies and a rainbow to chase.

Back in service, we fitted our light bar which had been leant to us by another of our friends, Steve Blackham. This was our first time doing a rally stage in the dark, and while I was very excited for the challenge, Sam was more nervous. We worked just as well as a team in the dark, as we do in daylight. Sam was superb on the note calling, despite not being able to see where we were on the stage and calling the corners by the feel of the car. I found it the most enjoyable stage, especially through the infield gravel section, and to top it all we crossed the final stage finish line on another rally! We finished 7 ^th in a very strong 1400 class, and 56^th overall.

This year was our first time taking part in a championship, and it has been great to see where we stand against other competitors. We now know what we need to do to the Rover, to work our way up the field next year. Final results have not yet been published, but provisionally we have finished the championship 2 ^nd Overall and 1^st in Class. Reliability has been key this year, as we have finished every event in the calendar. Of course, we are a team, and this result would not have been possible without the help of the rally family who have always stepped in to help with on-event servicing and repairs. Special Thanks must go to those already mentioned, as well as Rob Hayden and Jon Shepherd!

The Heart of England Rally Championship has been completely revamped by Matt Walk, the new co-ordinator and now caters for smaller modern forced induction cars too. We have found the group to be very friendly and welcoming, and we’d encourage you to come and join us next year!