Olympus Rally Pre-View!

It was around this time, just a couple of years ago, that I was on a flight back from Seattle to London. Nothing too out of the ordinary with that. As with the 300 or so other passengers, I had plenty of time to think; except I doubt anyone else on that flight had the same thoughts as me. All that occupied my mind was the fact I had just let an overall rally victory slip away, by less than 5 seconds.

Almost 200 competitive kilometers, two full days of incredible stages, amazing scenery and intense competition and the difference came down to less time than it takes to read a reasonable length sentance.

But, that is the way it should be, isn't it? I do this job ultimately to succeed and to achieve the very best performance and result at each and every rally. So when a victory is so close, the flight home seems an awful lot longer.

So here we are, Olympus Rally 2009. Having moved the 2008 rally away from some of the bext stages in the USA (in my opinion), to gravel roads more akin to highways stretching over fields, hills, valleys and occasionaly passing the odd residence, I think the feeling is it will be nice to get back into the forests. This year the event moves about as far west as you can get in the USA,
based in a town called Aberdeen in Washington State, and im very much looking forward to getting out there.

This will be the second time co-driving for Canadian Andrew Comrie-Picard in his open class Mitsubish Evo9. After a great result on round 2 of the series we'll be looking to improve on our second place. That very goal in itself doesn't leave much room for error. Everything has to be perfect; the car, the mechanics, the pace notes, me, and of course the driver.

So incase you havn't already realised, it doesn't just happen. The pace is fast and our competitors are about as prepared as you can get. With a factory Subaru team fielding two cars driven by a guy who has won the most gutsy event of the year, 3 times. And by another driver who can double backflip a motorcross bike, its never easy. Then theres a new Evo 10, this time the driver feels at home performing stunts in hollywood movies and with back-to-back Formula Drift titles in hand, you could say he's competent. As if that wasn't enough, a very highly rated Polish driver will surely feature in the top few stagetimes.

Numerous other drivers are there to grab any advantage they can and with the pace of the new Super Production class, they have to be ones to watch.

So with that said, do we change our approach? Take a different game plan to the table? Try something slightly more risky? No, we do what we do best. Make a good set of notes and drive as fast as we can to them. And may the best team win.

Flight leaves in 3 hours!