Life and Times; Here are Mine

Close But No Cigar

2009-05-19T14:05:00.005-04:00

There was just over 1 second in it at one point. From ACP and myself to Travis Pastrana it couldn't have been much closer. With Tanner in his increasingly rapid Evo X another handful of seconds behind us, it was flat out, nothing else would do.

Stage start in the NorthWest. Mountains, sunshine and tough competition.....!

Ken Block had already sufferd the effects of a punture and retired with broken suspension, but then we lost a rear tyre, spun and had no choice but to limp to the end of the stage. That, as they say, was effectively that.

There we have it, 100% flat out for 2 days and missed the podioum by less than 3 seconds. However those that kept up that pace and didn't get dramas thouroughly deserved their champagne.

Although it was a very hot and dusty rally, a big enough cut on that corner and you got wet...

As I reported previously, that was the first of a string of events over the next month. A tough one to start at that. Although we didnt bring home the points we wanted, I did bring back some sunburn and jet lag as per usual.

Im back home now, and trying to stay awake to get back in to UK time ASAP for this weekend. I head up north tomorrow, ready to start the recce for the Jim Clark Rally on Thursday.

Then, just as soon as i've got back into GMT, its off to Canada and to the Rocky Mountain Rally in this car

In just 24hrs i'll be back to the British Championship and some classic tarmac roads with Kris Hall in the Fiesta ST. Bring it on.

Here and Now!

2009-05-06T17:05:00.002-04:00

Last couple of weeks have been fairly plain and straightforward really, no travelling and not much to report! But heres a brief update anyway.

- Leaving my phone in the hotel in Belgium wasn't my smartest move, still not recieved it and they promised they sent it back. Right.

- Instructing at the London Rally School kept me out of trouble for a few days. I find it good fun to share my experience and point people in the right direction down a stage!

- Im starting to build the wiring harness for an 2009 Impreza Turbo Diesel 24hr Endurance race car. Yes, you read it right, an oil burner. It will have the WRC body work and do over 170mph so its no ordinary old smoker.

- Almost had a last minute rush to the Isle of Man, not to compete but to lend a hand to a recently injured friend. Will save the competing over there until the International rally in a couple of months.

-Watched my first full 90minutes of football in well over a year. Arsenal lost. Dammit.

- My plans for the next few weeks are pretty crazy and I think there are two possible approaches. Plan every detail; each flight, every different rule and regulation ( at least 3 different championships in 4 weeks); every tyre option and fuel level, every hotel for each different city and country, every stage recce'd, notes made and car set-up needed, and so on. Or just kind of go with the flow, make sure I make the first plane and let it all happen!!!

Hmm, best re-fill the printer.... 4 international rallies, 4 weekends.....here we go.

Either way, pics and write ups on here!!! Soon!!!

Last 7 days!

2009-04-28T14:21:00.005-04:00

Fantastic. As the bow door of the boat opens, we instantly need the wipers and headlights. Well at least I know the captain has brought us home and not made some giant navigational error and ended up in Spain. I would normally be able to tell we are home as the sight of the white cliffs can signify that we are nowhere else but Dover. However, today it’s not just raining sideways, but the fog is giving us 50m visibility so no cliffs today as far as I’m concerned. I’m definitely home!

It’s been another amazing week or so since the Olympus Rally and I must have covered some serious mileage using planes, boats, buses, road cars, recce cars, rally cars and even a bike at one point (ok I’ll admit that was in a brief gap between planes, it didn’t really get me anywhere but tired out...)

This place served great ice cream. One of the plus sides on the recce!

However I can officially report that the Renault Clio R3 Maxi was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I mean, the open class 4wd cars are fast, don’t get me wrong. Knocking on the door of 340hp and 500 ft/lbs of torque means that the cars are doing 120+mph between the trees without thinking about it, and if things go wrong it all happens rather fast. But there’s nothing quite like a full GpA style car. With all the major bits solidly mounted to the shell, no noise limits, sequential flat-shift gearboxes and rev-limits set somewhere around 8500rpm, its one hell of a ride. And that’s before you hear what sounds like someone sitting in the boot firing a shotgun each time you pull the next gear with your right foot firmly buried on the boards.

Pre-start. There were 200 rally cars in here.....

Last weekends’ Rally Wallonie in Belgium was round one of the West European Trophy that this year incorporates the Clio R3 Trophy. Co-driving for Tom Walster, we were the UK contingent amongst a great turn out of crews. I counted entries from; Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and the UK and I’m sure there’s one I’m missing!

Based on my experience with single make series’, which is fairly extensive I suppose, I figured there would be a couple of extremely fast drivers setting the pace, there were. Then a handful of fast drivers setting times close together and fighting for 3rd, 4th, 5th places and so on. There were. Next, I figured there would be a couple of drivers ‘learning the ropes’ so to speak, or getting problems or crashing or whatever, either way there’s always a few that don’t have the pace. How wrong was I?!!!!

You had to drive 100% and get everything right just to be within a country mile of anyone. After the first super special run around a castle, (at night, featuring 2 laps on dirt around a football pitch, followed by a 3km downhill run on cobble stones that I imagine were laid for nothing more than horse-drawn vehicles to travel and had the grip of a net full of eels) in front of thousands of very enthusiastic Belgian rally fans we had set 3rd fastest time in the Clio’s. Happy with that. But things hadn’t even started.

Day 1 and the first time Tom had properly driven the R3 in full tarmac trim. Although he was no stranger to the grey stuff, we didn’t yet have set-up he was fully confident in so the first few stages soon gave us a few ideas of things to change and also an idea of the pace of our competitors. Big smiles and some serious learning over the morning saw the rain arrive and immediately that was it, back to square one. By the middle of the second day and after just one spin, 5hrs of sleep and what felt like a hundred tyre changes competed during pretty tight road sections, we had a great set up for the damp conditions. Then it dried out again....ha.

Parc Ferme, the Corolla of Francois Duval closest

Yes yes I know, I should have remembered which country we were in....it’s been a while since I was in Belgium but I do remember watching Layer Cake for the first time whilst (not) working at a test track with Red Bull Racing. We were meant to be aero testing parts for the 2005 F1 car but in reality we should have been racing jet skis around the track.....

So there we have it, 2 days of figuring out the car, getting a set-up sorted, trying not to throw it off the wet and extremely slippy roads and laughing all the way at how much fun these cars really are. It was great to do another rally in Europe and with a solid 6th place finish after various dramas but no real mistakes, it was a relief to head back to the ferry with the car and crew in one piece.

Over and out.

Back In One Piece

2009-04-28T06:25:00.005-04:00

A few pictures from the last adventure; having arrived home last night after a mad 3 weeks or so i'm having a day at home trying to relax..! As I managed to leave my phone in the hotel in Belgium, it looks to be a peaceful day! They say i'll get it back, but I won't hold my breath! I'll write more later today but this will do for now...

The Clio in the pre-start area at Rallye Wallonie, Belgium.

The view from the top of the castle. Jambes, Belgium.

Podium in Washington State, just hours before the hectic sprint 6000 miles back to Europe

No Time, But....

2009-04-21T03:16:00.001-04:00

....after 2 night flights and a mad dash back home, I have 40 mins before leaving to make the 12pm boat across to France. Drive onto Belgium and arrive at the rally tonight to finish plans for tomorrows recce.....

All go this week!

No time to spare

2009-04-20T10:27:00.002-04:00

Another very tough battle with Block, Pastrana and Foust saw us take 2nd overall at Olympus rally. Times were so close and we tied to the tenth of a second both on individual stages and at one point for position with Travis.... Thats how it should be....

Lost 3rd and 4th gear for the last 2 stages which ultimately meant that we couldnt take any time from Travis. However ACP drove very well and even averaged 78mph on the final stage with just 3 gears....

So, I sprayed the champagne in South Bend, Washington. Grabed a ride with one of our crew back to rally HQ, shower, change and jump in the rental/recce car and drove to Seattle. Plane to New York (dont remember much of that...!), short flight to Boston and here I am. With 6hrs until my flight back to London, where I get home and have 2 hrs before leaving for Belgium. Recce starts wednesday!

Pic Update!

2009-04-17T01:42:00.003-04:00

One of the many items on display at the Brooklyn Tavern...!

Practice start in testing yesterday

Quick Update!

2009-04-16T02:26:00.002-04:00

Busy 36hrs so far in the north west. After arriving last night and driving to the hotel, we were up early and heading into the forests for a few hours testing. As I mentioned, I really like the Oregon/Washington part of the country and part of it might be as the forests and landscapes very closely resemble the forests at home. Tall straight pine trees, thousands of them, and that constant feeling that its about to rain, I think that must be why I felt at home...!

Successful test this morning finished off with a late lunch at the Brooklyn Tavern. A 1920's forestry workers bar, the kind of place you just don't see anymore, it was great!

No real dramas with the car but you know the best bit of the day? Home cooked food by yet more friendly and hospitable Americans; the type that you meet one day, figure out a common interest, and get an invite to treat their place as your own the next. Nice.

Roads are great from what i've seen and heard so far. Technical stages, real forest roads; narrow, blind, flowing and hard to make good pacenotes on!

Easy day tomorrow now the official shakedown has been cancelled,

Next update after recce. But as I write this im very much looking forward to getting out there on saturday morning and going flat out.

Olympus Rally Pre-View!

2009-04-14T07:51:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-04-07T12:56:00.002-04:00

Kris Hall and I on round 1 of the British Rally Championship.

The damage sustained from hitting a gatepost sideways at over 90mph is quite well hidden in this picture! Kris did the decent thing and hardly lifted the throttle as the post hit the car just infront of the rear wheel....

Thanks to Songasport once again for the photo....

Still here..!

2009-04-07T12:37:00.003-04:00

For all the messages of 'Where on earth are you?' and 'If you are somewhere interesting or doing something cool, tell us about it!', I thank you.

Fact is, i've been at home for a while, working and playing as always and the time just kind of passed. More to the point, lots of time passed!

So, in a nutshell. I've competed on the second round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy, picked up a puncture and finished 4th...I spent a day filming a new video for the London Rally School, soon to be online at www.rally-school.com. I'm exited to see the result as we spent a full day trying to get it looking good for just over a minute of film...

Got a run in the new Renault Sport R3, mind you it was on gravel, not the cars preferred surface I fear. Do you need to stop and change front tyres halfway through a stage? Yes. But, on a smooth , flowing stage it will be FAST!

Heading out to round 3 of the Rally America series in a few days. This one is in the Pacific North West, not far from Seattle and about as far west as you can go in North America! It's a part of the country I really like spending time in. That said, there'll be no time to take in the scenery, we have one goal, to improve on our 2nd place at the last event. It wont be easy, but we'll be giving it everything in the NOS energy drink supported Evo! And i'll be trying to get updates on here as often as I can.

After the event, I miss the post event party to fly straight back home and head to Belgium for round 1 of the West European Trophy. In, you guessed it, the Clio R3. I can't wait to see how this car is going to perform on the European tarmac, I have a feeling it will be very impressive.

So, that was the nutshell, next update soon.....honest.....

Champagne, Twice In 7 Days?

2009-03-11T16:34:00.005-04:00

In one not so easy week and the small matter of 4000miles and a different continent, my second place in Missouri set me up well for the taste of champagne just 7 days later. Not a feat i've achieved in a while.

The entire drive home from Cumbria this past Sunday required a delicate balance of foglights, sunglasses, and wipers as the famous British weather once again did it's best to confuse the hell out of it's inhabitants. However, having got to the end of two rather chaotic but hugely fun and eventful weeks, I had no reason to rush to the snow showers awaiting me.

Finishing up as the leading Fiesta in the first round of the championship, the Malcom Wilson Rally, was really not where we expected to be after the events of just 24hrs previous. After taking some time out of our main rivals on the first couple of stages and holding a 20+ second lead, we suffered a car problem and my initial thoughts of 'that's it, all over' were proven wrong after cruel luck struck not only Kris Hall and I but our main comepetitors as well. They way things went, typically un-predictable what with it being Rallying, ended up with us needing to go flat out for the final 3 stages to re-take the lead. Long story short, we did and it was alright on the night, but it wont quite as straight forward next time im sure.

Heres to a competitive year and plenty more action in the 2009 Fiesta SportTrophy.

Pictures thanks to Gary at www.Songasport.co.uk

Has It Really Been 2 Weeks?

2009-03-04T10:26:00.005-05:00

Wow, where did the last two weeks go? And why have I not written all about it? Oh well, better late than never, as they say.

As I sit here in my familier, slightly overly cluttered home (for the first time in 2009 I might add), staring at the familier grey British skys and thinking interesting thoughts, I try to think of some funny stories from the last couple of weeks but get a strange kind of guilt come over me. For what? I hear you ask. Well, i'll tell you; for leaving my blog unattended for more than ten days or so. Can you believe it. Wierd, a few years back, before blogs, social networks, instant updates and numerous other methods of interupting people while they are trying to get on with something useful, I wouldn't have thought twice about weather people knew where I was or even cared what I was doing. And that might have gone on for months or years, not a mere ten days!

So last you read, I was attempting a road rally in Vermont. Cold, snowy, middle of the night type Vermont. And yes, this was the type of road rally I have virtually zero experience in and the same type of event that everyone figured I would have experience of, measured in years. So to cut to the chase, was it fun? Yes. Did I learn something? Yes. Did I get lost in the middle of the forest somewhere near Canada in minus something crazy temperatures and get found by the bears? No, well not the last part anyway... However I must say, the roads were great and just driving the route without worrying about anything else was a lot of fun,

I won't say i'll rush back to navigate on road rallies, but if you enjoy calculating varying average speeds on the fly whilst measuring time in hundredths of a minite and following 20year old maps combined with John Buffum's somewhat deliberately confusing intstructions, in the middle of the night, I say go for it! And if you succeed, you'll be a better navigator than me, if not co-driver.

After spending a few days back in Boston and stumbling across some great restaurants, taking a walk or two on the beach and pondering my next move before I knew I had to get back to England, all of a sudden the next great opportunity landed right in my inbox. Did I want to compete in the 100AW rally, round 2 of the Rally America series? Of course I did! Having competed on this event for the last three years and each time having a completely different set of weather conditions I knew it would be a challenge. And one I was going to make the most of. After some frantic flight booking and paperwork/venue/personel arranging I flew west and landed in not my favourite city, St.Louis, Missouri. Ok, thats a little unfair, i've just not spent enough time there to bump into things I like, in fact, i've never spent any time there really...

I stepped off the plane and into the evening air and found my way to my hire car. A suitably useless member of staff then tried to charge me 70% more than my quote and then he figured i'd love to pay for a Sat. Nav. system at some extortionate daily rate (maybe he knew about my navigation 'issues' at the road rally?). Nope, little did he know how prepared I was. I had memorised a google maps screen shot and written some seemingly random numbers on some paper which later turned out to be road and junction numbers....clever eh?

The following morning, I headed to our test venue to meet Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP) and the NOS Energy Drink Rally Team. Our test venue of choice was a 2,600 acre Bison Ranch which just happens to have miles and miles of gravel roads that they let the rally cars loose on once a year. This place, though, is amazing. Family owned and operated, they have over 2000 Bison and ship meat the world over whilst being an amazing corperate events venue and generally a cool place to spend some time.

We had a great test day, the car was faultless and the guys from NOS very much resembled your typical energy drink reps; cool, very exited to be there, great to work with and full of energy and stories!

Heading into the event we were in a positive frame of mind, and as it turns out it was with good cause. A day of recce, 2 intense days of competition, and over a hundred pages of pace notes later, we finished in second place. First time co-driving for Andrew and we had the pace to set fastest times all weekend. Happy with that.

After plenty of celebrations, some, but not much sleep, a drive back to St. Louis, a flight to Boston, 18hrs spent battleing 18inches of snow there, the roughest flight you can imaging back to London, a bus to oxford, then a drive home and a little more sleep, here I am! Refreshed and ready to head north to the next event tomorrow...

More about that later, for now, rest easy....

Rally Noway Pics

2009-02-13T15:57:00.007-05:00

Some great shots from Day 1 of Rally Norway.

Its cold there, very cold....

Swede PG Anderson wins stages 6&7, good effort!

Frenchman Sebastien Ogier impressing the crowds....

Pics thanks to EWRC.CZ

Oh Dear, What Have I Agreed To This Time..

2009-02-12T14:30:00.007-05:00

I would class myself as confident when faced with a demanding rally stage and a set of pacenotes. It's what I do, what I know, and what i'm known for. I find it a pleasure to apply 100% concentration whilst travelling at three-figure speeds down a gravel forest road, knowing that if any of my instructions are not exactly on time or perfectly accurate, things could at best, be pretty terrible. And thats before we even question the car or the driver's ability..

So when chatting to my girlfriends brother Adam a while back, and he suggested I take the right seat in an event where its not raw, outright speed in question, but actually the ability to navigate a route, who was I to say I was washing my hair that day? But its not just any old route we, sorry I, must navigate us down. As far as I can see it's completely unknown to everyone until about 37seconds before we start and from what I hear it's made up of snow and ice covered back roads, some paved, some, well, not paved. And just to put the cherry on the top, it's in the midst of a freezing cold New England winter, at night!

Now that i've agreed, and made some calls, a few well known members of the USA rally community said "Robbie, you're British, I bet you know exactly what you are doing. No sweat as all you Brits began doing road rallies in the dark and the cold when you were, like, 14 years old!"

Now that may well be true for a number of British co-drivers, in fact many of the most successful ones to date, but what I never found an appropriete time to mention was, even though I originate from Wales, I've never done a road rally in my life, ever....

Meant to be fun, they say....Well i'm just getting myself plain confused.

However in spite of this, I know a bit about car preparation and whats needed to compete in a road rally. So a week or so ago, Adam and myself prepared his Impreza WRX for the event. A sump guard, map light, various tools, some external lamps, snow tyres and so on are all neccessary. As I said, the event runs through the night and if you go off the road or have a breakdown, you could be out there some time....great. A large flask of tea and some sandwhiches seem a sensible addition to me.

Well I think I can deal with things so far, but the bit I don't quite get, is what all the jargon means? CAS, BFZ, CZT, OM and SOL are all terms i'm meant to know, and not just that, i'm meant to know what to do with them all! To all that I just say OMG!

My job tonight then, is to read and learn, starting at the beginning I know i'll have to crack it. Good job I love a challenge!

I'll update and take some pics as we get closer to the event this weekend, so of course, check back and see exactly how things go! If you hear nothing, I could well be stranded somewhere up near Canada. But it's ok, they say most people should survive one night outside up there, before either the weather, or the bears, get you...lovely jubbly.

Another Backflip; Slight Difference This Time

2009-02-05T15:44:00.002-05:00

You Just Have To Laugh!

Rally America Round 1

2009-02-04T13:50:00.005-05:00

Here's a link to a nice article on AutoWeek. Getting coverage such as this is a plus for the Rally America series at the moment...

Sno*Drift Report

Rally Ireland, Finish

2009-02-03T18:15:00.003-05:00

After quoting Niall after his retrirement on day 1, this is what happened on day 2...

Finish of the rally wasnt too far from the results after the first day;

1. Sebastien LOEB 2:48:25.
2 Dani SORDO 2:49:53.6
3. Mikko HIRVONEN 2:50:33.5
4. Henning SOLBERG 2:54:58.1
5. Chris ATKINSON 2:56:17.6

Rally Ireland Day1

2009-01-30T10:21:00.004-05:00

Top 5 after SS6;

1. Sebastien LOEB 1:09:35.2
2. Dani SORDO 1:10:19.6 +44.4
3. Mikko HIRVONEN 1:10:40.0 +20.4
4. Henning SOLBERG 1:12:44.6 +2:04.6
5. Conrad RAUTENBACH 1:13:53.8 +1:08.9
6. Sebastien OGIER 1:13:58.4 +4.9
7. Chris ATKINSON 1:14:26.4 +28.0
8. Matthew WILSODN 1:14:31.2 +4.8

Latvala led after SS1 but spun, punctured and broke front TCA. Went over the time limit and now is on super rally.....

And Niall McShea after setting amazing times on SS1 and 2, is not retired with electrical problems.....

Commenting on his third fastest time on SS1 and his Super Rally return for Day2 Niall quotes “Spectators should make sure they stand well back tomorrow because now there’s no reason for me to drive sensibly”. Sounds like Niall!!!

Mitsubishi UK Pull Out of British Rallying

2009-01-29T13:22:00.004-05:00

Mitsubishi Motors UK recently announced the 'restructure' of its British-based motorsport campaigns.

The company has confirmed that its two-car works rally team will not compete in 2009.

Mitsubishi Ralliart UK Evo 9

The company’s withdrawal from top-level competition in the UK comes after four years of success, although recently somewhat overshadowed by various technical controversy, in the British Rally Championship.

It claimed the National Production title in 2004 and the British Team’s title in 2005, before going on to win both the British Team’s and Driver’s titles in 2007 and 2008.

They quote as being “The most successful manufacturer-backed rally team in Britain in recent years" however in reality they were the only ones with decent budgets.

Paul Brigden also quoted “The deciding factor is purely due to the global economic downturn and nothing to do with the smaller issues that we have had to deal with recently.”

But, MMUK is pleased to report that its successful one-make rally-series, the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, will continue as planned for its ninth consecutive season this year.

Despite al this, it has said that it will observe with interest the progress of the new Evo X Series, which was launched at the Autosport Show earlier this month.

Ralliart UK Evo X

Proper Nuts

2009-01-29T12:45:00.010-05:00

Double Backflip on a Snowmobile!

Another Superstar, Another Crashed Ferrari.....

2009-01-28T23:11:00.008-05:00

"Manchester United football star Cristiano Ronaldo has crashed his Ferrari 599 GTB in a tunnel near Manchester Airport, England.

Ronaldo was able to get out of the car and appeared to have no serious injuries. However, the £193,000 supercar was badly damaged as it collided with a roadside barrier.

The Portuguese player was on his way to training when his car crashed in the tunnel that takes traffic under the airport runways between Wilmslow and Hale, Cheshire. His Ferrari was registered in Portugal and is part of an impressive fleet of supercars the winger owns including a BMW M6, Porsche 911 Turbo, Audi R8 and a Bentley Continental GTC.

It's not the first time a Ferrari 599 GTB has hit the headlines. In 2007, boss of Fiat Sergio Marchionne crashed his 599 in Switzerland when the car in front "suddendly slowed" and he drove into the back of it.

The 599 is one of Ferrari's fastest production cars and uses the Enzo's 620bhp 6.0-litre V12 engine, capable of propeling it to 62mph in 3.7 seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 205mph"

The above taken from www.msn.co.uk

So it seems Ronaldo joins the list of superstars that are desperate to show they can't drive. But I suppose if I was 23 and claimed £000's per week for playing a game then I too would go out crashing expensive cars....it wouldn't half liven things up.

And anyway, who wants to run around a field in Manchester at that time of the morning?

And another thing, shouldn't the boss of Fiat be made to drive a Fiat? Not a 620hp V12 Ferrari. I don't care which company owns what...

Rant over.....

Lightweight Co-Driver Available.....

2009-01-28T22:34:00.006-05:00

Hiring out little bro for 2020 season?

Interesting Motorsport Stories!

2009-01-28T11:33:00.005-05:00

Quick update on some interesting stories at the moment!

The cost of Formula One superlicences has shot up this year.

A superlicence is a mandatory requirement for an F1 driver and last season one only cost 1,690 Euros, plus an additional 447 Euros per point scored in the previous year's championship.

However, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council recently approved a huge price hike that will see the licence now cost 10,000 Euros plus an additional 2,000 Euros per point.

That means world champion Kimi Raikkonen's superlicence will cost 230,000 Euros - and increase of almost 199,255 Euros!

I'll hold off my application for another season then I suppose!

I have some info on the Citroen Xsara WRC the Petter Solberg has and will use on Rally Ireland, chassis number T412.

This car was built in 26.03.2001.
First numberplates '32 CSP 92'
In 2001 reregistered as '723 CZM 78'.
In 2004 was in Citroen museum 'Le Conservatoire'.
In 2005 used by Kronos Racing with numberplates '322 DFQ 78'.
In 2007 used by Kronos Racing with numberplates '98 DZF 78'.
In 2008 used by Conrad Rautenbach in Swedish rally with numberplates '875 EHW 78'.
After that in 2008 was used by Felice Re in Italy (got the title) with numberplates '14R 0101'.
Also Kris Meeke start with this car in Bettega Memorial.
In 2009 used by Conrad Rautenbach in Galway rally with numberplates '138 EQY 78'.

This car take first ever WRC win for Citroen with Jesus Puras (2001 Rally Tour de Corse).
This car has 4 wins at all (Puras/Corse 2001, Loeb/MC 2003, Loeb/Sanremo 2003, Loeb/Cyprus 2004).

So, now you know....

Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle after their 5th gear roll in Monte Carlo

Mirra Wins Winter Challenge

I was up in northern New Hampshire this past weekend. Seemingly I was achieving two things.

1) Watching some rally cars and bikes on the snow and wishing I was in the car, not outside spectating

2) Getting extremely cold. It was less than 20F all day and by the time we left for Boston, it was -6F. That was, most definately, the coldest I have been in a while....

Oh and number 3) Gaining more respect for rally spectators, especially in that weather.

Dave Mirra in his VTCar 2006 Impreza won the event. Good effort.

Thats it for now.

Ron Dennis Steps Down at McLaren...

2009-01-16T08:35:00.003-05:00

After 27 years, it appears Ron is moving aside as team principle at McLaren,

Story here....

Click!

RD.

Race, Rally and Back In The Game!

2009-01-13T18:03:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I took a look around someone elses workshop; especially one with such a diverse range of projects, talents and general cool stuff and also one giving me a free reign to snoop around all I liked with the owners and staff asking me questions!

Welcome an afternoon at DSG. 20 mins south of Boston (so, local to me at present!) tucked away in a spot only my best friend TomTom could find, is a healthy mix of great people, years of experience and interesting cars....and, of course, parts of cars!

I have somewhat of a history with Bill and the guys down at Dent Sport Garage. They prepared and ran Evo rally car piloted by Ramana Lagerman that I have competed against in Rally America on and off for the last couple of years. Meeting the guys in Boston for chat and a pint a week or so ago ended up in an invitaion to nose around their shop!

In one corner, a historic 911 race car in for some minor engine tuning. Next to that an Evo 9 race car, part built by the owner who has limited race experience im told(!). It didn't look like it was going to be slow either.....well after the guys had repaired and re-built the entire wiring harness and got it running again!

Of course, no shop is complete without some kind of Japanese old school time attack car, of which you could take your pick at Dent Sport! A RWD Corolla in for a 20v conversion or the shop's own Nissan 240 race car. Bill is currently developing carbon components for this weapon and readying a new engine for the 2009 season. Keep your eyes open for this car in the near future!

My favourite though, has to be Alex' Mitsubish Evo 2. Its originally an Australian rally car and hence, is right hand drive! But it wont remain in rally guise for too much longer, Evo 9 suspension and a new engine coupled with a diet for this car will make it a serious track racer!

Wander into the office and theres all kinds of motorsport madness. Books to calenders, to pictures of WRC cars in of course, Wales! In another corner, a tail pipe from a Jaguar Formula 1 car, ironic in the sense that I have an exhaust system at home from the very same car this one originated from! Strange...

So, thats my race car fix for this week, well ok, for today....Although it did get me thinking and back in the mood to build another car.....so who knows what will happen!

Either way, from a simple tune or dyno run to complete car builds, these guys have all the gear, plenty of experience and more than enough talent between them to make it happen!

Ciao for now.

Today's Most Ridiculous News Story...

2009-01-12T16:29:00.002-05:00

Britain's most famous milk chocolate maker has decided to warn milk chocolate lovers that Britain's most famous milk chocolate contains - milk....

The latest Cadbury Dairy Milk wrappers feature a logo showing a glass and a half of milk being poured into a chocolate chunk, put milk first in a list of ingredients and explains that there is "The equivalent of three quarters of a pint of milk of fresh liquid milk in every half pound of milk chocolate".

But Cadbury says it is also necessary to print warnings in capital letters in yellow boxes saying "CONTAINS: MILK" in case people who are allergic to milk do not realise that there is milk in Cadbury Dairy Milk bars.

Smiley Face

The world has gone mad.

New England Winter!

2009-01-12T10:28:00.006-05:00

From sand to snow in one easy week....

This is what you get if you spend some time in New England in January!

Great excuse not to cut the grass though.....

Holidays and Stuff

2009-01-08T15:30:00.007-05:00

Here are a few pics of what i've been up to recently. However, i'm currenly looking out of the window in Boston, at a foot of snow.....

Not a great shot of a 3ft Iguana!

New Years Eve 2008, of course.

You wouldn't want to buy too many of those cocktails.....not at Ft. Lauderdale prices!

Ft. Lauderdale in all its sun-clad watery glory

Couldn't go to Florida and not see 'gators! Thankfully, thats not my arm...!

So there you have it, more to follow....

-Robbie.

Update! 2009 Taking Shape!

2009-01-08T12:34:00.003-05:00

Well this year is now gathering momentum slowly but surely......!

Having spent a great christmas back home near Oxford, then a brief stop in New England before a flight to West Palm Beach and an ever more amazing new year in the Florida sun, its time to crack on with 2009.

I'm now spending some time based up in the snowy winter wonderland that is Boston, Massachusetts while I continue to make plans and constuct my season. I figured thats enough travelling for a while anyhow, so its time to sit still for a few weeks!

As it happens, I seem to know more people here than I realise, so I get to have a life after all!

Anyway, plans. So im off up to Michigan and the Sno-drift rally in late January for Rally America round 1. Thats going to be the first running of the new Super Production class so who knows how that will pan out. Hopefully with more luck than 2008, where I retired 3miles into SS1 with engine failure after much blood, sweat and tears getting our 4(!) car team to the event in the first place.

So maybe getting used to the New England winter will actually help with getting acclimatised to the sub-zero temps of Michigan in winter. After last winter spent in the Southern California desert, this is quite a shock!

Plans for at least one championship in the UK are almost complete, you'll get the info here first!

What's Next?

2008-12-23T08:08:00.003-05:00

What will 2009 bring? Well surely if any of us had that knowledge it would change things somewhat?

But as I don't really know for sure and even if you could tell me, I would turn up my Ipod and look the other way; I will tell you that wheels are turning and plans are evolving.

With tough times in Motorsport at the moment and with the south of England releasing its dominance of race and rally team HQ's, maybe its not such a bad idea to leave that world behind, at least for a while.

However, it looks to be another exiting year, starting with a trip back to the USA and the possibility of an event there to kick the year off. Theres talk of getting back into UK/Irish rallying, but at present, its just that...talk....

So, whatever the next move and wherever that will take me, you'll read it hear first.

TTFN

Thirsty? No half-litre for us!

2008-12-17T08:01:00.002-05:00

You know when the day could have been better. Come 5pm you've set fire to the office, crashed the company car or maybe fired the boss. But theres one thing as a Brit you can be sure of. Somthing to look forward to, calm the nerves and generally bring a little peace to the end of the day. Especially in tough times, with a recession looming and more and more people searching for work; we have always been able to seek solace in a quiet, relaxing pint.

As scary as it was to think we could have been joining the Europeans with their 'half-litres', thankfully an agreement to stick to the good old British measure has now been reached!

Personally, I like having a pint. Certainly, one of the recognisable things about Britain, is a pint of beer. Not a 'large' beer, or a 'half-litre', but a pint, or for the more moderate amongst us, a half pint. Served as they do across the channel, things just wouldn't feel right. Especially if I was also to have to abide by a 110 Kilometer-Per-Hour limit. Not after a pint though, of course.

I'm off to celebrate.

2008-12-08T15:05:00.001-05:00

A quote I recently discovered, seems rather fitting!

He knows not where he's going
For the Ocean will decide,
It's not the destination
But the glory of the ride..

2008-12-05T16:23:00.001-05:00

LETTER TO THE BANK

Dear Sirs,

In view of what seems to be happening internationally with banks at the moment, I was wondering if you could advise me correctly;

If one of my cheques is returned " insufficient funds ",

How do I know if that refers to me, or to you ?

2008-12-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a great article. Tips for earning from home and making money online. Have a read, im sure you'll think about a thing or two afterwards.

Click Here

2008-12-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

Black Kids In Town - Gig Review!

It was my first visit to the newly named Carling Academy. On a wet and windy September evening in Oxford, after a crazy busy day in the office, I had another first awaiting me.

One of the most raved about bands this year was coming to town. I had a ticket and no matter what the weather, whom I was going with or how hard my day had been, I was going! And was going to make the best of it! After spending almost thirty incredibly frustrating minutes traversing the smallest of streets and finding not so much as a space large enough to park a push bike, I abandoned my car. I was of course, late. Meeting the friends I hadn't not only seen for four months, but those that had invited me along to the gig tonight. Great.

But little did I know the five-some from Florida were about to make things a whole lot better. Stepping into the Academy and the warm up DJ on stage, it felt a bit like the beginning of one of those gigs you go to in college, you know where at 9pm there’s a chance it could be the best night of you're life but you could just as easily be passed out in the bathroom in a matter of minutes, swimming in a pool of, well, Carling I suppose.

Then it happened, they appeared. The Black Kids leapt onto the stage and the excitement and energy they emitted, well, if I didn’t know better it could have been the very first time they had been let loose with an audience, some instruments and a microphone or two.

It could be the positive press, their stage presence or just the fact they produce great tracks leading you to believe that no band can be that good – but here I was watching them brilliantly perform ‘Listen To Your Body Tonight’ and the crowd did just that – listened. Ok well, shouted, ran riot and screamed as they performed but rightly so, it really was that good.

Pushing the crowd further and further, with the band trying some new tracks as well favorites such as ‘I Wanna Be You’re Limousine’, we jumped, waved and sang along to ninety minutes that felt like nine. They arrived at their finally and it could only have been one song – chants of ‘Not gonna teach you’re boyfriend how to dance with you’ rang through my ears for what seemed like days, not letting me forget the amazingly unforgettable experience that was my first Black Kids gig.

And after all that I still have no clue what those friends have been up to in the last four months...

2008-12-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

Me, Galveston, a walking shark and a rather large board.

During my brief time with no hair, many intersting things seemed to happen. Anything to do with a road tip from NYC to LA with an Aussie, 2 trucks and 2 rally cars?

Quite possibly....

2008-12-05T14:15:00.000-05:00

Just had to include this one. The first time AP and I ever flew our poor rally car...deliberately...

2008-12-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

Thank You

2008-12-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

Any pics ive used relating to my rally adventures have come from a variety of sources; thanks to all of you!

Back Once Again

2008-12-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

So here I am, this time with less words and more pics. As promissed, some great shots of the past few months. Comments please!!!