Following a road section (52 mins), we arrived at the start of the first forest stage.  We took the first stage pretty handy as it was the first time I had ever had to interpret pace notes being shouted at me. We were caught by a Peugeot 205 about half way through the 6 mile stage.  However, we arrived at the start of the second stage without incident.  We were next to start the second stage when the stage was cancelled - a car had gone off on the right of the track and the subsequent car, in trying to avoid it, had an off on the left leaving no room for cars to get through.  We were then redirected off the stage onto the road section towards the third stage. This meant we didn't meet up with our management vehicle. We didn't think anything of it at the time as we didn't need fuel or tyres but it nearly cost us on the next stage.

The next stage was 13.92 miles long, the longest of the rally. We set off at a pretty good pace. A fluffed hand brake turn where I couldn't get the car in gear cost us 20 secs or so but we got 10 miles into the stage before we were caught by the car behind.  On one section of the stage there was a series of hairpin bends, into water splash, into jump, into hairpin into two jumps and then a water splash. Unfortunately, on the last jump we had a rather heavy landing on the near side front wheel (see picture above) and I knew something was broken.  We continued but about a mile further in the stage the back of the car started to get well out of shape on corners - I thought it was a puncture.

Anyway, we got to the end of the stage with the car making some horrible knocking noises. We stopped on the start of the road section to the service area to check for punctures but all seemed OK.  However, even at 30mph the car was all over the place on the road section.  We arrived at the service area and the BRS service crew gave the car a once over.  I explained the issues and they soon discovered we had broken an engine mount on the near side and also one of the rear wheels was about to fall off!  During the service area we had to pose for photographs for 'Total BMW' magazine.  

With no spare engine mounts in sight (almost all the BMW's had broken one or more mounts on the last stage) retirement looked likely.  That was until Pat Flynn, championship organiser came over and basically said - ratchet strap the engine to the gearbox and get your arses to the finish.  The BRS boys pulled a few tricks out of the bag and strapped up the engine.  We managed to leave service (30 min allowance) just 3 minutes late.

We had another 55 road miles to do and 10 stage miles including the infamous ski slope (yes - it was steep).   We had to ease off to ensure a finish but we managed it.

We managed to finish 84th out of 130 starters and score 65 points towards the BMW championship so we were pretty happy (especially as we finished the rally and the car was pretty much in one piece).  We were also awarded 'Spirit of the Rally' for our efforts.

Co-Drivers View

Rally Format: multi-venue stages on a gravel surface 

Navigation Method: Patterson Notes (Safety Notes) on stages, Tulip Diagrams and 1:50,000 maps on road section.

Maximum Permitted Lateness: 15 minutes from start line to finish line 

We've done it! After months of preparation and hard work and a last minute rush to get the car ready, we have finally taken part and COMPLETED our first rally! 

A week before rally day I received in the post our Patterson Notes (not allowed to call them pace notes) and dvd of the rally stages. Feeling rather silly, Steve and I sat on the sofa watching Ian Patterson drive around the stages, whilst I called out the respective corners from the notes. It takes a while to figure out when to call each corner. Too early and the driver forgets, too late and there is not enough time for him to perform the required manoeuvre. 

As navigator you are expected to get the two of you and the car to each stage start in the allotted minute, call out the Patterson notes correctly on stage and keep time, and do the same thing all over again on each stage, without incurring maximum lateness penalties. Whew! Its a lot to do! 

I got completely flustered and kept forgetting to stop my stopwatch at each flying finish or even to start it sometimes but, since this was our first rally, I didn't think we'd be quibbling over discrepant seconds.  Steve drove very well and I only lost my place in the notes a couple of times but managed to find it again quickly enough. We only clocked up a total of 6 minutes lateness over the whole rally, when I had to answer a call of nature.  After a long day in the car, we made it to the finish line and now have 1 rally completed and signed off on the back of our licenses!  And what an experience!  I still have a big smile on my face. 

I have more of an idea now of what is required as navigator. There is lots to do and it all has to be done at the same time but the satisfaction of reaching the finish line and know that I had something to do with getting there is a fantastic feeling of accomplishment. And we DID IT!

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