(or how we won the Circuit Rally Championship)
It all started after a conversation when Paul Gould, a mechanic friend, mentioned he was helping run an R5 for a driver that wanted a co-driver to help them progress to “proper” rallies. Roll forward a few months and I’m stood in the Mercury Garage at Warsop Vale, looking at a rather orange part-built car being asked by John Griffiths if I had ever sat in an R5. Well what was I going to say? Yes obviously… thank god the question wasn’t have you competed in an R5!
John went on to say his aim was to compete in the Circuit Rally Championship again and win it. Well, I thought ok, its not impossible, he had previously been in the top 5 and as a racing driver knew the circuits. Now I just needed to convince him I was the woman for the job! Thankfully Paul was there and had obviously told John I knew my way around a rally. Besides as I said, its not hard to go round in circles, all I needed to do was shout left and right and count to 3 for the splits. John didn’t look entirely convinced by this; however the deal was done. A few weeks later I was back up there for a seat fitting and the rest is history as they say.
Our first time sitting in the car together was the 1st stage at Oulton Park (my first time in an R5 at rally speed) we had cycled the stage in the morning and discussed how I was going to call the chicanes etc. John had already said to me after watching Frank Bird and Jack Morton’s in-car from the previous year, that he wanted the same approach ie I tell him which side the chicane entries are, which way at the splits and off circuit, but just keep quiet on circuit, where he would do his race driver thing. This felt a little strange at first, but I soon got used to it. I also soon got used to the g-force of the car launching off the line. I knew it would happen, but still thought shit these things move as I was pushed back into the seat (it’s not like the junior cars I had been competing in on single venues). 1st stage out of the way and we had come in without any bits missing (the service boys tried to scare me by saying he always lost a bumper). Now it was like being with a junior driver, as we discussed trying a slightly different approach to the slippy rally school part of the stage and encouragement to carry more speed in the gravel section. There was only 1 expletive in the car all rally and that wasn’t from me, but John as on the last stage we hit a bump and were pitched towards a tree. We got quicker throughout the day despite the rain coming in, even beating the bogey on 1 stage. A little scare with the exhaust coming away from the manifold at the halfway point luckily didn’t cause damage and the boys got it reconnected swiftly in service. Finishing 4th Overall and more importantly 2nd Championship driver.
Next we went to Cadwell Park probably John’s favourite and my least, as I had only finished 2 rallies there without incident. Again, it was rather cold and wet, but we were now seeded car 3 so catching less traffic and more confident with the handbrake. Despite being 2nd quickest on stage 1 we managed to go 12 seconds quicker on stage 2 to take the lead. That pace continued for the rest of the day, with only a last-minute whoopsie by me when I got left and right confused at the split, but pointed in the right direction (phew). Seeing us take the top step of the podium and John’s 1st ever rally win (I do have a few others).
New year and another new circuit for me Brands Hatch. Cold and very slippery on the rally school part of the stage. John was confident he knew where he was going, less work for me, just a reminder to stay out and not touch the kerb on a corner the organisers briefed us about beforehand. It didn’t go entirely to plan, although from the outside I’m sure people thought we were having the perfect run. Going downhill over the jump, we were probably a little too quick and landed with such a bump that John’s helmet came over his eyes. It was extremely close to us not making the next corner but somehow, he grabbed the handbrake in time and I managed to giggle my way through the rest of the calls. As the rally school part of the stage continued to have water/ ice on the corners for most of the day we opted to turn down the anti-lag just before getting there (I now find the switch without looking!) Hey presto another win!
Next up Snetterton, more gravel to make me feel at home. Only issue was catching cars on the in-field gravel which thankfully didn’t cause too much of a delay. Then in the afternoon the rear diff started to make rather loud noises when using the handbrake. This could not be pinned down during service, so last 2 stages were driven without using it. Probably making us look less impressive but getting that all important 3rd Win.
Then the championship didn’t go entirely our way. Anglesey was very wet at times, the tyre choice is always tricky here, as there is grip on parts of the circuit but nothing on others as it dries. A small miscalculation by us lead to a spin and lots of time lost having to restart the car, then getting stuck behind another car until the split. So 3rd overall and 2nd championship crew. However, with some maths on the loooonnnnng drive back it became apparent that we couldn’t be beaten for the championship.
Donington next our home rally, what could possibly go wrong? It started well with us wining the 1st stage. Then Mark Kelly woke up and beat us on the next, by stage 3 we were still in 2nd . But on stage 4 lost the back end coming out of Mcleans, pitching us into the gravel trap at around 90mph. John kept his foot down and I prayed, out we popped onto the track but now had no time to brake for the chicane at Coppice, hitting it giving us a 30sec penalty, dropping to 3rd. More worrying however was the vibration we now had. Unable to find a cause for this during lunchtime service it was decided to retire the car instead of potentially causing more damage. Bugger!!
Thankfully Cadwell next with a new propshaft on the car and everything thoroughly stripped checked and rebuilt. A big fight all day with both Mark Kelly and a rapidly improving Michael Igoe. Not the overall win this time but 1st in the championship standings.
And that as they say was that. A successful winter and probably more than either of us really anticipated at the start. Now the hard part of doing it all again in November. But first some proper closed road rallies so I can earn my keep in the car and call some proper pacenotes!