DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

It's the season opener for us this weekend

http://www.midwalesstages.co.uk/

We'll see how the new gearbox (close ratio and LSD) make a difference to the car this year. Can't wait to find out. However our record on the first rally of the year is not good, haven't finished the last 2 years openers Wish me more luck this year

hope it goes well

Good luck on this! Where can I find information on routes and good spectator vantage points? I'm thinking of taking the kids, but would like to have a rough idea where to go I can't make the start as that is far too early

Stay off the brakes and keep her at it !!!!

As Cortina says 'keep her at it!' All the best and I may be joining you later this year.

Thanks for the encouragement guys

Scrutineering passed with flying colours as always.

I don't know if it's a good omen or what but guess what start time we've been given???

Yep - 9.14am spooky......

Game on for tomorrow, here we go.....

Best spectator place for those that want to come will be Sweet Lamb Rally complex (google it for location). I'd aim for about mid morning. Those that haven't been before.... it's easy parking and all the viewing is within a 2min walk of the parking area.

Live update ....

SS1 17mins 18 secs - hmm , need to put into perspective , fastest Post Historic was 14:40 (this is a bit mental , but at approx 18% slower , pace is not quite as good as was hoped for ... I would have expected difference of about 10%)
Slower than all Historic cars , and currently 21st / 23 Post historic cars.
Hopefully a wee problem only , looking fwd to improvement over next 4 stages !

This is tougher than it looks from the outside.

Update after SS3 .... hmm , lying 22nd out of 24 - so things obviously not going quite to plan .............. but Moggy was only 3 secs slower than a 911 on SS3
(look on positive side)

2 more to go !

Revised update after SS1 was 22nd/24 ..... just in case you all thought another car had appeared from nowhere.

Finish : Climbed to 18th out of 24 finishers , so things improved a bit towards the end
... will let driver give full report !!

I knew coming into this rally the statistics were against me the last 2 years first rally of the season we've never finished either because of an 'off' or a mechanical issue.

So this year I was determined to have a finish..... no matter what!

The first stage was the first time I'd been on gravel since last summer and BOY was I rusty The conditions were slippy (especially with my well 2nd hand tyres) and very rough in places, but that's no excuse as everyone was in the same boat.... I was just rubbish and couldn't get into the groove. Very poor.... and when I heard the time at the end of the stage I was miffed off with myself for driving like Miss Daisy.

So onto stage 2, started with much more aggresion, had a little me vs brain time at the beginning of the stage to get my brain in gear. By mid way through the stage I was 10 seconds up on last years time (I compared the in car footage this year to last) then disaster, the accelerator pedal went to the floor. First immediate thought was the cable had snapped, then I pretty quickly saw the issue - the linkage had come off the back of the pedal due to the rubber that the pedal is attached to the floor with is now extremely old and flexible (solution = hinged aftermarket pedal). So after a 40 second delay I was off again. So taking this into account my time was about right for my second forestry stage in 6months.

3rd stage was a repeat of the 1st stage. Still slippy and even more rough as it was the 2nd time round. Apart from a few small mistakes it was OK, could've done with some new tyres to give me more grip, but all in all it was OK. Time's showed me I was nearly a minute faster on this stage than the first time round.

4th stage was my favourite stage on the rough stuff..... it's called Pikes Peak for a reason. The weather had dried out and for some weird reason this side of the valley was completly dry which gave me some confidence to start pushing it. This showed in some of the times, I started to get faster than the guys that were faster than me in the previous stages, even though the gear stick started to come off due to some spirited shifting efforts encouraged by the great close ratio gears I'd now got to play with (managed to put it into 3rd a few times in some hairpins, instead of 1st)

5th stage was more of the same. More confidence building = faster, even managed to finish this stage 10 seconds up on the 2.7RS.

So all in all, came out of the blocks far too rusty, had a little problem in SS2, then got up to pace by the last few stages. Cobwebs all blown off now ready for the next one in 4 weeks.

Will post the youtube in car footage once I've edited and uploaded it. Also will take a scan for some pics...

Thanks for your interest and encouragement guys

It's good to get out again, isn't it Moggy? I was out last week on the Sunseeker and even in the silly seat I was rusty. Takes a few stages to get back in the groove. I'm in Le Touquet next week, just hope the cobwebs have blown away.
Good luck on the Bulldog, bet you can't wait!

Le Touqet Oooh... get you where the hell is that?? sounds like somewhere warm and exotic

I'm chomping at the bit now for the Bulldog, want to get straight back on the saddle. Only doing 4 events last year and finishing only 2 was too few, want to do 5 and finish 5 this year.

Hope to see you soon. Good luck next week.

France ............. left hand side .............. used to be one of the most famous beach races in the world (two wheels) ... when I was younger.

cough.....

The Frenchies are running a class for MSA spec cars and Le Touquet is closer for us than Wales!