Just thought I'd update you all on our latest adventures
We completed the Severn Valley Stages last weekend, and all in all it went well. We were chopming at the bit after our 2 stage failure on the previous rally, where we ended up down a ditch on stage 2. At least we had some nearly new tyres to start this rally on.
We started stage 1 like a bat out of hell as I was determined NOT to do my usual of starting slow then building the speed up as the rally went on. If we are going to fight for the top places I will have to get used to starting hot. So we kept up the speed for the next 3 stages. The only exception was stage 3 where we caught one of the Tuthill 911 RS's, and because of the dust we couldn't get past neither could the driver see us. I'm not sure what the HELL that driver was doing seeded above us, she was clearly the slowest car in our class by some way and about a minute slower than us on each 6 mile stage (which is a LOT!!). We spoke to the driver at the start of stage 4 and she let us in front of her from stage 4 onwards. She (from California - nice lady) said she specifically asked to be put at the back as it was her first rally.... her first rally!!!
and she got seeded 6th up from the bottom (3 places above us). It was all very weird and frustrating as she delayed everyone behind her. I'm hoping she wasn't bumped up the rankings as she was in one of the Tuthill Challenge cars 
.The car was handling the best it ever has, I've really got this setup sweet now for gravel. It was turning in beautifully, powering round the corners nice, no squirrelling under braking - all very predictable on the limit
After stage 4 it was half way through the rally and time to head for service.
Only thing that was worrying me was the engine temp was high, but I put it down to the HOT day. I also knew that the dusty conditions would mean the air filters would need a clean - I hate the way the 914 sucks dusty air into the engine bay
but I guess if it didn't have air flow in that way the engine would fry as no cool/clean air would find it's way in their. As we checked into service we got the times so far - we found ourselves in 2nd place in class, only 1 1/2 seconds of first 
I knew we were going well but wow 
All the Escort's in my class were behind me and only a BMW 2002Ti infront. To say I was happy with that was an understatement. If it wasn't for the fact that we lost those 15 seconds stuck behind the 911 RS in stage 3 we would have been well in front in first place.
After much thinking on tactics for the final 4 stages we decided to just try to maintain the same pace. Unfortunately on stage 5, have way in I started to loose the back a little too much for comfort. Initially I thought I had a slow puncture, but at the end of the stage I checked it only to find no problem. So I continued on with the last 3 stages but couldn't keep up the pace of the morning with the back feeling like a Beetle in the rain. We were chuffed to bits to finish but a quick check on the text's as the stages unfolded confirmed we were loosing time to the car in front and the Escort behind us. Although we matched the time of the BMW on stage 6 and beat him by a few seconds on the last stage we lost too much on stage 5 and 7 and finished the day 3rd in class and 6th in category. We were happy with that despite the issues
Best finish ever and with the car feeling so good it looks like there's better to come.So...... as we were putting the car on the trailer we couldn't get the strap round the rear left wheel. The left rear had so much neg camber it was rubbing up against the inner wing. So this weekend on suspicion of a bent rear arm I took the whole rear suspension off both sides. The arms jigged up fine, not bent at all, a testament to their strength (strengthened ones from PMB Performance), especially when I descovered what actually was the problem. Turns out I snapped the pivot rod:
Must have taken quite a hit to do that
not that I can remember anything that would specifically cause it, but we were flying 
. But I did seem to be hitting opposite lock on the steering on a regular basis Oh..... and the overheating.... that classic - the spring that holds the flaps open was not attached properly (either worked loose or not installed correctly - probably the latter
)Anyway.... sorry for the long saga......long time to get prepared and ready for the next rally now - Ulster Rally - a tarmac one
