Sardegna Rally

A beautiful rally run by people with a true passion for the sport. Obviously this year was not meant to be for me. I went out on only the 1st day with a major mechanical failure. Luck hasn't been on my side this year, but trying to do a rally a month on a budget is complicated, time consuming, and I guess asking for trouble. Drilling holes in your bike 10 minutes before a prologue is never going to be good!

My rally started from the back of the pack as always. I like trying to work my way through the field - I just enjoy it! The clutch lever once again was ineffective after 10 kilometres in the 1st special and I had an off. It was only in the 2nd that I gained the confidence to ride smoothly without the clutch and consequently gained 9 places.

The riding was great with a mixture of fast fire tracks and technical rocky sections. The day included a wonderful tight section in the forest which included a great climb.

The road book was accurate but nether less you had to concentrate with the navigation. Temperatures were uncomfortably hot. Drinking often was a must and I was constantly running out of water. 45k into the last liaison the bike decided it had enough and stopped without any warning.

Many locals tried to help but eventually we had to throw in the towel and I was collected by the organisation (via a bar, some wonderful Italians, and some interesting methods of pushing a motorcycle with a car).

I spent the rest of the rally with the service team and although I enjoyed helping my team mates it was sometimes hard to hide my disappointment.
The service from Nomade Racing was fantastic and as always I made new friends and was reacquainted with old ones. A big thank you to Team Rally-Raid Products and especially Phill Gunn for getting my bike and gear to Sardinia and back.

It will once again be a rush to get the bike back to the UK and fix it for its next event. I now have 3 months to build my new bike (a 2015 Husky - but more about that later) and get ready for my last rally of 2014 which is the Merzouga. During this 4 month rest from rallying I will take part in the Welsh 2 Day, 24hr Dawn To Dusk, and cycle 1,000 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End. More importantly we are expecting our 2nd child in October so very exciting times ahead.

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