Bike Ready For UK Rallies

Front tanks, full fairing, firmer forks, and cap repeater added after the Hellas Rally. Have done some 600 miles of trail riding since parts added. Happy riding with the extra weight of the parts and 28 litres of fuel. Only have to add another rear tank and oil cooler to complete the bike for the Dakar.

Hellas Rally

The Hellas rally was a great experience, met old and new friends, and was a useful training experience. Greece is a friendly a beautiful country with both fast and technical terrain.

The rally started with a cautious 54th place and was 49th at the end of day 2.

On day 3 a silly navigation mistake was made whilst concentrating on a 50km speed limit. A lot of time was lost, got frustrated, and the red mist set in. As in previous rallies I was concentrating on the speed and not the navigation. Many errors and 6k from the end of the 2nd special I got lost. With over an hour wasted in navigation errors and a 2 hour penalty my position slipped to 85th.

The 4th day was cancelled due to a landslide.

10 places were made up on day 5 and managed my best special result of the rally with 42nd.

The last day was a navigation day. Struggled with ICO inaccuracy and was just happy to get to the end of the day. Gained another 3 places.

I'm happy with my riding but still need to get navigation dialled in. Will be running 2 ICO's in the next rally.

New Baja Designs light for EXC

Very bright and looks pretty good too. Night training here I come.

Brechfa Rally Wales

Really good event and a great start to the UK Rally Championship. The forecasted rain didn't arrive and it was good to catch up with both new and old faces. Just a month to go now until the Hellas Rally.

Rallye Dalmatia cancelled. Bike ready for next rally.

Martin at Torque Racing tested the compression and swiftly fitted a new piston and rings after the Transanatolia Rally. I then rewired the bike and custom fitted 2 LED lights. The following Meca'System parts were fitted: Header pipe, bash plate with water and tool compartments, rear subframe, aux fuel tank, and fuel pump. Some custom pipe work was also done to get the silencer to fit in the standard position. Stiffer suspension springs were fitted as both the bike and I have put on weight!

The rally in Croatia isn't taking place this year so a little change of plan. Have entered the Hellas Rally which takes place in April instead.

Training to start once again for rally in Croatia

So I'm totally hooked on rallying. The racing is fast, technical, and sometimes terrifying. Throw in the navigation, friendships, the bikes, service trucks, etc, etc and its something truly special. The Rallye Dalmatia starts around April/May.

Transanatolia Rally

Took part in the Transanatolia Rally with Torque Racing and Memo Tours. Finished 13th and managed a personal best of 6th fastest in one of the last specials of the rally. The rally was a difficult and upsetting experience with both Kemal Merkit and Wouter Vaarkamp losing their lives in the early stages of day 3.

Had a hideous 1st day with no navigation equipment and running out of fuel 10km from the end of the 2nd special. Managed to make up a lot of ground during the other days constantly finishing in the top 9 only to find paper towel in my fuel tank on the last day!?! This made my last special very frustrating and the rest of the day rather slow and miserable. Later I watched helplessly as my team mate Donna crashed into an oncoming car during the last section. She needed stitches by the road side and broke her wrist.

The rally had amazing and varied riding with breathtaking scenery. I particularly enjoyed the technical sections and climbs.

My thoughts go out to the families and friends of Kemal and Wouter. Massive loss and genuinely upsetting.