Myself and Julian Wilkes are competing in the 2WD Tempest Rally this weekend. After being seeded number 3 last year we've been put at 14 this year!!! Batch seeding has been used which I can understand but seeing that after 6 stages last year we were 4 minutes up on both cars 8 and 9 in this years event, it all seems a bit crazy to me.

We're hoping to complete our first successful gravel stage of the year after a really frustrating run of bad luck in 2009. The second aim is to get a finish and the third aim is to win the 1400's which shows a really competitive bunch of guys..... No tyre rules on this event  

The event's based in Aldershot and is using stages such as Longmoor camp, Ash, Yately wood and Warren. Really enjoyed the event last year, so here's to a good day on saturday!

I want to add my total admiration to Julian yesterday - It was the most committed and incredible level of skill that I have ever had the pleasure to sit along side. The event began well with a steady but successful run through Yateley and Warren, (our first successfully completed gravel stages of 2009) although we were surprised how off the pace we were in Warren - those Escorts were really on it!. Jim must be mental!!!
We had a lot of fun in Rushmoor 1 and even with a spin and a stall we were joint quickest. At times I think Julian thought he was on Tarmac tyres - he was mad! Ash showed everyone just how quick this boy is as we were the only 2WD crew to beat the sub 7 minute mark. The 2 longmoor stages were fast, committed, but blo*dy rough! We both thought it was game over when we first hit a huge metal scaffold pole sticking out of the ground going into a SQ R and then that HUGE pothole just after Junction 18 - We really thought the car was going to break in half and I don't think my back's ever going to be the same again!
Back at service it was amazing to see my better half come running up to the fence saying that we were leading! The times that she'd seen were before Longmoor 2 and Pritchard had managed to over haul us in there - fair play, but we just could not keep up with the modern suspension over the rough stages. The last three stages, a re-run of Ash, Yateley and Warren were to be a consistent drive home to third Overall - or so we thought. Ash was scary in places - the car standing on it's nose flat in 5th down the huge straights. We had a good run throught the penultimate stage but at the first HP L in Warren all our hard work came to nothing when a drive shaft popped out. We scrabbled through and lost 2 minutes. When will Julian's luck change???
Having looked at the results up to but not including the last stage, I think, but don't quote me on this, we still won the 1400 class by over 5 minutes - A truely dominant display by the Somerset boy!
I'm trying not to be too gutted with the last stage dramas as Julian put in a faultless performance and showed some truely inspiring skill yesterday.
For us this was the most competitive rally of 2009 with some really quick guys out there who were great to compete against.
Thanks Ju for a great event - Your luck will change buddy, you deserve better!

Well done to Jim - I'm glad that with us losing time, atleast we kept a Tavern crew on the podium!! Jim was seriously quick on the morning stages - but once we'd changed tyres I'm glad we were able to reel them in!