After finishing the 2005 season with somewhat mixed feelings, on a high because of the finish in the championships we hade despite the numerous breakdowns and incidents; but on a low because of having just missed out on a fully funded drive, 2006 has started on a high. I have been given a drive with professional rally team, AB Motorsport in the Peugeot Scholarship in 2006. I still have to find local support for tyres, fuel and accommodation, but a massive proportion of the cost and headache of running a car myself means that I will be able to focus on the driving this season.

I also had the fantastic opportunity of meeting the current British Rally Champion Mark Higgins. The Eddie Stobart Rally Driver took a day out of his busy World Rally schedule to sit alongside me in the Welsh Forest and pass on a few words of advice and encouragement ready for the championship attack in 2006.

So the season began on 11th March the first round of the championship the Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria. We are poised for attack and ready for success with our new found opportunity with a professional rally team. We are however burning the midnight oil to get back in time for our local event where we receive the fabulous local support.

I contested the first round of the Peugeot 205 Scholarship with a new co-driver, Pat Cooper. As we made the long 400 mile drive to snowy Cumbria, I was determined to make the most of my time spent with current British Rally Champion Mark Higgins and my new position as driver of Professional Rally Team, AB Motorsport.

We got off to a good start, though I felt it was way off the pace inside the car. The 4 leading crews set times only 1 second apart on Stage 3 and my confidence in the new car was beginning to grow. We got faster throughout the day until the rally was cut short by mechanical failure on Stage 7. The clutch give up the ghost just half a mile from the end of Stage 7 and despite all our efforts we could not get the car to go any further which meant a disappointing end to the day. We were in 2nd position in the Scholarship at the time and looking forward to taking the points to the following rounds.

After the finish of the rally, we made the long haul back to Kent to contest on the Rally of Kent. I paired up with my old co-driver and dedicated mechanic John Bond for the local event. John had been out of the co-driving seat for over a year so it was going to take a little while to get back into the swing of things.

We got off to a steady start and picked up the pace as the day went on. We had contested the Rally of Kent twice before so knew the stages quite well and decided to push on. Committed driving on my part seemed to delighted the local spectators and we did set some amazing times.

We were only 10 seconds off the winning car of Will Nicholls on Stage 6. This worked out an amazing 2.25 seconds per mile off the £200,000+ Subaru World Rally Car through the Bedgebury Forest! John commented on how after a year away, the scenery was going past way too fast and close at times!

We got faster and faster as the day went on and set 10th fastest time on the last stage and finished 12th Overall, as well as picking up a trophy for 2nd in Class. An impressive performance considering we only had a little 150bhp Peugeot 205 and embarrassed many a better machine finishing faster than Mitsubishi Evos and Subarus!

I am looking forward to the next Scholarship round, which is also Round 1 of the British Rally Championship, the Pirelli Rally based in Carlisle.