My co-driver Craig Burgess and myself contested the 3^rd Round of the 1.9 Scholarship at the Panaround Rally, which also made up Day 1 of the British Rally Championship Round, The International Rally of Wales. The rally was in the forests based around the town of Dolgellauin in West Wales. This was to be our biggest test yet as the Rally consisted of some of the most demanding stages the country has to offer, and with some being 16 miles long, stamina and focus would be critical.

We were desperately looking to put an end to the bad luck we had had on the two previous scholarship rounds and finally get some points on the leader-board. We were feeling a little cautious with the freshly built engine only fitted just two days before the rally as it had not been driven before the event except on a rolling road tune up.

SS1 Dyfi 1 - I decided to try an alternative pace note system to describe the road for this rally and it took a little while for the brain to adjust but once it clicked, I found them to be more comfortable than the previous system. A concerning temperature gauge that started to rise dramatically halfway through the 16 mile stage forced us to switch the in-car heater to maximum. With the sun blazing, high outside temperatures and the car windows tight shut to keep the dust out, we were given a taste of what the World Rally Crews were going through competing over in WRC Round in Cyprus on the same day.

SS2 – Dyfnant - The car’s gremlins seemed to have sorted themselves out and although the car was running hot, it behaved itself for the following stages. Though the same can’t be said about the driver. I was pushing hard on SS2 and we had a “bit of a moment” jumping into one ditch then the next before finally getting the little Peugeot back on the island. SS3 at Pantperthog saw us gradually pushing up the pace and we managed a 6^th fastest time out the 11 Scholarship Cars. SS4 Dyfi 2 - with a little more motivation from Craig we set a 5^th fastest time showing a continual improvement. On SS5, Gartheiniog we set 4^th fastest Scholarship time on the final stage showing progression in the right direction.

This consistent improvement paid off and we took fourth place in the Scholarship and finally chalked up 80 points on the leader-board and pushing us closer to the battle.

I decided to maximise my experience whilst in Wales and contested day two of the International Rally of Wales, the Gwynedd National Rally, this time with John Bond co-driving. We set 3^rd fastest time on SS7 and 2^nd fastest time on SS8 and took a rewarding 2^nd Overall. It was my best result to date, adding another trophy to the slowly growing collection. Despite having a power steering failure on the way to the first stage, which left me wrestling with the steering for the rest of the day and a dramatic split fuel tank on SS2, we were all chuffed with the result.

I have to give a massive thank you to Radley Contracts for paying for 4 tyres for the rally. This type of a help is essential in order to get anywhere in the sport and is gratefully received. We are looking forward to the next championship round the Mid Wales Rally on 17^th June based in Newtown.