May 14th saw myself and my co-driver Pat Cooper, contesting the Pirelli National Rally, the 2^nd round of the Peugeot 205 Scholarship. However on the Saturday before the rally, I warmed up the adrenalin glands and reached dizzy new heights on a 230 foot abseil down an office block in Canary Wharf for Cancer Research. With the abseil successfully completed we set off on the 400 mile trek to Cumbria.

We got off to a flying start setting fastest time in the Scholarship, some 6 seconds clear of our closest rival, although unfortunately not the Flying Fiestas so the hope of big prize money looked unlikely.

Stage 2 became the victim of a stage closure and unfortunately for us, the closure occurred before we got our run whilst the other 205 leaders had a run at the stage. We had to wait an hour whilst we were re-routed to the next stage. It was a shame as we were flowing well, then suddenly we ended up with a near on 2 hour gap before driving again, whilst the other crews ploughed on through business as usual. It makes it harder to pick up your rhythm.

However, we went on to set fastest time again on Stage 4 and just 0.2 seconds separated the top 2 on the final spectator stage. We really had our hearts set on winning this one, and we got off to the perfect start. It was also a bonus to come out of the “Killer Keilder” stages unscathed.

Round 3 in Wales will hopefully find us picking up the pace again.