We posted some pretty respectable stage times - not up with the fastest guys inthe QRC, but nipping at the heels of the P3 clubman class leaders and ahead of alot of more experienced crews. Not too bad for our first blind rally.

But that was before the rollover on SS4 and of course there were spectators there... At least it was only a Stanza and not a 1200 hey! And it was a pleasant little spot to spend an hour or so waiting for our crew to get in with my trailer...

here's a before shot on the start of SS4...

...and after

I don't really know what went wrong - we weren't going too fast or trying too hard, and it was a nice smooth open RH corner you could see all the way through. It was all under control at first, set it up sideways for the corner and it was all going as planned until half way through the corner when the wheel got ripped out of my hands and the car turned left - not good on a right hander! Not sure why it happened though - there was certainly nothing on the road that would account for it. From that point on there wasn't time to do anything except hit the brakes, and we went flying up a cutting on the outside of the corner, and rolled off the top of the bank. The leading edge of the roof and bonnet took the force of the impact - going up the bank didn't do much to slow us down. The car is a bit of a mess, its pretty much broken its back so to speak. There's alot of creases around the B pillar, firewall and in the floor, and one of the front legs of the cage punched through the floor, but the rollcage isn't bent and its a bolt-in number so its salvageable. We weren't hurt, apart from a minor cut on my elbow from the broken drivers window.

Anyway, I now have some plans for my christmas break... find a new Stanza, prep and paint it, and transfer all the gear out of this one! The owner was planning on re-shelling the car anyway, at least now he's got someone who has to help him!

I'm a bit in two minds what to do next year - half of me says to call it quits on rallying as it can all go horribly (and expensively) wrong so fast, and the other half is just more determined to get back out there after the rollover. And it's just so much fun and so addictive, I think I'll have to give it another go... Incredibly, Marc (who owns the Stanza) is still keen for me to drive the car next year after we rebuild it! These rally guys are a strange breed...