there’s been no time to fix and replace the rally transmission. So we’re still running on a stock, junkyard transmission. Open differential and standard gearing. I think I’m going to miss the rally transmission more at STPR (gravel) than RTN (tarmac).


I had one day to reconfigure the car from tarmac to gravel after RTN. That was mostly a matter of changing ride height, suspension settings and wheels as well as clean and do some minor repairs. Then I head out for the tow up to Wellsboro, PA, alone on Wednesday morning. Kieran is heading to Staunton to pick up Garry Gill’s Subaru and later in the day we meet up and caravan the remainder of the journey.


Once again our crew is Liz Cordara and Kevin Allen. They crewed for us last year and at other rallies so they know the ropes well. We meet, register, get dinner and head back to the lodge. We empty all our stuff from the rally car and Sequoia into the garage that we have. We need the Sequoia for recce on Thursday and it should be empty.


Recce is the same as last year: a single pass parade style that starts early in the morning, Marcel and I develop our own notes language - he does things differently than Kieran and we have to work out our communications.  Meanwhile Liz and Kevin are prepping the car for tech. They hit a bit of a problem with the way the inner harness mounts are attached but it gets worked out in the end.


Friday starts fairly relaxed with a Parc Exposé around the green in Wellsboro. There are lots of spectators checking out all the cars and our fan club in the form of the Becze family pay us a visit too. They have been following us and supporting the team since we started. A nice bunch of people and we’re very happy to see them here and at service and on stage. We give out (and autograph!) posters of the car.


The rally starts with the notorious Waste Management stages, allegedly improved somewhat from the previous year. We immediately come on a bit of a problem for me: Marcel’s intercom isn’t working and he feels it’s necessary to shout the instructions to me even though I can hear him perfectly well. I think it’s party due to him not being able to hear himself. I hope we can get that worked out. My goal for these first three stages is to complete them and keep the car intact - there are some very rough sections of the Waste Management stages. Marcel and I are still finding our pace. Chris Greenhouse in the Neon is posting really good times. Friday ends with a run through the Super Special Stage at Tioga County Fairgrounds like last year. We end the day a good two minutes behind Chris and a minute ahead of Sean Burke in the CRX.


We do have a front left strut failure on the second pass through the Waste Management stage. The top hat fails and the strut pulls out of the top mount. It is then severely damaged while banging around inside the strut tower. Kevin manages to swap in our one spare strut in the short service before the Super Special Stage. Kevin and Liz do a great job for us in the various services.


Saturday sees us running three more stages to complete the Finger Lakes Regional rally. This time we’re on the forest roads which more than makes up for the tormented stages the day before. I love these roads. Long, technically challenging but mostly smooth gravel. Lots of opportunities to have fun. Marcel and I have, for the most part, worked out our communications glitches and are pushing a bit harder. We take 2nd place in Group 2 in the regional rally but well behind Chris who took 1st. Chris is dual entered in the National rally and is also in a battle for position with other cars so is pushing a lot harder than us.


Stage 8 (12 Mile is its name but the stage is only 10 miles long) begins the Sherwood Forest Regional Rally for us. Chris and Mark Bushore are leading G2 for the first few stages. We have a few incidents but keep it on the road and running smoothly. On stage 11 Chris pushes too far over the edge and rolls his car. He manages to get the car recovered but has lost a lot of time moving them back to 6th place.


We stay on our pace and push ahead of Mark to be leading Group 2 entering stage 12. We maintain a comfortable lead for the rest of the rally and have fun at the final Super Special Stage. We take 1st place in Group 2 at the Sherwood Forest regional Rally.