Rallying is a team sport. Normally most of the spotlight is focused on the driver but there is a whole team involved preparing for and competing in an event like Targa West. So when I slithered into a temporary barrier on the penultimate stage yesterday an enormous weight of responsibility Ive never felt before descended upon my shoulders as I realised the car would not make it to the finish line. I remember the sound of crunching headlamp glass under the tyres as we slowly pushed the battered Evo behind the safety barrier. I tried to maintain a calm external composure as I swelled with a feeling of seething rage at myself and absolute heartbreak for my co-driver Steph who had done a brilliant job all weekend, but would now not get the result shed worked so hard for because the ham-fisted meat bag behind the wheel couldnt negotiate his way into a carpark. Up until that incident the prior two days were some of the greatest driving moments Ive ever experienced. Belting the Evo through the forests and rolling hills at 200andsomethingorother clicks (I dared not look) really was something else! Even the early morning liaison section diving in and out of the fog blankets through the hills of Toodyay was a pleasure. The Race Torque Engineering prepared Evo 7 performed virtually flawlessly and we were exceptionally looked after by Steve Metlitzky and the entire GTI Performance service crew. A huge thank you to my beautiful wife Leanne who has always supported me in the sport that I love and picked up the slack when I shirk my dad duties to prepare for race events. I simply could not do it without her support and commitment. And finally a massive thank you to my co-driver Steph. She did everything I couldve asked from her and was a pleasure to work with. Ill never live down that last little incident but hopefully you can forgive me one day ;)
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:42:18 +0000
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