In 2009 PAL Rallying competed on FOUR events as a team, here is a short review of each event they competed in together.

At the end of the 2009 season Pete managed to claim 1st overall Co-Driver in the Dukeries Motor Club Rally Championship
Also in the ANEMMC single venue championship finished 4th Overall and 1st in Class 3 and in the EMAMC multi venue (forest rally) championship finished 1st Co-Driver in Class 3 and 2nd Co-Driver in Class 1
Liam secured 1st Driver in Class 1 (for the second year running), and 1st Co-Driver in Class 2 in the Dukeries Motor Club Rally Championship and in the EMAMC multi venue championship finished 1st Driver in Class 1.
In addition to the PAL team events, Pete and Liam also competed on other events (Pete on 6 events and Liam on 3 events) in 2009.
We will be adding an "Awards Page" in near future, hopefully in 2010 we will have enough to fill it !

Get Connected Wydean Forest Rally - Forest Of Dean, Saturday 7th February 2009 - An hours road section in the snow took us to the start of SS1. We took the first mile at a reasonable pace then at the first "proper" corner (a 4 Right), we braked and slid into a snow bank. At the next corner we did the same again ! The morning consisted of hitting snow banks, getting stuck and having to be pushed out by spectators, getting stage maximum times ! After mid day we improved our pace by following some of the front runners wheel ruts. The last stage brought a big spin and sideways off into a snow bank, then a couple of good corners and the worst incident of all day taking a dip in fourth gear at 60 mph, that flicked the back end out and we ended up going down the straight at about a 45 degree angle! We managed to finish the rally in the hard conditions, but due to a very cautious approach we finished 130 out of 130 and 16th on class.

Beta Somerset Stages - Exmoor Forest, Saturday 25th April 2009 - An interesting rally with our best and worst moments of the year!
After the 5 hour journey from Mansfield to Minehead, we started this rally looking forward to some stages without snow and ice.
We developed a problem early on with the car jumping out of gear, this was a pain but not a real problem. On SS3 we had the biggest moment of our rallying year, on a slippy 3 right around bails,the car stepped out, and as Liam corrected it we went off line, into a ditch
then up a bank, leaving us very lucky not to have rolled the car. Then on SS7 (the second run up Porlock Hill) Liam pushed the car hard to post the joint 5th fastest time on stage, this was our highest stage position of the year ! Then on the last stage of the rally when we were
70metres off the start line, when the steering rack broke, this shot us to the right with the car stopping on the edge of a 50ft drop.
This was a frustrating end to a very good rally in a location that we will definately be visiting again.

Plains Rally - Mid Wales Forest, Saturday 16th May 2009 - After the dissapointment of our first DNF of the year in Somerset, we travelled to Wales with the car repaired and the crew ready to go. After the first stage in Mick's Woodyard a 1 hour plus road section took us to our first drive on the slate forest roads of Wales. It took Liam a little longer than expected getting used to the surface, but our times improved as the day went on. In the driving rain the fast stages, fresh air drops and log piles made this a challenging but enjoyable rally.
On SS8 the "Ski Run" a long downhill section with only slight curves had Liam flat out in 5th gear and the 106 reaching 95mph at the bottom of the hill, this is the fastest he has ever driven in a forest ! Then on the last stage of the rally (again !), just off the start line at a square right, the car came to a halt with no gears and no drive, a quick look revealed a broken drive shaft and our second frustrating
DNF on the last stage of our Rally First championship.

Rainworth Skoda Dukeries Rally - Sherwood Forest, Saturday 13th June 2009 - With maintainance work on the 106 continuing into the Friday before the rally, everything was eventually ready for the days rallying. This first stage gave Liam a problem, with him saying "it was like driving on marbles", not helping his confidence and slowing him down. On SS4 with our day getting better, we headed down a long, fast straight into a square left and Liam lost the steering over a mid corner bump which sent us up an earth bank and beached the car until the marshals could push us free. Pushing to make up time, Liam dabbed the handbrake on a square left (which we where already going round fine!) this put us into a 180 spin and we had to go back up stage to turn around, then with an overshoot into the next corner,
all this left us in 10th in class, 26 seconds down on 9th. Liam then forgot to put his gloves on for the next stage, which resulted in several overshoots and another trip up the banking. On the last stage, after our recent jinx, we decided to drive with caution and aim for a finish, we managed this ok, despite a trip into a big hole mid corner which saw the 106 jump all four wheels in the air ! At the end of the day, considering our previous two failures, we were happy with our final position of 9th in class by a healthy 16 seconds on our home rally.

We would like to thank everybody who helped make these achievements possible.