Date:  Sunday - 20th November 2011
Event:  Premier Stages Rally
Location:  Sherwood Pines in Sherwood Forest (Single Venue - No Road Sections)
Number of entries: 60 in total, 10 in Class One
Seeded:    35th Overall, 3rd in Class One
Result:   37th Overall, 4th in Class One

Written By Pete

It had been quite a while since we had been out on the stages competitively. A few problems early on in the day with the engine not running too well at tick over, but going great when at higher revs. New plugs and a few adjustments reduced the problem and we started SS1 at a pre-planned steady pace, to give Liam a chance to assess the handling of the Nova on forest tracks.

SS2 saw us take a full minute off our first stage time as we found a comfortable pace, but not pushing too hard. The stages were a little rough in places, the car and crew took a few hard bumps but held up well. As the day progressed Liam got faster without really trying, the long straights had us in 5th gear at high revs (though not on the limiter !), the car was tending to wander a little at high speed and needed constant driver input.

On SS5 we caught the car that started 30 seconds in front of us and then had to slow down a lot to pass a Subaru that broke down in front of us, partially blocking the road. Thanks to the crew of the car we caught who let us start in front of them on the final stage.

SS6 was getting dark and we didnt have the lamp pod fitted, but this didnt create a huge problem as it was still half light, so with no one close behind and the next class car too far ahead we had an enjoyable last stage.

After the dissappointments earlier in the year it was nice to get to the end of the rally with the car still running !
with the excitement of the rally stages re-kindled for next year.

Event Gallery - Click here to go to the event gallery for this review