23/06/2024
Argyll Rally Debrief 👇
Argyll Rally, where do we start! Friday night was quite a challenge from the outset, we couldn’t decide what tyres to go out on, with the weather struggling to make up its mind. We aired on the side of caution in the end and went for wets, looking back now it wasn’t the right choice. We should have gone for intermediates.
Coming down through Argyll Street with everything cold led to quite a lock up towards the Burgh Hall but we managed to get round, a “small cut” heading up the hill definitely was a brave line 😂
We then headed out to Tarsan Dam, there were a lot of cars off already here but we made it through a fast and slippy stage.
Fearnoch 😁 this was a reverse run of one of last years stages and was brilliant, tight and technical with a faster end. We loved this one.
Kilmoden was another reversed stage. This was slippery and fast, another lock up coming into the chicane but we made it through again in good time.
The last 2 stages of the night were challenging, during Bealach Maim we had zero visibility in the fog but Laura’s notes got us through there and we didn’t lose much time. Loch Fyne was epic as always with a mix of tight narrow sections with some absolutely flat out corners.
We rounded off the night in 57th position which was exactly where we wanted to be.
Saturday was nicer so we went for wider intermediates and the difference was staggering! Faster on every stage and getting back into the swing of it.
The first loop went really smoothly, setting some good times against some much higher spec machinery.
A lot of the stages were repeats of the night before so it was great to compare them from the night to the day.
The addition to the Saturday was the Whistlefield stage which we always enjoy, we managed to set the 34th fastest time through there, this was one of the top 2 litre es**rt times so we were happy with that 😊
Service had to be cut short due to some hold ups so a quick check then back out.
The last loop went well, we were faster again through Fearnoch getting more committed on the fast stuff. But then came the price for getting faster! We went wide on the bridge after the long straight on Kilmoden and ended up in the ditch. We lost about 40 seconds while some legends pushed us out!
Then over the Bealach with no issues and up Loch Fyne we were on it.
Whistlefield was the last stage of the day and again 34th through it!
This put us in 48th overall and 11th in class 4. Not quite as good as we had hoped for but with the driving talent that is now coming to Dunoon for the Argyll Rally we were happy with that. To jump into the wee red Es**rt once a year and still mix it with those guys is a great feeling 😊
Keep a look out for some in car footage over the coming week!
