OUCH. Well it's been a little over a week since I made a mistake in Sardinia.
What a nightmare in every sense that it happened.
Nevertheless, I'm back on the road to recovery with the help of numerous apparatus including hyperbaric chamber, a laser, electromagnetic bone growth stimulation and a swimming pool!... I'm trying everything!!
I think the swimming and hyperbaric cell are doing the trick. I do feel better and better every day (Sarah keeps telling me to shut up and lie down - especially when I say 'I feel like going for a run!')
So just a short one to let you all now that I am getting better, and that we are both eager to get back in the car and down to business in the not too distant future.
Guy
WELL I just returned from holiday five days ago and now I'm sitting eating lunch at the Press launch of the brand new Skoda Fabia VRS!
I've been here since Monday giving hot laps in the car at the Sosnova race circuit in the Czech Republic along with Juho (Hanninen).
It will be really interesting to see the reaction to this car later in the year back in the UK, I like it a lot!
I return home on Friday, ready for training all next week as we leave for Sardinia at the the end of next week.
It's a very important rally for our championship aspirations... we need to get a win soon!
Guy
JUST been to London to do voiceovers for some TV footage from our first three IRC rallies.
It was quite strange commenting on ourselves and watching the car from both inside and outside and not keeping my thoughts to myself!
I hope I did a half decent job because they will be appearing on the site very soon!
Another late return into Durham train station, I hope we can fly to Gran Canaria on Saturday!!!
WELL last week has blended into this.
I was out in Italy last Wednesday and Thursday, testing for Gran Canaria in the mountains near San Remo when I received a text from my girlfriend at 11.15.
"Do you know your plane is cancelled?" it read.
Mmmm I thought.... No?...
Well we all know what happened next!
But before that <<
Gran Canaria is the next rally in the IRC and so the test was organised on the most similar roads we could find as the team and I needed some time to get the Fabia to my liking.
Asphalt rallying is a finely tuned game and the test was going to be good familiarisation time with the car
again but the main aim was to get some more performance out of me and the car together.
We knew there were some major areas to work on from my feeling in the car from Monte Carlo so we straight away started working with those areas.
120kms later and the car feels a lot different.... more balance and more confidence for me in knowing and feeling the car underneath me.
It's a great feeling in the car when it all comes together.
>> So, test complete I had to drive to Nice, fill the hire car up (save budget) and then see what the options of travel were....
Inside Nice airport it was clear my direct not-so low budget airline to Newcastle was going nowhere... along with every other orange and white plane to the UK. Quick decision making was needed....
I let you read the what happened next in the news story!
WELL it's been a tough return back to the UK... it's cold and my body clock is waaay out!
Well it's been a tough return back to the UK...
Not only is it a LOT colder than we are used to after three weeks in South America but I've been awake from Sunday morning until Tuesday mid afternoon and it has thrown my body clock waaaay out!
Luckily enough BA did us proud and didn't cancel any of my flights back to Newcastle, although three consecutive flights over 30 hours took its toll.... it's not so easy to get comfortable when your 6'4'' in those seats!!
Anyway the lack of comfort was all the sweeter when your bringing home a sack full of points.
Ideally a win would have topped off our South American leg nicely but that's my own personal high standards that keeps me striving for the top.
So there you have it.... Skoda UK Motorsport are second in the drivers standings... sandwiched by two more Skodas!
I would like to thank all the lads (mechanics) with providing me with a car that never missed a beat. Thank you, keep up the good work and let's try to go one better next time!!!
Guy