2022: Back Up and Running

Following the upgrades in 2021, we were feeling very ready for a good year in 2022. With a limited programme, due to getting married, our first event was the Bovington Stages in March. Bovington is known as a challenging venue, lots of concrete and hard things to hit if you get it wrong, and a venue I had not competed at before. So a cautious approach to build up the feeling and experience in the car was required.

Pleasant weather unexpectedly greeted the crews, cold but dry and sunshine. Soft slicks were order of the day, and the team made a great start with 7th overall on the first stage. We built the pace throughout the day and really got to grips with the car, building much more confidence and starting to understand how to make it work.

Still a few minor issues needed some attention, inconsistent power steering being the main one. But a clean and consistent run enabled the team to bring home 7th overall, a great result and my highest ever finish.

Next up was one of our favourite events, and one we knew well, the TSH Stages down in Cornwall. The day started well, with a strong run on the first stages, leaving the team lying just outside of the top ten.

The weather was dry and hot, with the only challenge to report that the medium tyres went off in stage 2, so we switched to hards for the third stage, which took a while to come in, but then started to perform nicely.

The times were there, and the feeling was improving.

On stage 4 the team were having a really good run, but then, disaster struck! The turbo went with a bang, game over. We were gutted to have yet another retirement.

Work then began quickly to get the Subaru ready for it’s next commitment- being Bill’s wedding car! It was all a bit manic as it turned out, the extremely rare 1997 WRC turbo was unsalvageable, and it is not possible to get the parts to repair or replace! Following guidance from many experts, we decided to go with an IHI VF34 turbo, that was modified by Owen Developments. This was fitted to the car just in time for the wedding!

After the wedding the car was mapped by Steve Simpson and then on to our next event, another trip to Bovington for the Challenger Stages in November.

The conditions were changeable and slippy damp stages greeted the crews on stage 1. The team excelled in these conditions and set a blistering time on the first stage. Coming in at third overall, behind only very modern Rally 2 cars, one being driven by multiple national champion Damien Cole, and the other by the winner of the Bovington Stages. A fantastic start proving what the team could do in the car in tricky conditions. Following it’s new turbo the car was working much better. The power band much more useable than before and anti lag working very well.

As conditions dried, some of the more powerful and two wheel drive cars started to pull back time. The team had another consistent run, other than a massive moment when tyre pressures got too high after switching to a medium, big slide in 5th gear, but gathered nicely. Eventually we finished 6th overall, just 1 second off 5th. A good result considering the competition, and more experience and development of the car, with the changes made really working well.

An exciting future is ahead of us, with some big changes imminent in 2023, watch this space.