Richard Burns Rally 09

Date: 15th and 16th August 2009
Event: Richard Burns Memorial Rally
Location: RAF Marham, Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
Number of entries:  31 in Class C (2 litre 2wd cars) and 91 in total
Pete / John Seeded: 41st Overall and 12th in Class C   Result: 19th Overall and 11th in Class
Liam / Clive Seeded:  52nd Overall and 20th in Class C Result: 20th Overall and 12th in Class

Written by Pete
A third of all the cars at Marham were in Class C, the class winner was 3rd overall and finished nearly 14 minutes in front of us, such was the quality of the field at this event. A very fast and smooth venue not ideal for a forest set up car with a very grippy surface which calmed the usual oversteer of the Mk2 Escort.
Day One - A wrong tyre choice gave us a slow start but we were soon back up to speed, the long stages taking around 17 minutes to complete requiring maximum concentration. Our closest rivals in class were Liam and Clive but we managed to take a few seconds lead from three of the four Saturday stages.
Day Two - The first stage on Sunday was when we blew the engine on this event last year and at the same spot on a hairpin we had a half spin onto the grassy downhill slope, but it was well recovered by John and we completed the stage with relief ! We swapped fastest stage times between us on sunday, the first time PAL Rallying had competed in different cars in the same class made an interesting challenge. Both days saw a well controlled drive by John with only one full spin onto the grass (right at the end of a stage) and just a few other minor moments throughout the two days. Good teamwork bringing us a good result to beat our nearest class rivals by 29 seconds.
After the "Party on the Pan" on Saturday night, having our pictures taken with the Red Arrows flying over the assembled rally cars, the event then ended with a flypast by a Lancaster Bomber, very low over the airfield, a great way to end a very enjoyable weekend of rallying.