Rally Le Touquet 2017

Back In February we were in talks with Renault Sport France, and opportunity arose to test the Clio R3T Rally Car,
This happened rather swiftly with a week we were in Barcelona with ASM Motorsport, testing the Clio, over the weekend of 24th February,
What a car! We had a half day test and really enjoyed driving the car, very different to anything i am used to Left Hand Drive, Paddle shift gearbox were just a few things to get to learn in the new car with being so different to the Subaru but i wanted a new challenge for 2017.
Now with the Race Series on hold we Had a look at what the Championship had to offer, the package and support and the events in the championship it was an opportunity not to be missed.

Then we had 2 weeks to prepare for the 1st round of the championship, Ralle Le Touquet, this was happening so quick, with Thanks to Renault Sport France and Alex of ASM, the deal was there, Also with the help of Mark Glennerster My codriver the rally was on.
Mark assisted with the organisation and preparation for the rally. All the correspondence was produced in English for us and with alot of hard work in a short space of time we were on our way out to France for the Reece which was the weekend before the rally.

We then had a shake down on the Thursday and Press conference with Renault Sport Thursday Evening, the Rally started Friday Morning until 11.30 that evening, This was a long day but it went so quick, this was my first proper experience of dark stages.
The Renault Sport Engineers are so helpful, they were at shakedown to advise on setups and in every service through the whole rally also at the end of every stage and every regroup, there is excellent support, you cant fault it. They carried out checks throughout the day, weighing the cars, checking tyres. There is Renault Hospitality in service which is welcome to all teams, sponsors and supporters.
Restart Saturday morning with seven stages left for Saturday this was a much shorter day , the whole event was some 210 KMS of special stages. The whole experience was incredible from start to finish, i will take alot from this and hope to build on this for the next round in May

I have competed in Ireland but never done a rally in France, so this was a whole new experience for me, i have also never made my own notes from scratch, always done events with Pattersons Pacenotes, so this alone was a massive learning curve, Just getting used to the different ways that the French organisers do things, the starts were slightly different as there were merges in the stages, the different roads and road surfaces, there was a lot to take in, but everyone from the event team was very helpful and encouraging

How things can change within weeks, its all started back at the start of 2016 but the last three weeks everything has suddenly all come together.

With thanks to Renault Sport – ASM Motorsport – VE-Exhibithions, Millers Oils, , NGK, Excedy, Mibau Stema, FIA Women In Motorsport, Brecon Motors, Brecon Car Rentals, Mark Glennerster

Round 1 done – we now are preparing to do Rallye Antibes 12th – 14th May