Harold Palin Memorial Rally 2021
Sunday the 3rd May was the return to rallying for the Laser Tools Racing Escort after a long break due to the Covid restrictions but the 2021 championships were finally starting.
For this year we had Mick from head office at Laser sitting in the navigator’s seat which he was very much looking forward to although he said he was a little nervous.
Stage one was a bit of a shakedown with not having driven the car for 5 months and with the stages being very fast stages we took a bit of time to get the braking points sorted but we finished stage one in 23rd position so we were happy with that and with no issues with the car it was a good position to build on through the day.
Stage two was a re-run of stage one and we increased our pace a little and so gained one place to be 22nd.
Stage 3 saw us drop down a little as other crews increased their pace but with the car running well, we could have a push in the afternoon to improve on our 24th overall and 4th in class.
We had a trouble free run on stage 4 with the speeds now increasing we moved up 3 places in the overall standings to be 21st.
Another clean run on stage 5 and with the confidence in the car and new navigator saw us set the 16th quickest time and move up to 20th overall and with only one stage to go a top 20 finish would be a great result for the team and after another clean run on the final stage we moved up to 19th overall and 4th in class but more importantly we had no damage or issues with the car all day it was great to come away with that result for the team.
Thanks Laser Tools for the renewed support in 2021 and to the service crew who were there if needed Stephen and Jemma and for supplying the refreshments and keeping the car fuelled up for the stages.
Also a massive thanks to the organisers safety crews and marshals who volunteer their time so we can get out on the stages. See you all at Melbourne on the 30th May.
