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Hi,

We have successfully completed a very long, but good day 1 of Rally Finland.  We are currently sitting 22nd overall and 3rd PWRC, only 0.7 seconds behind 2nd and with a fast local closing in from behind.

We have had no major problems today.  On the morning loop of four stages we were suffering from a bad vibration through the car, which was the result of 3 bent rims from 3 different impacts with rocks.  On one of these I was amazed that the Pirelli tyre stayed inflated and nothing else broke, such was the size of the rock and the impact.

We have been consistently in the top 5 PWRC times all day, including two top 3 stage times.  I had high expectations coming into this event, but I really underestimated just how quick the locals and Scandinavians are here, on an event most of them are quite familiar with.  A fair example of this is stage 7/9 today, which was a brand new stage that had never been used before.  Despite struggling for a bit of a rhythm, we set top 3 PWRC stage times both times through and each time were only 1-2 seconds off the stage win.

So, all in all, it has been an okay day, but there is certainly a small feeling of disappointment that we haven’t found the extra speed that I know we have.  However, tomorrow is another day and we now have a very tough battle with two very fast local drivers to secure a PWRC podium place.  Tomorrow is also a long day, so there is plenty of rallying left to make up time, learn and gain experience for future events.  So far though, we are all on target.

The spectators here have been absolutely crazy.  It is like the whole of Finland has come to the rally to party.  The spectators today wouldn’t just be counted in the thousands, but hundreds of thousands.  One of the stages in particular at the start and finish had a parked line of spectator’s vehicles of 5km and that did not include all the spectators at the main vantage points in the stage.  It has been a great experience and also a real buzz to see my family and the Rally Tours group all wearing Team Green clothing and waving the New Zealand flag, cheering us on.

Thanks everyone and I will keep you posted tomorrow. 

Hayden

Hi,

We have successfully completed the final day of Rally Whangarei and have hang on for our third victory of this event. We won all but one of today’s eight stages and the final winning margin was 3 minutes and 55 seconds over fellow Kiwi Emma Gilmour. The weekend has been perfect and everything has run like clockwork, thanks to the whole team.

The expected bad weather that was forecasted for today did arrive which made conditions very tricky. We knew that being first on the road today would be a slight advantage but we also knew that the repeated run of the four stages would be very slippery. With this in mind we targeted the morning loop stages to achieve our main goal of the day – stage records. With a healthy overnight lead we did not want to fall into the same trap as we did at Rally New Zealand where we cruised to the finish, especially as this weekend was all about seat time and developing my driving. So we targeted stage records, of which we set 3 new stage records from the 4, including the one from 2004 that had eluded us in previous years.

During the first loop we were pushing on two stages very hard and things felt very comfortable despite the wet conditions. It was also the most fun and the most confidence that I have had behind the wheel before. During the afternoon stages with the worsening conditions, we backed off a notch to concentrate on getting to the end and completing a perfect weekend for the whole team.

To stand on the top of the podium at the end with the New Zealand National Anthem in the background is a very special feeling and now the target is to carry this confidence and development that we have done with my driving this weekend onwards into the WRC with the remaining Pirelli rounds. I am also being realistic that it is a completely different kettle of fish overseas but that is now the target which I believe with a little more time and experience we can do.

So all in all a perfect weekend, 1st overall, 1st Asia Pacific Championship, 1st Pacific Cup and 1st New Zealand Rally Championship.

A huge thanks to everyone that has made this weekend possible for us, including the team who as usual have done a incredible job prior and during the event. Thanks Dad, John, Math, Neil, AD, Rob, Katie,  Jackie and to all our sponsors and supporters. Also a huge thanks to the event organisers and volunteers who had to deal with the dreadful weather while making the event possible for us!

Tomorrow we head home, then it is a busy 2 weeks getting the car rebuilt and packed for Japan. Also in the meantime we have a lot of preparation and training to do for Finland which we leave for in just over 2 weeks time.

Hayden

Hi,

We have now completed our two days of recce, which have gone smoothly and well. First impressions of the roads after coming from Rally New Zealand are that they are very technical. There are a lot of things happening, which comes from a combination of short corners, short, sharp crests and combinations of corners. We have written some good pace notes, but they are very busy so that they describe the road accurately and at what speed we should tackle it. The other difference here is the large rocks that are embedded in the side of the roads and the bedrock in the surface. This means there is no room for going off line or cutting corners – as we rally drivers naturally like to do.

As I mentioned on Monday, ESP are here to evaluate our personal performance, using several unique and sophisticated measuring techniques. For today’s recce and Friday’s part of the rally the guys at ESP are monitoring our core temperature, heart rate, fluid intake, hydration level, reaction times and alertness. This is done using several dexterity tests that we do throughout each of these days, plus a device that we have strapped to our bodies which records all key body data. From all this info they will be able to advise each crew member on their performance and make suggestions on things that we are doing correctly, or incorrectly, so we can optimise our personal performance. To have this sort of help and information available to us is massive and it will help us have a much better understanding of how our bodies cope with a hot rally.

The Ralliart Italy team have all but finished the cars for the rally and they are looking great! For this event we are starting with the same set-up we finished Turkey with and we will aim to further develop the car from there, which, combined with more seat time, should allow me to feel more at one with the car. We will also try a couple of things at shakedown tomorrow, but we know the shakedown stage is not representative of the rally, so we need to make sure that we do not go around in circles chasing things that do not need to be chased. Tomorrow concludes with the first stage of the rally, the Super Special stage, which is impressively situated inside, and a little bit outside, a football stadium.

Hayden

Hi,

Well I am pleased to inform you that we have finished Rally New Zealand with the dream result that we were wanting. 1st PWRC, 1st Kiwi and 14th overall – an absolutely dream weekend and result.

The days 4 stages included the infamous Whaanga Coast stage, which is a long winding stage alongside the coastline. It is a very difficult stage and is the sort of stage that can bite back, as the room for error is so little. Luckily with our margin of 4 minutes to the next PWRC competitor we were able to take it easy all day to conserve our position. The only hiccup we had throughout the day was a failing clutch that at the midday service in Raglan I was quite nervous about. For the final two stages I adapted to not using the clutch which can be done with the gearboxes that we run but just required a different driving style. Luckily it all held together for us to reach the finish, clinching our maiden PWRC round win – the first for a New Zealander.

The result is fantastic, something that we are all over the moon about. We have not pushed outside our boundaries all event, setting a consistent pace rather than trying to be the fastest on every stage. This is an aspect that I learnt from Rally Turkey about finding a rhythm and pace to suit the 3 day event. We did just that which is why the result is even more encouraging, knowing that we have so much more in the tank. Best of all there is not a scratch on the car!

The support that we have had all week from the spectators, fans and media has been massive! It has been overwhelming and a real buzz how much support we have had which gives us a real lift. I have also been told that over the weekend that we have received a lot of live TV coverage from the event and the helicopter chase of our car through the stages. I have added a couple of links below as a taster for some of the coverage that we have received.

A huge thanks to the whole team, Dad, John, Math, Neil, Rob, AD, Katie, Jackie, Mike and Sue who all did a fantastic job not only throughout the week but in our preparations for the rally. This is a great result for the whole team! Also a huge thanks to all our partners and sponsors. It was great to see Rallytours guests out in force on the stages of which I’m sure they enjoyed their experiences.

In the meantime a few of the guys fly home tonight. While after we finish the pack up tonight we depart for home first thing in the morning. Once we get home it is a matter of planning and preparing the Team Green Evo 9 for Rally Whangarei, which will be staying in the North Island for the time being. We also have just a week and a half before John and I depart for Rally Portugal with the Pirelli Star Driver team, which I cannot wait for.

Hi

The last two days have gone well as we prepare for Rally New Zealand.  Yesterday we completed the last day of recce, which included all the stages north of Auckland and these are in the best condition that I have ever seen before.  We have a good set of notes put together from our 2 days of recce and I am confident they will work well.

After recce I had several more TV and radio interviews, both last night and again this morning.  Following this morning’s ones we completed the shakedown stage at the Auckland Domain.  This stage was the same as the tarmac super special stage that we will use as the last stage tomorrow evening.  As it is a tarmac test we did not have a chance to confirm the set-up of the car for the bulk of the stages, but it was a good opportunity to make sure everything on the car is operating as it should be.  With all the protruding objects and obstacles it meant there was a lot to lose and nothing to gain, so with this in mind we took it easy.

Tonight we have done the ceremonial start at the Viaduct Harbour where it has been great to see so many people out and to catch up with a lot.

I’m looking forward to getting into action tomorrow.  We have 8 stages in the Whangarei/Northland area, followed by the super special stage at the Auckland Domain.  As this is a long, 3 day event our plan must be to not only be fast, but consistent and to make no mistakes.  Stage 1 will be a matter of getting into the groove, then of making the most of some of my favourite stages before we return to Auckland.   We are running as car 17 on the road, so we should have a well swept line on the road surface by then, but it will be essential to make the most of it.

John and I just have a few more notes to go through and then it is an early night to make sure we are fresh for the morning.