We had a bit of a mixed run at the weekend, but were happy enough with our finish after problems late on.

The opening stages held up really well over the first and second loops, albiet a little muddy second time through.  We had a slow enough start as man and machinery took a while to get back up to speed after a few months break.

The third loop included the first run over the 21k Streamhill stage which wasn’t as daunting or arduous as one might think.  Unfortunately, early mechanical gremlins grew as the car wasn’t pulling right consistently.  Seemingly randomly, she’d pull fantastically out of some corners and a little dead out of others.

Uphill sections were also giving trouble at times, which wasn’t helped by poor performance from the squidgy bits on the long SS5.  SS6 was a little better as we started to get back on form on the last stage before final service.

The final loop started off better with a good run over the first two.  The car still wasn’t right but the times weren’t affected too badly.  Unfortunately the gear knob broke off before the start of SS8 which caused a bit of caution in case gears weren’t forthcoming in slower corners.  To make matters worse, the rubber holding up the gear linkage finally had enough of the temperature and melted, leaving us stuck with third gear for most of SS9.

Despite the mechanical problems, we were happy enough with the times, which were never too far off the “non billy coleman” runners.  When it went right things were good.

Next on the agenda?  Early investigations suggest the power problem might be due to a faulty oil pressure sensor, causing a lack of VTEC.  Mulcahy has to keep investigating and tie down the cause of the power problem, then it’s head vs heart on whether to have a final run out for the year in Birr or save the budget for next year.

We’ll keep you up to date…

Photos with thanks to RallyMad Motorsport Photography and Pablo Rally Photography respectively.