Phils guide to Wales Rally GB – Leg 1

LEG 1 – Friday 30th November, 2007.

SS1: Port Talbot 1 (17.41kms). Start: 09.53
We start the 2007Wales Rally GB with a stage that’s identical to S1/4 in 2006. The first section is very very fast with long straights and big crests but 6th gear for many Kms. The middle section we know well, this could really catch people out because it’s very slippery in places, especially when we loop around the blue lagoon lake and has very big drops on the outside with most of the surface on bed rock with a thin film of mud on top which is extremely slippy. The finish is a gradual descent and again very hard on brakes to the finish.

SS2: Resolfen 1 (24.49kms). Start: 10.41
A very difficult stage because it has four surface changes, with loose gravel, hard rock, strange mine waste and mud if it’s wet. Again this stage is identical to ’06-S2/5. On this type of surface you really don’t know what to expect until you get there, as the weather conditions determine how slippery it is. The start is very fast up to a T-junction left where many crews have slipped off in the past, then continues very fast uphill with flat out blind crests and difficult to read the road accurately. There are some of the longest corners here in The WRC, they seem to go on sometimes for 6-800 Mtrs and very difficult to make accurate pace notes for especially sometimes with as many as 3 or 4 apex’s. It continues fast over the top of the mountain and last year had 1 section where the Forest Enterprise had been logging of very bad mud. The one thing that’s certain is that Resolfen is a really challenging stage and the scene of many cars slipping off in previous years.

SS3: Rheola 1 (27.91kms). Start: 11.39
Probably our favourite stage of The Wales/GB event! We have been fastest in this stage for the previous 3 years, it is a pure commitment stage, mainly downhill and it is all about braking in exactly the correct place to get a good time. Again it is identical to S3/6-’06.
Rheola is another long and challenging test and there are plenty of places to catch you out. Rheola contains Walters Arena – one of, if not the, best places to watch anywhere on Wales Rally GB. The start is very fast uphill with some very narrow places between earth banks, then fast downhill with very tricky junctions especially Marcus Gronholm’s junction where he slipped off in his Peugeot 2006 in ’01! Then up hill and to the highest part of the stage where if there is any fog around this is where it will be! The downhill on black pit waste and very slippy into Walters Arena, there’s a very fast downhill approach, over a small jump and down to a 90 degree left hand bend with the lake straight in front of you. We always treat that left hander very carefully because we don’t want to get on first name terms with the rescue divers who are in the lake. After you’ve gone around that left hander you can really enjoy the rest of the arena, as there are some really nice flowing bends where the car gets sideways and a couple of good jumps where all four wheels are well off the ground. The atmosphere in Walters Arena is fantastic because there is always a massive crowd of spectators and you can hear the air horns going from inside the car and see all the Welsh flags flying. The tricky downhill with some old broken tarmac sections through some muddy haiprpins to finish on a slippy left hand bend on tarmac! It’s quite a special place.

SS4: Port Talbot 2 (17.41kms). Start: 14.10
After service at the Swansea Rally Centre, we’ll head back and repeat the three morning stages, beginning with Port Talbot 2. For the rest of the day, we’ll have ruts and rocks in the middle of the road to think about – although avoiding them when you’re committed to a corner is impossible. It’s too early in the event to ease off and you need a bit of luck and not break a steering rack or puncture a tyre.

SS5: Resolfen 2 (24.49kms). Start: 14.58
There will be some retirements in here, as the repeat run through Resolfen could see some of the trickiest conditions of the entire event. If it was slippy the first time through, it is likely to be worse the second time, and its here where skill, bravery and good luck all have to work together. Whoever is fastest through Resolfen 2 will have earned it.

SS6: Rheola 2 (27.91kms). Start: 16.23
A long stage to end a very tough opening day and will be run in the dark! The last section after Walters arena should be quite spectacular at night as the brakes are normally open fire a few Kms before the finish and we really are hoping that we don’t get any fog in the mid section which is always the worse fear pf rallying in the dark! Today’s route might only look like three different stages tackled twice, but at 139kms it’s the longest day of the rally and a really challenging start. They’ll be lots of people glad of the super-rally regulation, which allows cars to re-start tomorrow. I just hope we’re not one of them!

To be continued…