Photos: http://swimdude0614.smugmug.com/Cars/Pe ... 75_KjfJL77
If you look close, you'll see the Contour running Saab sunburst wheels :) He used to crew for us and has tons of Saab's but bought a Ford rally car. Price was right.
The rally went well and the SAAB perfomed well. Was breaking in a brand new co-driver, but he was very prepared and did a great job. Took it pretty easy the first stage as it'd been a year since my last gravel rally and the roads had lots of fresh, loose, slippery gravel that did nothing for my confidence. Improved by 10 sec. on the second pass. Next 2 stages were a bit of the same. Somehow managed to get a time penalty for early check in but am pretty sure it was a worker error. Didn't argue it, but should have as it cost us 2nd place in the first rally.
Didn't have anything to work on in service, so looked it all over and started the second leg. Stage 5 was a fantastic stage. I felt much better and pushed harder and my time showed it. Stage 6 wasn't as flowing as 5, but did alright on that one. Was hoping for a real good time on the second pass of stage 5 road, but went a little wide on a left 3 and stuffed it into a ditch. We were slightly stuck and pinned against a barbed wire fence. Rocked it back and forth and got out, but right side of car has the scratches to show for it. Lost 20-30 sec. there, then the co-driver got motion sickness and couldn't call the notes so had to drive the rest as I saw it. Figured I'd lost second in class after that and just drove the last stage to finish. Found out later the Citation had an issue so we held onto 2nd place in class. Nothing to write home about time-wise compared to the other cars, but had fun and finished with the car in good shape.
I feel like I really need some help from the Team O'Neill school before I get any better at the driving part. It's either that or stick to co-driving.
