Might have a run down early doors on Sunday for the last morning,
providing the lazy arse postmen deliver my sodding cover note tomorrow
then I can tax the car...

Mike P

Me. Went to Cardiff and stayed in the Travelodge just over the road from
the Millennium Centre. 30 second walk to where everything was going on.
Got all the signatures apart from Mikko's. Collared him as he was
walking back to his car. He came over, was about to get his pen out then
some f.cking corporate knob accosted him so didn't get it.

Went to Sweet Lamb.

If you went to Sweet Lamb and were slightly observant, you may have seen
the car I was in. Renault Espace with Gumball 3000 stickers on it and a
homebrew roofrack with 10 aerials of various sizes on top. We had a seat
in the middle of the car absolutely covered in scanners and PMR radios
listening to everything from everyone from the helicopters through to
the teams and down to the rally officials.

For example,
Start of Stage 1, when asked if everything was going OK, the officials
said "Yeah except for the Japanese who always seem to be a pain in the
arse".

Henning Solbergs car was running sh.t because nobody in their workshop
can solder for sh.t and had done a piss poor job on a relay. When you
hear them referring to soldering as welding, you don't hold out much
hope.

The 6 minute gap in the running of the Group N was because one of the
co-drivers kept passing in and out of consciousness so everyone got
backed up.

Also heard Mikko saying he'd not had much confidence in himself the
first time through, hence the low times and was going to get himself
sorted over dinner.

Stage officials were as funny as hell on the radio once they'd closed
the stage down after the first run through. There was some right stuff
going on.

If you go again, you really need to take some radio gear with you. Adds
greatly to the experience when you get to hear whats going on which
doesn't make it to TV or the commentary.

Funniest part: Watching a long line of people in suits walking through
the mud at the bottom of the stage tip-toeing through the shite in their
best office type footwear as they were trying to get from the
hospitality tent to their cars and watching one of the morons thinking
he was clever walking outside the taped path set up and then coming
across a quagmire he had no choice but to go through.