After just a few hours sleep from getting back from a few days away in Prague it was back to the Banbury Plant Hire depot for another slippery day.

This time the mud seemed deeper and gloppier (if that is a real word)

For the second use of this venue the tests explored more of the venue, giving longer tests which seemed to suit me and the ZR.

Overall it was a fun days sport, though I was nowhere near the winners times this time around. Through consistent times, we ended up 2nd overall and 1st Experts on what was a very muddy and tiring days sport.

Sadly the venue jet wasn’t available, so there is quite some cleaning to do before the cars upcoming MOT. As well as sorting the wipers which failed on the second to last test…..

The last time I was at Bramley for a Targa Rally was back in 2019, and although it was fun I did end up in a ditch after a bit of a ‘moment’.

For this event I linked up back with Lizzie Pope, who has navved me on many events over the years.

A relatively local event, meant not too early a start. Scrutineering was very quick so it was off to get an enjoyable but not healthy breakfast.

The tests at Bramley are short and sharp and very much at the ‘autotest’ end of Targa Rallies, but this doesn’t take away from the challenge though the ZR is a big old car at times…

During the days six tests we soon got into the mix of the tests. Apart from one overshoot (which was soon corrected), we got all the tests correct and setting some good times. Sadly two cones cost us some time, which on an event with realtively less test times meant they were quite costly.

In the end we finished up 8th overall and 2nd in class, which was pleasing after a while away from Bramley and competing with Lizzie. Plus we didn’t end up in a ditch like I did last time I was there!

Sadly those cones did come back to haunt me and without them we would have been 4th overall and 1st in class. But as the saying goes that’s motorsport and we can all say ‘What If’….

After the what if’s it was still a fun days rallying, and lots of laughs were had.

Just a few days in to 2025, and it was back in the ZR for a autotest at a new venue for SOCC.

The ZR needed new track rod ends and a drop link after the Preston, but other a good wash that was all that was needed before the autotest.

The only thing I couldn’t fix was the lack of a working heater, which with the snow and cold weather forecast wasn’t ideal. After an ‘interesting’ drive to the venue using my Focus (Toerag had a few little issues that need sorting), it was clear there was snow on the ground but that was slowly melting.

The new venue which is an old quarry, and is now used for waste management and other things like plant hire meant there were lots of ‘natural’ obstacles to drive around but none of them would move! This meant it would be about being precise and with all runs to count, ensuring you went the right way.

During the day the snow melted away leaving a very wet venue, so much so I didn’t change out of my rigger boots to try and keep warm. This though didn’t hold me back and during the morning it was clear that I was building up a lead.

Going into the last test, it was clear it was mine to throw away with a wrong test. This put the pressure on to ensure I went the right way, and with some complex tests this wasn’t easy. Thankfully even though I eased things back a little to ensure we took the win, I was still fastest on the final set of tests by 0.1. Overall I took the win by 60 plus seconds which was pleasing on a cold day.

The organisers then offered an additional longer test, which wouldn’t count toward overall results but there would be £20 cash for the fastest crew on this one test. This was more like a slow targa test, which was great fun to drive (if very muddy to walk before hand!). It was pleasing to also walk away with this win as well.

All in all a fun start to the year