Gwyndaf Evans had said before the rally “There are a lot of heroes in Kielder forest and all of them are in the ditches” and John and Peter, the scholarship organisers, also warned all us scholarship competitors to take care on the stages as the crown of the road and the loose gravel would mean any mistakes would be punished.

They said that leaving the road would leave very little chance of getting back onto it again and would spell the end of the rally.

Two MG scholarship crews proved them all to be right on the first stage as their rallies ended in a ditch without the cars being damaged, but they were in good company as reigning BRC champion Jonny Milner also crashed out on the same stage.

We attacked right from the start and also nearly left the road when I made a mistake and got off the clean line and onto some deep gravel causing the car to slide sideways. I floored the accelerator and with the power of the MG was able to pull the car back into line. I quickly put this behind me and settled into a rhythm using the experience I had gained on our first rally and Richard’s quick fire pace notes to give good speed throughout the stage.

Before the 2nd stage we learned that Dan and Tom had left the road on stage 1. We continued to push on stage 2 and caught an Mk 2 Escort who sportingly moved over to let us pass. I relied on Richard and his pace notes as I drove over blind crests at more than 90mph, whilst Richard had time to sound our horn for the MG supporters club who had turned out in force to support us on this stage as well as later stages. We enjoyed this stage although it was quite rough on the tight corners but it was still very fast in parts calling for total commitment. The MG once again showed it could handle some of the fastest stages in Europe without any dramas.

As we headed to the next stage we were given some interim results indicating a 2 minute lead. This led me to drive the next stage too cautiously with too many mistakes because I was not fully committed. I cut the inside of a corner and damaged a wheel causing the whole car to vibrate above 50mph. Although it did not cost us too much time I lost confidence through the fast corners because the car was shaking about so much.

Returning to service, the guys from North Warwickshire & Hinckley College and MG Sport & Racing replaced the damaged wheel and checked that every thing was OK with our MG. After hitting some massive bumps and jumps at such high speeds it is testament to the strength of the ZR that this is the only thing that needed replacing! I endured the ordeal of another interview with Greenlight TV with whom Robbie Head, a former winner of the event was on hand to offer his advice on possible car set up changes and the best way to tackle the remaining stages. I then just had enough time to grab some food and a drink before we set off to do the final 2 stages.

Stage 4, a non-spectator stage, was very rough with big rocks and deep ruts throughout which caused a few moments moving off the line to avoid the worst of them. The final stage 5 was much smoother and probably the fastest of the rally with long straights and fast flowing corners. There were also large crowds towards the end of the stage, with once again fantastic support from the MG supporters with flag’s and air horn’s that could be heard over the noise inside the car. We were happy with these last 2 stages as we had driven to protect our lead without making any more silly mistakes. Our MG showed signs of the roughness of the stages with holes in the floorpan from rocks bombarding the underside of the car as well as thick dust inside the car but it had completed the course and we had finished well.

To win the 2nd round is even more satisfying than the 1st since the terrain in Kielder demands no fear and much more precision in driving and with a much higher risk of having an accident. The stages were rough and very fast so just to get to the end is an achievement, but to win the MG Scholarship for the 2nd rally in succession, win Class N1 and finish 6th overall is once again more than Richard and myself could have dreamed of before the event. It is just a shame that the battle was not as close this time, this does not however mean it was any easier, it just means we had to pace ourselves which has got to be good experience. A big thank you must go out to everyone who has made this possible, to Creative Media and MG for giving us the chance to compete in the scholarship in such a good car, to North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, who left at 3am to get to the event, and MG Sport & Racing for the backup and service crew needed to complete a gruelling event such as this, to Silverstone tyres for supplying such fantastic grip on such slippery gravel stages and finally to Heartland Evening News, Trinity Motors and all our other sponsors for their support which has enabled us to go rallying in the first place.

Matt Beebe