March 6, 2006 Here we go again! Anakin and I are out in Jean, Nevada this weekend ready to tackle the opening event of the rally season, the Seed 9 Rally. Not the Seed 9 Rally Sprint this time. We've got extra stages and a few new roads this time. Co-driving for me this time is Shea Burns, 24 from Tuscon, Arizona; he's looking at the route book and wondering how we're going to get by with only a few simple instructions. This time negotiating the road is all on me. Shea will just be telling me when I need to go, how to get to the stages and if there's any surprises out on the stages. Luckily for me the rally starts later than usual. I really don't do mornings. We're out and ready for the first two stages by eleven and I'm ready to rally. But the rally wasn't ready for us. Inconsiderate dirt bike riders were riding on our road. We'd wait about thirty minutes. I hate waiting. Whenever I get into the car I have this whole routine that helps me focus on the race ahead. I'll put my gloves on the dash, check the battery in the intercom, stash a few bottles of water next to my seat and then just sit the in car with my eyes closed, visualizing corners and driving techniques. Whenever we get held up, I have a hard time maintaining this calm. The drivers around me infect me with their nervous excited chatter. I stay in the car and try to regain my composure. Finally we headed out for the first stage. I headed off in my flamboyant style and there were problems from the get go. As I left the line Anakin's clutch refused to grab the gears. I thought I had started in the wrong gear and I frantically shifted up and down, trying to get the clutch to catch. It finally caught in second gear and we were off. This stage was mostly tarmac. I wanted to jump sideways into the corners, but I'm just not familiar with grip driving. It was not the way I wanted to start the day. The second stage turned us around and sent us back the way we came and I really couldn't wait to get out to the next stage. Stage three was on gravel and only two miles long. Two miles is pretty unforgiving. You've got to hit it from the get go, attack and follow through. Shea gave me a heads up to the cautions marked in the route book and I told him to hang on. I blasted off from the start, fast as a bullet. I came upon a set of s-curves and went to brake deep. There was just one problem- there were no brakes. I was coming in too hot! I had already down shifted so I knew that there was only one option when these two had failed- to keep on the power. It sounds silly, but is founded on the principle that when the car is on power it is under your control. When you lift off the throttle, you're at the mercy of physics. I didn't lift and we finished the stage in two minutes flat, averaging a speed of 60 MPH. The next stage started off with a bang, but nearly went bust when the clutch refused to catch as Anakin jammed through Seed 9's famous hairpin turn. To make matters worse, Anakin was down on power. He just wasn't himself as he struggled up the hill to finish the stage. We needed a service break, but there were three more stages to go. We were also getting hungry and we were out of drinking water and I just couldn't believe that we'd passed the service area three times already and were not allowed to stop. The next stage was short, only three miles. We got off to a good start, but my brakes were cutting out again. Early on we drove through a rocky wash. I needed to slow down, but there was just nothing there. I was too hot and off of the driving line. I hit a really big rock and immediately knew that my right front tire was gone. There was no way I was going to stop. I'd forgotten to bring my jack and power ratchet. I couldn't have changed it if I wanted to. I made it out alive, only a couple of seconds behind the next car. My fellow competitors helped me change the wheel and we finished the next stage without a hitch. In addition to being hungry, tired and cranky we were all getting worried. There was another delay and the sun was setting fast. Most of us didn't have our rally lights on and we weren't ready to run in the dark. Luckily, the next stage was cancelled and we made a bee line back for service. Leon was there, wrench in hand. He'd seen us pass through the hairpin turn and knew we were down on power. It was when I got out of the car and Leon made me sit in the heated service van. He looked after Anakin and I, making me eat a sandwich and immediately diving under Anakin's hood. When we headed out for the last two stages, everything was going well. Anakin was back on power and I was focused and driving fast. That was until we lost our lights. A brilliant blue arc flashed in the small fusebox that sat between our seats. My heart sank as I realized that what was nearly our downfall at Ramada had happened again. I stopped, alone in black night. Somewhere in the wiring of the lights, a power wire had crossed a ground wire. This meant that that I would have to undo the rally lights and replace the fuse. I jumped out and pulled the light connetions out as Shea got a triangle. Desperate, I searched the side compartment for a fuse. It seemed like I went though a million boxes before I found the right one. I slipped in in, buckled up and was heading off just as Shea closed his door. I drove like a bat out of hell. Luckily only one car had passed us. Running with street lights was certainly not the best way to go, but I put the pedal to the metal and pressed on regardless. We made it back alive, despite having the brakes cut out again. The endless delays and lack of organization made it hard to fully enjoy the rally, but the truism that a bad day of rallying is better than a good day of work held true today. Anakin had a good run in. We had only driven him and his rebuilt engine 200 miles before the rally and we hadn't tested him on gravel yet, so this whole rally was just one big test session for all of us. He'll be back in the shop this Monday and we'll definitely be ready for Desert Storm at the end of the month. Back to Diary of a Driver.