March 12-13, 2005 Saturday I'm sitting out the last hour of work. I'm covered in snippets of vinyl and madly cutting away hundreds of stars to decorate my car. This activity began Thursday night where I taped off sections of my living room to the dimensions of my rally car's hood and roof to plan the layout. I bought about 20 feet of butcher paper to make a mock up of what I would eventually cut out of the white, black, chrome and yellow sections of vinyl. I got the vinyl scraps from the place that makes all of my stickers. I wanted Prince to look really stunning. Now Prince had just been painted nuclearly bright red, with some candy apple and fire engine thrown in for good measure. The vinyl had to stick out. Back when I ordered my stickers and bought the vinyl, I made a major decision about the look of my car. Being an artist and graphic designer, continuity and uniformity is very important when you are trying to create an identity and look for your subject. I had spent a lot of time designing my web site. I wanted a young, rebellious punk look so I chose red, white, and black, bold graphics, and an Old English font. I hit problems when I came to translate the look onto my car. Prince originally had a rallyestar.com sticker in an Old English font on his back window. I liked the look, but when it came down to the wire, I had to throw that font out in favor of a more legible one. I also chose to broaden my color palette and include yellow and chrome in the stars- you'd see them before you'd see gray. I wanted to be visible. I want you to know me by my car. After work, Leon took me up to Big Tom's place. Prince was on the trailer ready to go to Tenessee and I was left to put the multifarious stars on in the wind. Leon and Aaron helped me, but Leon wasn't feeling well and he retired to the car. We got the big ones on and I was left with the three sizes of little ones. My car became my canvas and the artist in me was unleashed. I had to create movement and the idea of it all was too look like the car had driven through a swarm of stars. It was dark, cold and windy and I still wasn't done. I was wearing sandals and my feet were cold. But the vision persisted. I finally stopped, leaving only a few small stars to put on my helmet. Aaron thought Prince looked really neat. I thought he was beautiful. If the old ricer adage of receiving 5 extra horsepower for every sticker on the car was true, then Prince was probably packing at least 500 horsies! I went home tired, but triumphant.

Sunday Rally day! I worked all day and came home to dinner and WRC Mexico! *SIGH* MEXICO! This was the first WRC event that I went to. I took my brother and we had a blast and got into all sorts of mischief. We met lots of drivers and that's when something special happened. I kept telling everyone that I wanted to rally, but I was a girl and kinda broke so I'd just co-drive or whatever. I think I was blabbering on to Gilles Panizzi when he was signing my program and then he said with that great French accent "Shut up you're not going to do that, I know you want to be a driver so just drive." That was pretty much the consensus of the other (co) drivers that I met. Oh that and we need more female drivers. You'd think I was Joan of Arc and I'd just heard the voice of God! With that kind of approval, you've just got to do it. I met some people there from SoCal who were going to volunteer for the Rim of the World Rally back home and they talked me into doing it, too. It was a good way to get into the sport. I met Leon there and he started teaching me to drive a few months after that. Then I got Prince and did a rally, drove Michele (Leon's Evo VII named after Michele Mouton) and won that event. It was cool to come back for WRC Australia and be able to say that I'd got some balls, bought a car and was driving. Looking back, that's pretty neat! So today was the anniversary of my deciding to become a rally driver. It meant a lot to me, on this the eve of my really big FIA/USRC rally and my first assault on a championship. Back to the rally… I kept watching and learning, trying to figure out how I'd drive. I don't think the wild theatrics of Petter or Seb would do me any good- I'm not about to drive super fast and I need to save my car! I think it would be best for me to follow Marcus and Markko, keep all four wheels down and drive sensibly for…. POINTS! I'm thinking that I don't want to be slow and I'm feeling more confidant, so I should push it, but then I'm looking at my competition- another ex-works Dodge Neon, two VW GTIs, and my dad's friend Craig in VW Jetta. The sad part is that everyone except the two GTIs are in the championship for good, instead of just doing the local event. Oh my. Those who are about to die salute you. I try to make it sound better- I know what Craig is driving because I drive a white Jetta just like his every day on the street. I really wish I had more horsepower! I have been told that if my performance warrants it, that Prince will be taken in for some more engine work that will bring him up to around 200 HP. That would be so nice, but first I have to earn it… Back on TV there's a hysterical situation in Mexico. A privateer driving a WRC car hired an ex-works co-driver for the event. Dude is just flying along and his navie is screaming "BREAK! BREAK!" He doesn't listen and ends up hitting a bank. He then tries to drive along, but he's really ruined his car. He stops in the middle of the road and his co-driver is screaming again for him to move, totally fed up. I always listen to my co-drivers. I mean, think about it, it's an extra pair of eyes and dude's got the map! I haven't met my co-driver, Casey Blust for Cherokee. I hope things go well for us. I'm not worried. He's experienced and has won many rallies. I feel bad sometimes knowing that I'll have an experienced co-driver and that I won't be able to get them a big trophy or that great of a ride. But I always remember that they want to help me become a better driver and that they want to have fun, just like me. Co-drivers are pretty rad like that. I'm relaxing and not worrying too much. But I've recently found out that I'm the only woman driver. AGAIN! I feel a bit worried, but I remember my holy mandate. Hey if I'm the only girl out there that's one more that wasn't there before. I finish watching Mexico, half-asleep on the couch. This is going to be exciting, I know. This will be exciting. Back to Diary of a Driver.