Rallye Star!

	July 20, 2004 I woke up today dehydrated with a headache, arms aching from a lack of power steering, yet propelled by yesterday's adrenaline high out of bed and out the door headed for the track. The joy that I was certain to receive from driving Prince Charming kept me from noticing that at 9:30 a.m. it was already much hotter than yesterday morning. Today's training began again with pictures-I hadn't taken many at the time and Leon insisted that I should have them for publicity reasons. Leon stresses the importance of publicity and self-promotion and reminds me that I not only have to kick ass in the car to get noticed, but that I also have to work my PR skills. This is where I'm hoping that my degree from UCLA will help. I really want people to stand up and take notice when I drive by. I want the rally community to know me. Most of all, I want people to look past the novelty of a female driver and see the real me, the young driver in training who just happens to be a girl. This time Leon takes me away from the barn crashing of the rally cross area to the rally sprint track nestled amongst the paintball fields of Tombstone. Leon drives as we make a slow recce around the course and points out most of the dangers- old decaying tarmac patches, lots of ditches, the fast 3 straight section followed by a crest into a 3R (in English- a fast straight section that goes over a small hill and then drops down into a fast right turn) and the telephone pole that claimed the bumper of Leon's Evo VII. I had driven Prince on the track before and was thoroughly intimidated, especially by the 3R corner. During our first ride together, I came over the crest in third gear and then downshifted into second but I didn't take my foot off of the clutch, keeping Prince in neutral and throwing us down the hill way too fast! We were on two wheels for a moment and I hoped that I wouldn't roll the car before he was even mine! Leon later admitted that I had scared him. You know it's bad when you scare Leon! After that and only one day on the parking lot, I wasn't sure if I was ready for the big track yet. I remembered Sébastian Loeb's words in Monte Carlo "Eets bettah du slow down and lose 15 seconds zahn du go quick, make mistake und lose a meenute und tirty seconds." I decided to take things cautiously and slowly headed down the track. Drivers always talk about their 'off' days, times when things don't feel right or when the driver isn't 'on.' Today was one of those days. I kept going slowly around the corners as I wasn't good enough yet to flick myself around their small lengths. I tried to remember how Leon drove through the course, following his lines and really playing with the throttle. You have to crawl before you walk and each lap was a tiny step closer to being able to stand up on my own. I crawled down the 3R turn, but pushed harder through the following S turns, sliding my car around nicely and in the right direction to take the jump. I slid out for the next big corner, going a bit too wide, but I was okay. Then I turned down the hill for a deceptively easy 2R. I was out too far for the corner and was going too fast, so I heeded Monsieur Loeb's advice hit the brakes and stopped in time to avoid an off. I backed up, ready to take the corner again. What happened next was a flash- I hit the throttle and tried to turn, but the car wouldn't move! I didn't think to let off of the throttle and quite suddenly I found myself launching over a birm! I saw weeds and dust and ground and then I felt a big BANG!!!! All I could think about was stupid Markko Märtin and his stupid crash in Argentina as Prince settled into the ditch! Well at least I was no where near his speed. As the dust settled a cloud of white steam rose from beneath the hood, the death knell of my radiator hose. I tried to get out, but I couldn't open the door. More Markko induced fear and frustration. I took a deep breath and cleared my head. Escaping through the passenger door, I found that Prince Charming was teeter-tottering on a birm, nose buried in a ditch, hind wheels in the air! What a mess! The things I get myself into! In true rally fashion, I tried to push Prince out, all to no avail. I looked around forlornly for spectators. None. No one to push me out!

July 20, 2004

I woke up today dehydrated with a headache, arms aching from a lack of power steering, yet propelled by yesterday's adrenaline high out of bed and out the door headed for the track. The joy that I was certain to receive from driving Prince Charming kept me from noticing that at 9:30 a.m. it was already much hotter than yesterday morning. Today's training began again with pictures-I hadn't taken many at the time and Leon insisted that I should have them for publicity reasons. Leon stresses the importance of publicity and self-promotion and reminds me that I not only have to kick ass in the car to get noticed, but that I also have to work my PR skills. This is where I'm hoping that my degree from UCLA will help. I really want people to stand up and take notice when I drive by. I want the rally community to know me. Most of all, I want people to look past the novelty of a female driver and see the real me, the young driver in training who just happens to be a girl.

Practice, practice, practice.

This time Leon takes me away from the barn crashing of the rally cross area to the rally sprint track nestled amongst the paintball fields of Tombstone. Leon drives as we make a slow recce around the course and points out most of the dangers- old decaying tarmac patches, lots of ditches, the fast 3 straight section followed by a crest into a 3R (in English- a fast straight section that goes over a small hill and then drops down into a fast right turn) and the telephone pole that claimed the bumper of Leon's Evo VII. I had driven Prince on the track before and was thoroughly intimidated, especially by the 3R corner. During our first ride together, I came over the crest in third gear and then downshifted into second but I didn't take my foot off of the clutch, keeping Prince in neutral and throwing us down the hill way too fast! We were on two wheels for a moment and I hoped that I wouldn't roll the car before he was even mine! Leon later admitted that I had scared him. You know it's bad when you scare Leon! After that and only one day on the parking lot, I wasn't sure if I was ready for the big track yet. I remembered Sébastian Loeb's words in Monte Carlo "Eets bettah du slow down and lose 15 seconds zahn du go quick, make mistake und lose a meenute und tirty seconds." I decided to take things cautiously and slowly headed down the track.

Back in the day, my nick name was Colin McRae. I think I'm actually living up to it.

Back in the day, my nick name was Colin McRae. I think I'm actually living up to it.

Drivers always talk about their 'off' days, times when things don't feel right or when the driver isn't 'on.' Today was one of those days. I kept going slowly around the corners as I wasn't good enough yet to flick myself around their small lengths. I tried to remember how Leon drove through the course, following his lines and really playing with the throttle. You have to crawl before you walk and each lap was a tiny step closer to being able to stand up on my own. I crawled down the 3R turn, but pushed harder through the following S turns, sliding my car around nicely and in the right direction to take the jump. I slid out for the next big corner, going a bit too wide, but I was okay. Then I turned down the hill for a deceptively easy 2R. I was out too far for the corner and was going too fast, so I heeded Monsieur Loeb's advice hit the brakes and stopped in time to avoid an off. I backed up, ready to take the corner again. What happened next was a flash- I hit the throttle and tried to turn, but the car wouldn't move! I didn't think to let off of the throttle and quite suddenly I found myself launching over a birm! I saw weeds and dust and ground and then I felt a big BANG!!!! All I could think about was stupid Markko Märtin and his stupid crash in Argentina as Prince settled into the ditch! Well at least I was no where near his speed. As the dust settled a cloud of white steam rose from beneath the hood, the death knell of my radiator hose. I tried to get out, but I couldn't open the door. More Markko induced fear and frustration. I took a deep breath and cleared my head. Escaping through the passenger door, I found that Prince Charming was teeter-tottering on a birm, nose buried in a ditch, hind wheels in the air! What a mess! The things I get myself into! In true rally fashion, I tried to push Prince out, all to no avail. I looked around forlornly for spectators. None. No one to push me out!

At this point, I knew I was screwed and I walked off to find Leon. I was mad! Not at myself- I mean you have to learn somehow- but mad because I knew I wouldn't be able to drive anymore today and driving was all that had occupied my mind for the past two weeks. Leon, distressed by the sudden lack of dust, came walking down the hill with a bemused look on his face like I was a kitten who had killed her first bird and had just brought it into the house for approval, making a mess in the process. "I think you broke it this time," he tells me as we unsuccessfully attempt to fill the radiator. Luckily, one of the employees of the paintball park was able to help Leon get me out of the ditch. Even this involved a lesson- Leon told me how to work the throttle and hand brake to create traction for the wheels in order to get myself unstuck from various unfavorable situations, like mud and silt traps. I got out and Leon limped the injured Prince back onto the trailer, teaching me a second lesson. Although I could have kept driving for awhile, I had better DNF (retiring from a rally- stands for 'did not finish') to save my engine. Driving on a bad radiator or on similar injuries can make your engine blow up and it's not worth pushing it and ending up with no car and a large repair bill!

I'm really bummed out and I walk around sulking in the parking lot before Leon comes out to tell me not to worry, to get used to this. It's part of rallying. He takes me aside and makes sure that I understand why I did what I did and why I ended up in the ditch. I'm agitated and I try to listen. Leon isn't angry. Better now than on race day. As long as I come away from the day with knowledge and experience, he tells me, all is not wasted. I have to agree. I will get more time with Prince. He is due for prepping tomorrow anyway. There are lots of things for me to do in the meantime- there's paper work for my first rally to be completed, shopping for the service area, designing my web site…. But all I want to do is drive.

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