Part 6: A howl of distant engines drawing closer

Welcome back avid followers of Rally Quest (yes, both of you), it’s been a while. I did say this thing would probably take years, didn’t I? Here's what's been happening.

2019

Cast your mind back to March 2019. I’d just finished my weekend at Rally School. I was chomping at the bit to progress to the next level – buy a car, strip it out, chuck in some recaros and start competing... become a rally driver. But as my old man says: ‘life has a funny habit of getting in the way of your plans...’

My wife Annabel and I owned a 1-bedroom flat at the time, but we wanted to move to a bigger place. Not long after Rally School an idle tire-kick of an enquiry to our local real-estate agent quickly led to us listing, then getting a rather high offer– way more than we’d thought possible. Out of nowhere, another life's dream suddenly came into view. 10 years ago I would have said it’ll never happen. 2 years ago I would have said maybe in 10 years. But in the middle of last year, the dream of designing and building our family home was within arm’s reach. It would be a risk, and a lot of work – far more sensible to buy. But as a wise and very handsome man once said –

‘if you're lucky enough to be able to follow your dreams (no matter how stupid) do so.’

So we did.

We’re building our own bloody house... After buying land in October, we’re now well along the design stage with our architect. Building is due to kick off in the middle of this year.

So, as I’m sure you’ve heard, building a house is financially, temporally and emotionally all-consuming. Combine this with both of us starting hectic new jobs, moving house several times and an epic trip to Japan – and you can see why Rally Quest had to go on the back-burner post-March 2019.

However, despite seemingly all my ‘imagination’ (time + money + passion + stupidity) flowing into House Quest™, Rally Quest™ managed to siphon off a trickle for itself – just enough to keep it quietly ticking-over. Throughout the rest of 2019, I rinsed Dirt Rally 2.0 (the fantastic sequel to the game that helped kick this whole thing off) and avidly watched coverage of every World Rally Championship event. I even attended my first ever rally as a spectator, then a second later in the year.

First up was Rally Whangarei. Kiwi hero, Hayden Paddon led the field – and had a point to prove after being snubbed by the WRC teams. He tore up the timing sheets in his new AP4 Hyundai i20. As he charged through the cambered gravel towards us, he was perceivably faster and more furious than all drivers following him. American gymkhana and rally legend Ken Block also attended in his classic Cossie, and he made a pretty sweet video about the rally if you’re interested. 



Later in the year was Rally Coromandel, with its insanely twisty tarmac roads snaking through vast jungle ranges. A different experience than the dusty gravel stages, but no less exciting.



Both events were fantastic and I can thoroughly recommend watching a rally in person. The feeling of anticipation as you hear the whining howl of distant engines drawing closer. The roaring noise and crackle-pop of the anti-lag as they finally tear past and shower you with dust. The exceedingly small but palpable sense that one wrong move from a driver and someone’s getting maimed. It’s thrilling.

2020

It may have gone quiet in the land of Rally Quest last year – but there’s a metaphorical howl of distant engines drawing closer. Now that I’ve found my feet again after 9 months of upheaval (and before I lose them once again when the build starts) I’ll be taking RQ out for a few shakedowns.

This year I will be addressing some of my key learnings from Rally School. To progress further, I need to get used to dealing with heightened adrenaline caused by motorsport. I also need to hone my fundamental racing skills. This simply means getting as much experience racing as I can, in any type of car. So, I’m giving track racing a try. The cost of running can be much lower compared to dirt, and events are definitely more numerous and accessible. Rally can follow later, along with the required budget.

I’ve got a track cruise of Hampton Downs coming up, then later in the year, I’ll be driving a V8 muscle car with an instructor at the same track. After that there’s karting and maybe a track-day or two (budget willing). And with plenty of sim-racing on Dirt Rally 2.0 and spectating the return of the WRC to NZ – the rally wolf should just about be kept from my door. I can’t say it will be enough to keep a humble donkey from wandering into my stable though…

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