Teenage rally driver Tom Cave is preparing himself for a challenging weekend of rallying next week, as he heads for Rally of Scotland, the penultimate round of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge. He will be back at the wheel of his works-specification Proton Satria Neo S2000 as he tackles the event for the second time, having finished eighth overall last year.
A busy summer of rallying has seen Tom compete in a number of cars and he is now looking forward to getting back in the Proton on gravel. It's been some three months since his last outing on the loose in the striking yellow and black Malaysian machine and next weekend is likely to be the first time he has driven the car in slippery conditions.
He spent a day testing in Wales last week, to try to establish a base set-up for the tricky roads he is expecting after last year's event. Even though this year's Rally of Scotland is running a month earlier and the long-range weather forecast suggests dry weather, the chances are the ground conditions will be damp and slippery.
"We had a very good test last week," Tom explains. "As it was my first time in the car on wet gravel, it was a bit of an eye-opener to start with but we carried out 75Km of running and I'm happy with the set-up we have now for Scotland.
"Not only were we trying suspension and tyre options, we were also looking for any issues that might crop up on the event. We suffered with the windscreen steaming up to start with, for example, but soon resolved that. It's exactly that kind of thing that we were looking for and to find a solution for, since if we came across that for the first time on the first stage, it could seriously jeopardise our chances of a good result."
So while this year's rally is earlier, the route is broadly similar to last year and Tom knows just how tricky it can be. That's why he is planning to study the in-car footage from the 2009 event, to learn the stages better and identify where he may encounter hazards.
"It's a very challenging event," he said, "but also, a very rewarding one. The first stage, at Scone Palace, for example, is very tricky. At first sight, it may seem like just a spectator stage but there's nothing Mickey-Mouse about it. We had a huge moment there last year and it's definitely a stage where the cliché 'You can't win the rally there but you can lose it' applies.
"Loch Ard will also be a big test. It's the longest stage of the rally and run twice on Sunday, the last day. It's a very technical stage and I'll be studying the in-car footage carefully to try to remember the rhythm and how it flows.
"I've got very fond memories of the event, despite the weather last year. It was a fantastic rally from a driver's point of view and of course, we had a brilliant result - eighth overall in the Fiesta. Of course, I'm hoping to get a better result this year in the Proton but we'll have to see what the competition is like."
The event begins with a double-running of the Scone Palace superspecial stage on the evening of Friday 15 October, in front of huge anticipated crowds in the centre of Perth.
The crews then tackle six stages to the north-west of Perth on Saturday, followed by four stages to the west of Perth on Sunday, including the two runs through Loch Ard. The finish ceremony of the rally will again be held at Stirling Castle, at 15.30 on Sunday 17 October.
Eurosport will be showing extensive live coverage of the event, including the two runs through Errochty on Saturday (10.00-11.00 and 16.30-17.30) and both runs through Loch Ard on Sunday (10.00-11.00 and 12.45-14.00).
