'Tougher this year than last'

Winning the National Rally Championship was tougher this year than last, Patrick Elliott said last week, after he'd had some time to think about his success. He and co-driver Paul Goodman sealed their second title with fourth place on the final round, the Fastnet Rally in Skibbereen on October 25, a drive that was as impressive as any of their three wins in a row at the start of the season. They began 2009 as the defending champions, again facing the formidable challenge of Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry, and looked comfortable in that role as they took victory in Birr, Mayo and Kerry. "That left us in a lot of comfort," said Patrick, "then we had a minor off in Limerick. It didn't really do any damage to the car, we just got stuck. "In Carrick-on-Suir we didn't get maximum points. The car wasn't handling as well as it should, the centre and front differentials weren't performing - it was very wet and slippery, the stages had an awful lot of shiny tar on them." Patrick's Subaru Impreza WRC S12b has an active centre differential and passive (semi-locked) versions in the front and rear, which means it doesn't turn in as well or perform as effectively in slow and slippery conditions. But he was reluctant to blame the technology: "If the car had been going okay, it wouldn't have been such an issue, we were scratching our heads after that rally. "That rattled us a bit I have to say… a bad workman blames his tools but I didn't know if it was me or the car, I suspected there was something wrong but I didn't want to blame it. "We were very competitive all year, we went to Carrick-on-Suir and were winning comfortably after the first three stages, then we couldn't set a time at all." He was relieved to discover that it turned out to be a technical problem and won again on the next round, in Sligo: "We felt we were back on track after that," said Patrick, "then it was the Stonethrowers. We won that event, which went fairly smoothly. Both ourselves and Niall had spins on the last stage but we had the work done early in the rally and we were able to get away with it." At that point Patrick and Paul needed a pair of second places from three rallies to wrap up the 2009 championship but they went to Galway "probably feeling too comfortable with ourselves… we had a fairly big accident on the first stage". "I didn't think I was over driving," said Patrick. "We were first on the road and whoever came first to where we went off was going to go off. Even Niall nearly went off - and he'd been flagged down." But what made that particular stretch of road so tricky? "We recced on Saturday in the dry and it rained quite a bit before the rally on Sunday. We'd picked up the shiny tar in the notes but we still had a fairly substantial off. The driver is always responsible but I didn't really blame myself - you have to go fast if you're going to win." That left the Cavan man under a lot of pressure championship-wise, considering the strength of the opposition, the other two WRC cars and two quick GpNs capable of mixing it at the front. Something as simple as a puncture or an overshoot could have been enough to end his ambitions. Drivers often find it easier to push hard than go for safe points, and Patrick is the same. "Yes, it's easier to race, just to go for it. All you have to do when you're driving for position is go three or four kilometres an hour slower in average speed. You just go with what feels right on the day, but you have to watch everyone else's times… and you're still going very quick. "You're constantly assessing risk versus reward on the stage and it's not nice driving like that. When you're racing you just go hard." Patrick explained that the car doesn't respond when the driver is trying to be less aggressive. If he's not braking as heavily, for example, particularly in wet, slippy conditions, the diffs don't respond as normal. How does the mental approach change? "You have to say to yourself 'I'm here to get a finish, I'm not here to win the rally'. The championship is more important than winning the rally. "I would've felt foolish if I'd crashed the car [on the last championship round] and blown a whole year's work. It's a different mindset, everything becomes more tactical. It's not as much fun - normally you're going to a rally to win. "But the whole fun is in the chase not the winning or losing. As long as you feel you did your best, though sometimes your best isn't good enough." It was good enough for Patrick and Paul in 2009, and the temptation is there to see if it would be good enough next year too: "It would be appealing to try to win the national again," said Patrick, "to win three in a row." What does he think about his old rival Niall Maguire this year? "The rally down in Skibbereen was going to end up with one of us happy and one disappointed. It was the same as last year, there was very little between ourselves and Niall. He's a fabulous driver, he drove exceptionally well and did everything he could do. "Niall wanted to win and I wanted to win; that's the way the cookie crumbles. He could beat me next year. He's an excellent competitor and I enjoyed the battle with him." Patrick had a few people to thank, from his co-driver Paul Goodman to "Robbie McGurk in Omagh who prepares the car and did sterling work all year - we had few mechanical emergencies, the car was reliable - and my wife Ranjit for having the patience to put up with this hobby!".