So the weekend started on Thursday in deepest darkest North Wales with dad in tow he'd managed to score us some pretty nice accommodation at Uclan's outdoor centre. Can you guess who washed their car at the start of the day and who didn't? both rocking name stickers on the windows, me now sporting a new JDM Ego sticker. I really didn't want to move from this fireplace the heat nearly sent me to sleep, needless to say this would the warmest i'd be all weekend! So onto Sweet Lamb we went on Friday morning already cold wet and muddy I was unaware of the cancellation of some fairly hefty chunks of the days stages due to the adverse weather conditions. Here Chris Atkinson gives the Sweet Lamb complex a bash this was the first time i'd seen the Impreza in action and ironically the last time i'd see Chris that day. Sandell was out in his S2000 Peugeot 207 by his own admission he could only drive the car straight or flat out sideways, luckily he chose the former, a definite spectator favourite throughout the weekend. Didn't really see much of Henning Solberg all weekend he seemed to struggle on the stages, I thought he'd have gone well considering his native country is more often than not covered in snow and ice. Steve Perez is a gentleman driver who doesn't take himself seriously and one of the few drivers to relish the conditions of the weekend. He didn't complain once and just got on with driving and enjoying the event. He's fairly handy behind the wheel too albeit in an 03 Focus which is starting to show its age. Ostberg had a great start to the weekend scoring a series of top time to climb to the top of the leader-board on Day 1 showing that the older Impreza WRC still has the pace. He showed his compatriot a clean pair of heels on Friday much to Solbergs dismay i'm sure. Latvala was on it all weekend mostly sideways he's really come of age now he's back in the Works Ford Focus WRC he'll be a strong challenger for the title next year. Rossi was impressive but tentative at times it looked to be a steep learning curve for "The Doctor" on Friday with Rossi feeling his way into the event. After his first stage crash a few years back he opted for caution steadily building up his pace over the day. Fumio Nutahara was flying the flag for Japan in the PWRC he'd later fall foul of trouble sadly not making it to the end of the event. I was hoping to see his Group N Evo X but looks like he was playing it safe in the tried and tested Evo 9. What would a Wales Rally GB be without Gwyndaf Evans the experienced welshman was showing the young guns how its done in one of the works Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9's in Group N. Not as many real privateers this year after last years bumper entry great to see some of the older GC8's still out in competition Thankfully this wasen't the case all weekend but a fairly hefty group of media bods took up camp on the crest of the jump blocking the view for the spectators and myself. Day 2 will follow soon so check back
