My Story

Game: Colin McRae Rally 04 (Some sections might not follow the course of the game, or purely don?t exist in the game)

Championship Story

After being hired by Ford to drive their Puma in the 2WD Normal Championship, I was flown straight out to America to see the car. It looked good. I did a full American Rally in the lead up to the start of the season, in preparation for Australia. After the end of that Rally, I was transported with the car to Australia. Ford was expecting things from me. I came into the championship with an outside chance of landing the title. I was against the works cars from Citroen, Volkswagen, Fiat and MG. My own teammate had won the championship the previous year, so I didn?t really fancy my chances.

Australia Day 1- Shakedown stage
After setting up my Puma in a way that the mechanics weren?t all that happy about, I went out onto the Shakedown stage. I managed it in 1:06.036, this was the second fastest today. Only T. Vorres (my teammate) had been faster. I went back to service and changed the setup a bit, softening off the suspension and raising the Car. I went back out and found a second, lowering my time to 1:05.32. This was now faster than Vorres. I was now happy with how the Front Wheel drive Puma was handling.

Australia Day 1- First stage
I was the last person out onto the first stage, and with the weather clear, I felt confident. My teammate T. Vorres had set the best time today so far at 3:50.72. I had to beat this to win the stage. The stage started well, until I got to a bridge, I clipped one wall and that left facing the wrong direction for the next corner. I managed to avoid the trees and keep going, across the first sector I was already 9.16 secs ahead of Vorres. By the middle of the stage I had increased this to 13.41 secs. But only after a near miss with a tree. By sector three I had gone through a difficult section with some gates and was now 21.33 seconds ahead. I ended the stage without further incident and finished 25 seconds.

I had suffered damage to the front of the car witch would hamper my aerodynamic efficiency.



Australia Day 1- Stage 2
The fastest time through here was once again set by Vorres at 3:33.42. This was no problem. Ford didn?t tell me the split through sector 1 and I had a massive moment at the sector 2 split. It was a 6 left 6 right sequence after crossing a railway line. I clipped an advertising board and careened off into a nearby bunch of trees at 100MPH. I lost my front bumper and avoided major contact. At the third split, which I got loud and clear, I was a staggering 28.89 seconds ahead of Vorres. I ended the stage 35 seconds ahead.

Finally I was allowed back to service. After looking at the disdain on the faces of the mechanics when I pulled the car in (no front bumper, smashed headlights and bent axles), I had to agree. But they were happy that I was leading. I went to look at the time sheets, they read like this:

Leader Board (after 2 stages (leg one))
1. Starbucks-Ford Puma 6:24.36
2. T. Vorres- Ford Puma 7:25.40
3. M. Gron- Citroen Saxo 7:35.77
4. N Cornwall- Volkswagen Golf 7:39.17
5. N. Larsson- Fiat Punto 7:41.25

I went looking for my chief mechanic and asked him about my sticky throttle pedal. He simply said ?push harder!?. I couldn?t really push much harder than I was. I had an air of confidence as I headed out for led 2.

The problem was, now that I was leading the rally, I had to sweep the roads. Whereas before everyone had gone before me and set a time and swept the roads, I know had to set a benchmark time. I didn?t have any time markers to gauge how much I should push and so on.


Australia Day 2- Stage 3
I went through stage three relatively swiftly, but I wasn?t really trying. I did not want to bin the minute lead I had over the rest of the field. I set a time of 3:54.70. This was the fastest time set all day. Even Vorres couldn?t touch it (Ford would not disclose his time to me). I had further stretched my lead and wasn?t really pushing.

Australia Day 2- Stage 4
This stage I pushed. It didn?t matter if I chucked it off the road now I would still win the rally. I through caution to the wind and annihilated my tires and the stage record. I set a time of 4:42.26 even though I had managed to de-laminate one of my front tires. Vorres set a depressing second best of 5:41.07. I couldn?t believe it. I now had a lead of over 2:40!

Australia Day 2-Stage 5
After a brief return to service, everyone headed out to the last stage of the rally. The Super Special. Super Specials are basically a loop with a twist in. So they start next to each other and some time during the stage cross over so each car does each side of the stage. I had to face M. Gron in his Saxo. I beat him by a whisker under 30 seconds.

Final Standings (After 5 stages (leg 2)) TOTAL TIME Points MAN Pnts
1. Starbucks- Ford Puma 17:03.42 16 10
2. T. Vorres- Ford Puma 20:09.31 14 8
3. M. Gron- Citroen Saxo 20:39.92 12 6
4. N. Cornwall- Volkswagen Golf 20:48.24 10 4
5. N. Larsson- Fiat Punto 20:55.36 8 2

Drivers Championship is as above

Manufacturers
1. Ford 18
2. Citroen 6
3. Volkswagen 4
4. Fiat 2
5. MG 0

After Rally Australia, and my debut success, it was straight to Finland to test new parts. I was to test new Dampers for the cars, which would give stiffer springs and make the car easier to control. Very important on a fast rally such as Finland. I had to break the existing shocks on the car to pass the test. Yes, I got to break something for a good cause for once! I headed out onto a particularly bumpy stage, where on three or four occasions I must have been 25 feet in the air. I passed the test with ease and gained thee new Dampers for Ford.

Hmm, looks like you trashed them comprehensively!