After gearbox failure on his home event, Garry switched to the Peugeot 206 for the opening round of the British Rally Championship, but once again misfortune struck early in the rally.

    Garry was seeded at number three behind the vastly experienced Mark Higgins and Gyndaf Evans, but his chances of challenging the top two were immediately hindered with problems on the two short opening spectator stages. "There was an airlock in the engine and she boiled. By good luck the stages were only a mile each, and then we were into service where we got it sorted," he explained.

    That was to prove only the start of his problems however. As nighttime approached on the opening leg, the fog descended to leave driving conditions hazardous, but Garry was set to have further difficulties to overcome.

    "We went to the start line and put on all the lights," he explained. "When the countdown got to five we were suddenly in the dark. It had blown all the trips. We went about a mile on the stage and I could see nothing, so we pulled in and waited for Simon Hughes to come in the Clio. When he passed us, we pulled out and followed him through the stage. I knew if I let him go then I was gone. We were going down straights flat out in sixth with no lights or no wipers, but we managed to hang onto him, and only lost a minute."

    It was a relieved Jennings that passed the finish board of the stage, but with the next service still a stage away, he had to bring the Peugeot through yet another forestry stage with minimal visibility. "We could only drive on the pencil beam lights. If we put on anything else it would blow the trip," he revealed. "Gordon (Noble) was reading the pace notes with a torch, and we came down a big long straight with a series of crests. We were coming down to the junction at the end of it in second gear and could see nothing, but Gordy said, 'go on, you'll see the arrows'. Guess what? No arrows! We just dropped the wheels into the ditch, but couldn't get out. When we got out and had a look, it was the same corner we had gone off in on the Border Rally last month when the stage was run the opposite way."

    Garry soon found himself in good company, as car after car followed the Peugeot into the ditch. "Gordy was flagging all the other traffic down. He was standing in the middle of the road, but they couldn't see him with the fog. Johnny Milner came in on top of us, but we got him out. We must have had about six cars in on top of us. They probably did more damage to the back of the car than the original off."

    It was a disappointing end to an event that Garry had been looking forward to for some time. He will hope to have more success on the second round, the Scottish Rally, which takes place just prior to the Donegal International Rally in June.

    That round will now be Garry's next event, after he had to withdraw from this weekend's Killarney Rally of the Lakes. A replacement gearbox for the Peugeot 106, which carried him to retirement on the Circuit, has not been found in time despite frantic efforts. It will mean he can reflect on his unfortunate start to the season, and get in valuable testing time, before embarking on his bid to catch the early series leaders.