Emirates Desert Championship R5

Another evening in the garage, and we now have a pair of very funky adjustable rubber buffers, attached to the turret brace, which stop the bonnet flapping around.   And the Heath-Robinson blower bracket has been replaced with a proper aluminium plate.
So Friday morning we're up at Lusaili - the scene of our previous debacle in R3 - for another round of the EDC.  The steering seems to have a lot of backlash, and the fluid level is a bit low so I top that up.  But as I'm waiting on the grid, I realize that the backlash isn't in the hydraulics - it's because the 6 countersunk bolts that hold the steering wheel onto the column are all loose!  Aaaargh, one minute to start time, no chance to get the tools out, so I use my allen-headed index finger to tighten them as much as I can and hope that's enough.  (One more thing to add to the pre-flight check list!)
And we're off, second car out, 30 seconds behind Emil in his Y62 Patrol - which I catch and pass within the first three minutes.  It pays to be cautious on the first lap and I take no chances - although bizarrely enough this turns out to be my fastest lap.
Soon after starting lap 2 I pass Mark's Predator, a sorry sight parked beside the track and lacking its full quota of wheels.  The following lap I pass Emil, not far away from Mark, and also one wheel short of a full set.  What are they doing?
Eventually I manage to pass a vehicle that's actually moving, which is always more fun.  It's Graeme Rose in his Polaris, and I do the business on the approach to the pit straight for maximum effect.  Of course, by now the fastest Polaris guys are lapping me, and Vadym Prytuliak in his very quick Pathfinder finally gets past me as well.
Two hours in medium sized dunes has taken a disproportionate toll on the autos - 15 started, only 8 finished.  The top three places go to the National-class Polaris buggies as usual, Vadym is 4th, and I'm 5th - and 2nd in T1 class.  But since Vadym holds a Ukrainian rally licence his points don't count towards the Championship, so I'm still leading T1 with one race to go.
The best news is that I have no issues with the gear-change.  Last time out we were doing three 17-20km stages with road liaisons between, and by the third stage it was getting cranky.  Today I've done six 17km laps on the trot, two hours of continual 2nd/3rd gear work, and no problems. So maybe the DOT5.1 fluid has worked its magic.  The engine was pulling really well, water temp settled at 100c and oil at 120c, which is OK.  There's no water-wetter in the rad yet, and that will pull down the temp another 10 degrees or so.
Next job is to get the suspension re-tuned to take account of the lighter back-end.  It's a bit too bouncy at present, and maybe needs lighter springs.  Then I need to decide how we're going to incorporate my new improved 36mm restrictor into the intake system.
We have two more events before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge - EMC R2 in two weeks time, and EDC R6 the week after.  The DC is only 40 days away!