I
started in 1965, as a navigator on road rallies,with various drivers in all sorts of cars.
I thought I could do better than some of the lunatics I sat with! So in 1969 I decided to have a go in my road car MBK 157,
a Ford Prefect 100E, 1949 vintage! as it only had an 1172cc. side valve engine and a 3 speed 'box, it was awfully slow!
A bit more power was needed, so in 1970 I bought XJ 1367, a Sunbeam Imp Sport and prepared it myself.I did quite well with
it, although it had a tendency to understeer in the wet!
After the Imp came the first of the Mini Coopers 'BB0 3B' a red 'S', crashed this one heavily into a bridge in mid-Wales.
Another Mini followed, sold this one, and in 1972 bought XBO 818K the black Escort Twin-Cam,all the bell's and whistles, superb
car,very forgiving, taught me how to drive really, as you could do silly things with this car and get away with it!
Won my first rally in this car.
Another Twin-Cam followed,which had been built by a Boreham mechanic who built the 'works' cars, but some Bast**d, stole
it!
Gave up for a couple of years,and started again in 1976 with ODW 723R the Peugeot 104ZS, this was a works supported car, run
by the local dealership.Had a lot of success with this car in the British Championship.
Stopped Rallying again for a year or two.
Next, in 1984 came OUT 841R, 'Big Rumbly' the TR7V8, awsome power, handled like a three legged donkey, but the best fun you
can have, with your clothes on!?! It expired in 1986 after a very fraught Welsh Rally, when the axle tried to part company
with the rest of the car! Got passed by a gaggle of Lada's on one stage, only to pass them all back on the next stage after
tying the axle back on with a length of rope!!!
For 1987 the mechanical bits from the TR8 were built into GBW 222S, the Rover SD1, great car handled like an Escort, very
chuckable, did well with this car.
In 1988 I decided to have a bash at the European Rally Championship as there were some great deals to be had, so I bought
VPK 639Y the Talbot Samba that had been used the previous year to win the British Championship.
Nice little car , Won our Group and came second in Class in the Championship.We even beat Carlos Sainz on one of the stages
on the Catalunya Rally!
Cars were starting to get a bit expensive, so in 1989 I went back to co-driving.
I teamed up with Brian Davies a 65 year old postman from Swansea who had built 'TINA' from scratch, 730 EBX was the quickest,
best handling MK1 Cortina ever built, we embarrased many a Cosworth driver in the lanes of Ireland and over the Epynt range!
Had a 'BIG' accident on Otterburn in 'TINA' and it took Brian over a year to re-build her.
In 1997 I was invited to sit with Guy Woodcock who is from North Wales in F59 DWR his Astra G.T.E. had a lot of
success with the Astra in the Safety Devices Championships of 1998 & 1999.
For 2000 Guy bought M69 SOL an ex-works RS2000 KIt Car. This car is the full monty,245 bhp twin-cam Zetec motor, 6 speed X-trac
sequencial gearbox, full throttle gearshift, 18inch wheels, 365mm discs, lightweight panels etc,etc.
2000 and 2001 competed
with Guy and won the National Tarmacadam Championship F2 title, with a couple of first overall placings, and finished
3rd O/A in the championship.
In 2002, I was
lured back into the co-drivers seat, in Brian Davies's Toyota Corolla, as he has had a bit of bad luck lately and needed a
bit of confidence rebuilding.
The first event we tackled
together was the Mewla Rally on Epynt, a start no. of 55 saw us set 26th best time on stage 1!!!---- not bad after a 4 year
break, it was as if I had never been away, the old boy has still got
it!!!!
For 2003 & 2004,we
have been selective in the rallies we have done,although
not chasing a championship,we managed to pick up a few trophies along the way!
2005, was a successfull
year, with 8 finishes from 8 starts, we won the Rallysport Challenge of Epynt, and we were 3rd in the O/A standings, and won
our Class.
2006, not the best of
luck this year, only finished 4 rallies, due to
teething problems with the new engine management system.
2007, another good year,
again we finished 8 out of 8 rallies entered,4 top ten finishes.
2008, the first event,
The Tour of Epynt, was a huge disaster as we had a Major off on a big jump! The rest of the season was business as usual,
we finished every rally we started.
2009, I was having a year
off, but Guy asked me to co-drive for him,in his Historic RS2000 on the Harry Flatters Rally on Epynt, as his regular co-driver
was on holiday.
Needless to say I jumped
at the chance,thoroughly enjoyed my first taste of Historic Rallying,
7th O/A and 1st in Class.
Just LOVED it, and would
love to do more.
2010, I was asked
to sit in with Neil Matthews, for his home event the Quinton Stages. We were around 14th O/A and leading the class by
about a minute, when the 'gremlins' struck, a broken driveshaft on SS5, and a broken fuel rail on SS6, put paid to a good
run.
OCT. Arranged a ride with
Malcolm Mawdsley in his 2WD Subaru Impreza on the Cambrian Rally in North Wales, we were lying 28th O/A when the gearbox casing
cracked on the very rough Penmachno stage, it finally seized on the very last stage 4 miles
from the finish! Good
driver hope to do a few more events with malcolm next year.
2011. January. Red
Kite Stages. I was asked to co-drive for Dai Roberts in his Peugeot 205GTi, Retired SS2, Broken Distributor.
For the rest of 2011,
I will be return to co-driving for Guy Woodcock, in his Ford Escort RS2000, in the British Historic Rally Championship,
and the Welsh Historic Championship.
February, Wyedean Forest
Rally. We decided to do this event as a shakedown for the season. Chose the wrong tyres for the first 2 stages, as it was
very muddy and lost 30 seconds to the class winner, got it back to 5 seconds by the finish though.
2nd Class, 8th O/A Historic.
March, Mid-Wales Stages
Rally, 1st round of the BHRC Championship. Good clean run.
1st Class, 7th O/A.
April, Bulldog Rally,
Puncture on SS2 cost us 2 mins. the class win and a top 10 finish!
3rd Class, 18th O/A.
April, Pirelli Rally,
Great run, no problems, just the RS2000 was a little short of power for this event compared to the BDA's.
1st Class, 11th O/A.
June, Severn Valley Stages,
Another great run, marred only by me booking in early and costing us a minute,due to a mix up at a control, which dropped
us from 10th O/A!!!!!
2nd Class, 17th O/A.
August, Neath Valley Stages,
I was asked to co-drive for Ian Beveridge in his Volvo PV544 on this
event, which was run entirely in Walters Arena. I Really enjoyed this ride,
the old Volvo is a fantastic
car.
1st Class,10th O/A.
August, Ulster Rally,
Very fast rally, which is extremely bumpy.
Great run to finish 1st
Class, 8th O/A.(with Guy)
August , Mewla Rally,
I was invited to co-drive for Jon Vamplew in his Subaru, a few problems early on, but recovered to 45th.
For the latter part of
2011, I have been asked to co-drive
for John Worthing in his
Historic RS 2000.
October, Cambrian Rally,
4th Class, 7th O/A.
October, WLE Time
Trial, Sweet Lamb, 3rd Class, 12th O/A.
For the last Rally of
2011, I sat in with Rob Tout in his Evo 9
at Pembrey, 2nd O/A 1st
in Class.
2012, Co-driving for Ian
Drummond in his MK1 RS2000 in the British Historic Rally Championship.
MAR. MID-WALES STAGES. 15th O/A, 5th Class.
MAR. BULLDOG RALLY. 11th O/A, 4th Class.
JUNE. SEVERN VALLEY. D.N.F. CAMBELT.
JULY. HARRY FLATTERS. 9th O/A, 2nd CLASS.
AUG. ULSTER RALLY. 10th O/A, 2nd CLASS.
BRITISH
HISTORIC CLASS C3 TARMAC CHAMPIONS.
2013, Second year Co-Driving
for Ian in the British Historic Rally Championship in his Mk1 RS2000.
MARCH. TOUR OF EPYNT.
30th O/A, 8th CLASS.
(With Lee Perry, in Escort
Cosworth)
APRIL. SOMERSET STAGES.
30th O/A, 2nd CLASS.
(With Neil Matthews in
Nova)
MAY. PIRELLI RALLY. 9th O/A,
1st CLASS.
JULY.
HARRY FLATTERS. 7th O/A, 2nd CLASS.
2014,
Year three with Ian in the RS2000. This year we are in the RAC Rally Championship,
after a years lay-off due to some health problems
for Ian.
MAY. SEVERN
VALLEY RALLY 16th O/A, 6th CLASS.
