Dave Weston Junior narrowly missed out on a top 20 finish on the GEKO Ypres Rally this weekend, when his Subaru Impreza N2010 gave in to centre diff problems with only 11km left to go.
Despite not making it to the end of the event, Weston successfully caught the eye of his peers on what was his first rally on foreign soil, and the first of his four planned IRC events this year.
“Obviously it’s gutting to be that close to the finish of what was the biggest rally of my life so far, and not make it to the end,” said Weston. “But there’s much more to having entered the event than that. It’s actually been a hugely positive event for us, we have only contested one IRC event before, Rally of Scotland last year, and I have never rallied outside Britain and Ireland before.
“So on this first big event we were lying 20th overall after 18 stages, and that was after we lost time with a propshaft problem and two punctures. If we had not lost that time we think we would have been lying at least 15th. Even though we didn’t finish, that’s a great starting point in terms of our times, and something to aim to build on for our next IRC event. And we will go to that next IRC event with more knowledge of the championship, or rallying outside the UK, of pacenotes, of everything. Although it was horrible to be unable to finish the event so close to the end, at the same time getting that far means we got to experience every single stage and see how good our notes were at the same time.
“We must say a huge thank you to Prodrive for all their help and support with Ypres, we’re just sorry we did not bring home a result for them. Congratulations also to my fellow Team UK member Martin McCormack on a great finish, it was great to have all the Team UK guys out there with us, all four drivers were there with Mark Higgins and David Brabham.”
Weston’s next IRC round will be Barum Czech Rally Zlin on 27th to 29th August, and the 19-year-old Team UK driver from Aberdeen has a busy schedule before then.
“We are already home from Ypres and looking forward to taking the car out again this coming weekend,” said Weston. “Having won the Richard Burns Trophy on Rallye Sunseeker earlier this year, part of our prize was an entry to the rally stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It will be a fun day out this time with no pressure and we can’t wait to get to such a prestigious event and meet lots of rally fans. Then we’re straight off from Goodwood to the asphalt Isle of Man to prepare for the next round of the BRC, Rally Isle of Man the following weekend.”
Weston and the Ramsport team will then stay on asphalt for International Rally Northern Ireland on August 20th/21st, before they head to the Czech round of the IRC a week later.
“The aim of this year is for me to get more IRC and WRC experience alongside contesting the BRC,” said Weston. “Having such a busy schedule combined with Team UK training sessions, testing and working with the Ramsport team throughout, all really helps build my experience in the sport. We learned at lot in Ypres for our next IRC round, and if you are learning all the time that is the best way forward.”
The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place on 2nd to 4th July, and will allow Weston to line up alongside rally greats including IRC champ Kris Meeke and WRC and stunt star Ken Block, and racing driving including Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
– Credit: Jo Burgess.