Seventeen year old Jack Rowe and co-driver Alex Lee have been crowned BRC Challenge Champion for 2011 after a fraught end-of-season Trackrod Challenge Rally. The event saw Simon Moore & Emma Morrison take their second win in the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s support series this season, but sadly it wasn’t enough to secure them the title.
With the unfortunate cancellation of the Isle of Man event, attention had switched to the traditional season finale in Yorkshire to provide the grandstand finish to the year.
Going into the rally, Rowe knew that any mechanical failure or mistake on his part could prove costly, with Moore breathing down his neck. Thirty points adrift of Rowe at the start of the event, Moore knew that winning the rally was his only chance of taking the title, while hoping for “lady luck” to be on his side.
But Moore needed more than luck on his side, when quickest out of the traps this morning was a fellow Renault Clio driver, Russ Thompson. Thompson’s early pace setting certainly caught Moore unawares, who knew pushing too hard could spell disaster on the slippery tracks of the Yorkshire forests.
By the end of stage two and the remote re-group, Moore had taken over the lead and was planning on keeping it, “We really pushed on that second stage, we were on the rev limiter at 108mph in there. But we’re where we need to be now, I don’t wish any misfortune on Jack, I just need a bit of Lady Luck on my side”.
Lying third, Rowe was fairly pragmatic in his assessment of the situation at hand, adding, “It’s mine to lose now, but I’ll make more mistakes trying to go slowly.”
Most of the field reiterated the mantra “it’s slippery” at some point during the re-group adding to the possibility of one of the front runners making a mistake.
BRC Challenge RC1 / Star of the Future:
One front runner making few errors was Garry Pearson running in a remarkable fifth place alongside co-driver Laura Marshall. It was a placing they would keep until the very end of the rally. In doing so they secured their place as RC1 Champions and winner of the coveted Star of the Future prize worth around £3000.
A great haul from a debut season in the BRC Challenge admitted Garry, “I have to be happy with that, hopefully I can move into the BRC next season in the R1 class”.
Another 1000cc Nissan Micra driver enjoying his time on the Yorkshire stages was the Bajan James Betts who was competing in the UK for the first time. “I’ve never driven on pace notes before, but so far so good. I have to say what a great event this is though, well run and really good stages”.
One RC1 competitor not to enjoy his rally so much was Matt Jackson who retired with a broken driveshaft on his Nissan Micra.
BRC Challenge Ladies Champions Becky Kirvan and Karen Watts also had a miserable end to the season after failing to make it through the day, retiring on SS6 after an off.
BRC Challenge Classes:
James Watts and George Morrison took the RC2 honours after the Isle of Man’s Kevin Vondy and Nick Kaighin dropped down the order. But the Manxman had already done enough to secure the championship class in the self-run Corsa, after the cancellation of his home event was announced.
Lone RC3 runners in Yorkshire Mark Turner and Sasha Heriot were once again aboard their pocket-rocket Peugeot 106, which took them to a third RC3 win and with it top points in the championship tables.
Simon Moore’s victory in the final event of the season gives the Sunderland based driver the RC4 title, to go alongside co-driver Emma Morison’s, but it wasn’t the prize he’d hoped for. “We could do no more, we set five fastest stage times, and some of the stage times would have put us sixth in the internationals. It’s another what might have been for us, but we can’t complain, Jacks been phenomenal”.
Second place went to an exhausted looking Russ Thompson/Andy Murphy, their best finish of the campaign. “We hit a straw bale in one of the stages trying to match times with Simon, after that I thought I’d settle for second.”
But as Simon Moore led the field home, attention was drawn to the third placed pairing of Jack Rowe and Alex Lee, who would be anointed as winners in class RC5 and overall BRC Challenge Champions.
Rowe also takes on the honour of becoming the Fiesta SportChallenge victor after seeing off title rivals Phil Scholes and Alex Parpottas.
“I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at the start of the year” admitted rally novice Rowe. “If you had told me this at the start of the year I would have said that you are dreaming. But I’m very competitive at all sports that I try; I wasn’t coming into rallying to finish second”. Still holding his composure, he added, “There’s no better series than the BRCC if you want to get started in this sport”.
Twenty two year old co-driver Alex recalled the start of the season, “After the first couple of rounds I knew we were onto something good. But it’s still all a little surreal, were both very different personalities and I think that works”.
But as the champagne sprayed the relief on the face of Rowe and co-driver Lee said it all.
Jack Rowe picks up a prize fund worth around £4000 and with it the chance to take on the British Rally Championship in 2012.
The 2012 season of the BRC Challenge gets under way on Rallye Sunseeker International and will see all the drama start over as the crews will battle it out on six of the country’s leading events all over again.
To follow all the goings-on during the season, check out the new website at www.rallybrcchallenge.co.uk and follow us on twitter at @BRC_Challenge.