Roger albert clark rally driver

Just like the best classic motorsport events, this was no parade, and within the first yards one of the early favourites, Roger Chilman, one of the many Escort drivers, had exited stage left, rolling out of the rally in the dark of the Northumbrian night.

There were several top competitors in the entry, including Osian Pryce, a British Championship runner-up, and former winners and podium finishers that include the likes of Gwyndaf Evans and Stig Blomqvist.

Equally, it includes those that just want to pitch themselves against the classic stages, and this year was no exception. Whilst there were those taking it extremely seriously, it is also, in the tradition of rallying, extremely accessible to the average Joe. Over the five days the cars would tackle classic stages such as those in Kielder Forest, as well as Dyfnant and planned forays into Greskine and Ae Forest. However, Plans are never as straight forward as they ought to be, and whilst many cars were suffering at the rigours of the stages, the stages would suffer the venom of the weather as Storm Arwen swept across the land on the Saturday evening.

As it was, the rally resumed in Wales, and runaway leaders Pritchard and Clarke saw their bid for the win end in disaster as their Escort rolled.

The next and final day of competition saw more drama, as second place challenger Osian Pryce took the corner off of his Escort, seemingly handing the win to another Escort driver Paul Barrett, until his and his co-drivers challenge ended in the undergrowth just a few miles later, as they rolled out at high speed. Both of his sons followed their father into motorsport. His brother Stan Clark was also a racing driver. In , a historic rally event was established to recreate the route of the "classic" RAC Rally, since the current race is now restricted to south Wales.

Competitors are limited to vehicles released prior to , and traces a route through stages in Scotland and northern England which are no longer part of the modern itinerary. Here's a link to the official website:. It beats working!

His best was always wondrous to watch, on any surface, but he was at his most spectacular on loose surfaces, where he could use the Escort's finely balanced handling to get the car sliding sideways, and able to "dance" to his command.

No other British driver could match these skills, for when in his prime Clark was the equal of world-class Scandinavians like Hannu Mikkola and Bjorn Waldegard. Not for nothing was his best- selling autobiography which I helped him to write entitled Sideways.

When not rallying, which was rarely, he helped run the expanding family businesses in the Leicester area, and opened Roger Clark Cars in Narborough in the s. Hit hard by the collapse of the economy in , these had to close down, but in his final years, even though in precarious health, he set up Roger Clark Motor Sport, which prepared cars for others to use in rallying.

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