RALLY MATTHEWS FAST BUT FURIOUS

Rally Driver John Matthews set a blistering pace on the third round of the Pioneer Daihatsu Challenge, the Millbrook stages Rally, in Bedfordshire at the weekend.

His fastest rally to date, John was consistently fifth fastest, and only seconds away from being the fourth quickest Daihatsu crew in the country. This is a massive improvement for the driver who only started competing last year.

But John and co-driver Alexis Harper and Tristan Pye, another Daihatsu competitor picked up eight minute penalties which put them at the back of the field.

‘This was devastating. Our speed made us the cat amongst the pigeons. This should have been the big day when we made the rest of the Daihatsu teams sit up and take serious notice of our team. We have halved the gap between us and the leaders and are truly driving faster and faster and we should be in 6th place right now.

‘As it was I drove hard, determined not to loose to Tristan, who was in the same situation. We beat him by three seconds which meant we did not come last. I won’t come last again’ said John.

‘We should have been more thorough when looking at the maps. The team needs to be kept focussed and on line. We have been missing our manager, Mat Huggins lately, who has been having problems outside of the team. We have had to let him go and I am looking for a replacement.

‘I am not happy with the result at all. In fact I am naffed off. If I was one to get angry I would be furious right now, but I am keeping cool, keeping focussed. Things like this happen and I am thinking ahead. We will earn a result from our speed. No more excuses from here – we simply have to get a better result and more points for our effort’ he added, ‘otherwise we may as well take up bloody rambling. We are in the Daihatsu Challenge to get a top result and I won’t stop until we do.’

The tarmac rally took place at the enormous top secret Millbrook testing ground, Bedfordshire, which is owned by Vauxhall and Lotus.

This is the second bout of bad luck for the Rochdale Exchange Cancer Research rally team. Last month on the Plains Rally the team were slowed down when they caught up slower crews ahead, trailing in the dust. That cost them 3 places. The team are currently 6th place in the championship.

Next Race: Jim Clark 1400 Rally, Duns on 30th June/30th July 2000

Ends

For more information call Margaret on 01706 655 726

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