DOWN THE PUB
WITH BARRY STEVENSON-WHEELER
Age: 44 Lives: Leicester BHRC contender
He followed his dad into the sport “My dad Dave rallied back in the late 1970s and early 1980s and he used to take me to watch rallies and so I was hooked. As soon as I passed my driving test I bought my first Ford Escort Mk1, but that was a project I never finished. Then I bought a Mk2 and I’ve had Mk2s ever since.”
He did some co-driving “I’ve rallied on and off and when I was younger I couldn’t afford to do much. I did quite a lot of co-driving back in the 1990s and we did the East Midlands championships.”
He returned to driving “I’d been looking after my old car for about 10 years for the previous two owners and the guy said he was going to sell. I’d looked after it for all that time and I thought could probably just afford to own it, so I bought it. I rallied that car from 2005 until the end of last year. We had a few ups and downs and had a lot of good times with the old car.”
He switched to historics “For the last two years we did the R.A.C. Championship, which was fantastic. They’re good events with a good pace and the lads have enjoyed it as well. Then the opportunity was there to step up to a full historic car and have a go at the BHRC. Everything on the car was new and the Red Kite was its first event.”
There is a busy schedule “Even though it’s an Escort, there is a lot to learn over the old car. We didn’t go too mad on the Red Kite and tried to get a feel for the car. We’ve got quite a big year planned as we’re doing both the BHRC and the R.A.C Historic Asphalt Championship. We’re aiming to do Salamandre in Belgium and the Pirelli Rally on back-to-back weekends at the end of April. We’re intending to go to the Isle of Man in September as it’s an event I’ve always wanted to do.”
A lot of people help “The three lads who always help me are Greg, Steve and Jake and they help between the events as well. John Pickavance is more than a co-driver, he’s a good friend as well and I have to thank the team at my business, Metric Services, because they cover things while I’m on rallies.”