DOWN THE PUB

WITH BEN FRIEND

He started young “I started rallying in F1000 Juniors when I was 14 and then progressed into BTRDA Rally First and then the historic Ford Escort Mk2. It’s down to my dad Tim and Frank Richer, who have been rallying together since the 1970s. It was always in my blood. Everything we do is with Frank and he’s definitely the main man. I work on the car as much as I can. Allglass is our main sponsor and I work in the business on window fitting.”

A BDG is a future ambition “This is my third season in historics and I’ve always competed with the Mk2 Pinto. I’ve also borrowed Frank’s BDGpowered Mk2 a couple of times and that was awesome. One day I’d like to have one of those of my own and we are building a new body shell at the moment. That’s another Pinto car and hopefully it will be out fairly soon.”

He loves rallying the Escort “I’d like to have a go in a modern car but I don’t think I could do it full-time. The Escort is what I like and it’s all about enjoying it. These cars are so easy to work on. While they’re not cheap, you’d spend so much more in an R5 car.” “This season is going really well and I’ve got Cliffy Simmons alongside and we’re settling in well with each other. He’s very good and it has definitely helped me. In time I’d like to move up to a BDG engine but there’s a bit more to come from the Pinto and I’d like to get up to the pace of Paul Barrett. We’re the best of the rest at the moment.”

He’ll try some asphalt “We’re doing the British Historic Rally Championship this season but we’re not sure yet about the Isle of Man in September. It’s a long time away so we’ll see about that one. I’ve never been on asphalt yet, but we’ll do the Harry Flatters on Epynt at the end of July and see how that goes. That will be my asphalt debut in the Escort; all I’ve done before is the Great Orme stage on the national section of Rally GB.”