DOWN THE PUB
WITH WILL ROWLANDS
34 North Wales Rallying legend
He’s always rallied Escorts “I did a few single venues to learn and then moved into the forests, always with Ford Escorts. I sold my first Escort to buy my house and then built the historic car in 2007. I prefer historics because it is a level playing field; same gearboxes, tyres, suspension. My car runs a Holbay engine, which is a slightly less revvy engine than a BDG.”
He had a famous roll “I rolled on the Bulldog in 2012 in Gartheiniog. It was very out of control by the time I came into the view of the TV cameras. But I drove it 52 miles home afterwards with no glass and I couldn’t open the doors.”
Tyres are a big factor “I’ve not done many events lately due to lack of time. Some of the forests are getting so rough and in 2013 on the Severn Valley I did six stages and got through 14 tyres. It was a hot day and it killed the tyres. I’m a plumbing and heating engineer and I’ve got to earn the money before I spend it. I can do 150 stage miles on the Isle of Man and use one set of tyres.”
There is a new car coming “I did the Manx in 2015 and the engine dropped a valve. We had the engine rebuilt but since then I’ve got another car to do another Group 4 historic bodyshell to FIA specification because I’ve always wanted to run a BDG engine. That’s the plan and the shell is in primer. I don’t know when it will be finished as there’s no rush. I’ll sell the current car eventually if I get the right money but if not I might keep it for the forests. I prefer the forests but at the moment it is too rough.”
He loves the Isle of Man “The Isle of Man is one of the best rallies I’ve ever done and I’ll keep going back. If I only did one rally a year, that would be it. I’ve done it four times now. David Stokes once told me if I only ever did one rally, do the Isle of Man and he was right. We were fifth historic crew this year. I love my rallying and my dad Dei and my mates all come and help. Dad does a lot of the preparation for me and they all help out in return for some beer.”