IN THE SERVICE PARK WITH…
ROGER RAY Age: 45 From: Bournemouth, Dorset Father and son rally champion, alongside son Cameron
Where did your interest in rallying start? “My interest in rallying began when I had heard about my dad rallying in a Mini Cooper and [Ford] Escort Mk1 in the 1960s and ’70s, where he went on to win the Curtis Bennett Rally in the late ’70s driving an Escort fitted with a Lotus twin-cam engine. My older brother Darren and I started out driving on road rallies, both in Escorts Mk2s.”
Tell me about your season and the championship victory “After an eight-year gap from motorsport, I decided to return with the same car. We initially started at Goodwood where I had previously won a novice award in 1993, after that we competed in a few more ACSMC [Association of Central Southern Motor Clubs] events. By November, we had completed all seven events we had entered in. This gave us the Bournemouth and District Car Club Championship win along with the ACSMC Tarmac Rally Championship title.”
What’s so special about the Fiesta? “I had bought the Mk1 [Ford] Fiesta XR2 back in 1991 and it was a standard road car. I did some all-night road rallies in that first year and by March 1992, had installed the necessary equipment to be able to compete in my first stage rally at Avon Park. Throughout the years my engineering background has allowed me to build my own engines, gearboxes and any mods needed, even down to machining the pockets on the pistons. The car has been entered into 63 events so far and has only retired six times over 25 years.”
How was it competing with your wife? “I met my wife, Marie, back in 1992 at Bournemouth Motor Club and in 1994 she started to co-drive for me on various Tarmac rallies. From here we went on to win the ACSMC Tarmac Championship in 1996, plus the BDCC Championship (the same win as this year) and continued to rally together until 2000 shortly before our son Cameron was born.”
How has your son become involved? “Last December, Cameron turned 14, the legal age to navigate on a single-venue event. By February we were off to South Downs Stages at Goodwood for our first rally together, in which we achieved a fourth in class. It was a good start to our championship and not a bad first year for him as he had accomplished what his mum and I had achieved 20 years ago.”