CLARKANNIVERSARY HONOUREDATRALLYDAY Britishrallylegendclark’sdeathtobecommemoratedatcastlecombe

Photos: mcklein-imagedatabase.com, Trevor Foster, Martin Walsh

British rally legend Roger Clark’s life and career will be celebrated at Rallyday, marking 20 years since he died in 1998.

Two-time RAC Rally winner Clark was one of the first household names and genuine superstars of the sport, with recognition coming after he broke the Scandinavian stranglehold on rallying. Clark’s 1972 RAC win was the first for a British driver since 1959 and after his ’76 success it was 18 years before Colin Mcrae would take another home win.

Rallyday organiser Tom Davis wanted to mark the anniversary of his passing.

Davis said: “For a generation of rally fans in this country, there was no other driver to look out for and Roger’s name has remained. The legend has been passed on to the next generation. Talking to people at Rallyday, it’s absolutely clear what a hero he still is to so many and it’s an absolute honour that we can work with his family to remember him.”

The Clark family will attend Rallyday in September, and Roger’s son Olly was delighted with the plan to run the event in honour of his father.

“It’s incredible to think it’s 20 years since we lost the old man,” said Clark, “but this will be a really special day for us – the chance to formalise the anniversary at an event like Rallyday is just brilliant. Obviously, we still work in the industry and people still talk about him and what he achieved on almost a daily basis. Mum, Matt, we’ll all come down to Rallyday and I’m sure we’ll dig out some of the old trophies to bring them with us.”

Clark’s sons Olly and Matt run Roger Clark Motorsport, which now specialises in Subaru tuning work, with the competitive aspect showing itself in the firm’s Gobstopper Time Attack cars. Olly won the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb using the Subaru-based car in 2015 and 2016.

“We’re building Gobstopper 3,” said Clark. “The plan would be to bring all three of those cars along to Rallyday. Hopefully some of dad’s old cars will be there as well.”

n years to come when I look back at 2017, I think that there will be three things that I’ll recall: the rise of targa rallies; the death of friends and colleagues, and red Escorts. There was at least one point in this last 12 months when I thought that you had to have a Ford Escort in some shade of red to have any chance of winning a rally. Guy Woodcock, Meilyr Evans and Dyfrig James all won in Boreham’s finest, but red car domination was largely due to three drivers. Matt Warren once again took the HRCR Clubman title, with wins on the Ilkley Jubilee, Ross Traders and Clwyd Vale Classic along the way.

George Williams was certainly the discovery of the year; having taken second on the Gremlin in March, he became a threat on virtually every event. He finally took his first overall win on the Rali Mon and won again on the Powys Lanes.

Kevin ‘Smiley’ Davies was without doubt the driver of the year. He took maximum Welsh Championship points on every counter for the series that he finished, with outright wins on the Bro Ddyfi, Bro Caron, Night Owl, Barcud and the 1000 Lanes. Only retirements on three rounds prevented him from taking the Welsh title. Added to this he put in some giant-killing performances in his road-rally spec car on a number of stage events, notably a top 10 finish on the Pokerstars Rally on the Isle of Man.

Targa rallies were everywhere and, as clubs had their second or third attempts at running the format, became better organised. It’s not just a case of finding a few test venues and away you go; quite a bit of thought needs to go into how the event will actually operate. They require a substantial team with power delegated down to ensure that each test is set up correctly in a timely manner, marshals know what they have to do and how to judge what they’re observing, and that the tests are run as intended.

However, even when issues have arisen all the events that I’ve attended seem to have given competitors plenty of fun, which, at club level, must be what the sport is about.

Last year was an extremely sad one for me as people who I have considered friends have died. In March we lost Alan Jones, my partner in crime for many years; in October it was Nigel Raeburn and most recently Tim Hobbs finally lost his long battle with cancer.

All three were quiet behind-the-scenes people, who did an enormous amount of work to keep the sport running.

Many competitors would have no idea of their contribution and none of the three sought the limelight; talking to Nigel you would never have guessed that he was a previous winner of the Welsh International, the Cilwendeg and the Tour of Mull.

Rallying can ill afford to lose such talents.

like that. I just think if only they could witness or experience motorsport. I’ve never done anything else as enjoyable.

“Alex’s communication is poor, but he’s not stupid. He understands what’s going on around him, he just can’t express himself in speech.

“Lots of people with Down’s syndrome are, unfortunately, stuck in a corner in front of the TV. But they can do so many good things.”

After conquering Three Sisters, John is hoping that the pairing can branch out and do some different events in 2018. With his son progressing through the slower Peugeot 206 Cup Car to the Fiesta, now a change of venue could be on the cards.

“He calls Three Sisters ‘the old one’,” says John. “Sometimes I ask him when we’re at home, does he want to do ‘the old one’ or a new one, and he points to a picture of the Isle of Man I have on the kitchen wall!

“Obviously we could never do something like a pacenote event. But we probably will go and do a few other single-venue events this year, that’s the plan.

“It’s difficult because he’s not actually contributing in the car. But he loves it.

“He loves the countdown. The only problem now is every time we go he thinks he’s going to win. So I’m a bit worried now for if we don’t win I think he will be a bit upset. But then he’ll be just like his dad!”

The events help Alex with routine. Before each event, he’ll prepare the helmet and overalls, and after the event is the traditional post-rally curry, where the waiters will applaud him, still in his overalls, regardless of his result. Then on Monday it’s a trip to Myerscough College to laud his success and his trophy over his coursemates. Just like a normal rally driver or co-driver of 20 years of age.

Watch an onboard of the duo and you’ll hear terribly-performed show tunes, a couple of chart hits and woops and cheers from Alex, especially when Dad gives the handbrake a tug.

Back to that original song: “I’m only human”. Alex is just that. Human. He deserves the shot at fun that grassroots motorsport gives as much as anyone. Long may it continue. ■