DOWN THE PUB
WITH MARTY MCCORMACK Age: 32 Lives: Draperstown Roger Albert Clark Rally winner
His Escort Mk2 was fresh “It was the same ’shell but it had a lot of work done and was completely refurbished. It had a fresh Alan Sherwood BDG engine. The R.A.C. Rally was the first time I’d driven the Escort since Rally Australia a year earlier and the last time I’d driven it in the UK forests was on the 2013 Red Kite.”
He chased Pritchard “It was all about getting a clear run. It was a long event and an absolutely brilliant rally. We had a few dramas on Saturday and we changed the gearbox on Saturday night at Carlisle. I was just trying to keep the pressure on Jason Pritchard and I was gutted when we saw him parked up in Twiglees because he had been driving very, very well.”
The ice was a challenge “It was really difficult in the ice on Sunday afternoon and the Castle O’er stage gave us a big scare. So we had to be a bit careful here and there and we knew we had another big day ahead of us on the final day. It was very tricky in the ice again on Monday morning. I just didn’t want to go all out and go off the road.”
It was a long, tough rally “It doesn’t really get any better than winning this event and it is absolutely fantastic. For four days, it is a massive event. From when we started at Shelsley Walsh on Friday morning to the finish in Kielder on Monday afternoon we did 30 stages and nearly 300 stage miles and I don’t know how many road miles. I don’t know how many bends we went round!”
It was a team effort “My friend Barney Mitchell did an absolutely fantastic job on the notes. I’m really proud of him because he stepped up to a massive level to do this event. In fact the whole team was fantastic: John Moynihan built me a new car and Alan Sherwood did the engine and it all stuck together. It was up to me to keep it on the road, but the management crew kept me going. I had two clutches and two gearboxes and the team did a fantastic job.”
Thank you organisers “A big thank you to the organisers and marshals. It has been a massive event and Colin Heppenstall and his team did a fantastic job. The rally has been such a success.”