TEENAGER MATHISON ACHIEVES AMBITION ON HIS FIRST STAGE
Just three months after passing his driving test, 17-year-old
Oliver Mathison made a successful rally driving debut on his local
East Riding Stages.
Mathison, who has recently been co-driving for Nick Heard in his Ginetta G40 on Circuit Rally Championship and Protyre Asphalt events, had a long-standing ambition to contest the East Riding Stages as soon as he was old enough. He took his Citroen Saxo to a respectable 86th place overall, after being seeded last car on the road from 133 starters.
The teenager, who lives near the event’s base in Beverley, took his BARS rally test before his driving test and got his competition licence in time for the closed-road event. Currently Mathison is at sixth form college studying for his A Levels.
Mathison told Motorsport
News: “It’s been a plan for two or three years from when we first learned about the event. I’ve been navigating on road rallies for my dad Mark since I was 12 and started competing in autotests when I was 14. The Saxo is dad’s road rally car and we did some trackdays as testing.”
Since he turned 16, he’s been co-driving for Heard and for the East Riding event they swapped seats with Heard co-driving for the first time. Mathison’s parents Mark and Tammy were involved in the organisation of the East Riding event but then stepped back on the day to run the car for their son.
“I was pleased to get round. I went out for a finish and wasn’t last,” said Mathison. “I now hope to do some more and I’ll be back with Nick co-driving in the Ginetta. We want to do some BRC national events.”