Cruttenden wins BTRDA Rally First Championship

Joe Cruttenden and Matt Griffin guide their car to championship glory at the Cambrian rally.

Newhey Rally co-driver Joe Cruttenden and his driver Matt Griffin, from Blackburn, won the BTRDA Rally First 1400 Championship at the weekend after completing the Cambrian Rally in the forests of North Wales.

Cruttenden and Griffin started the rally, which was the final round of the BTRDA rally championship, in second place overall and needed to beat their fellow team members to clinch the title.

"As we were in identical VW Lupo cars, they knew we were going to be pushing them for the lead," said Cruttenden. "After the first couple of stages there was only a handful of seconds in it."

Everything changed on Stage 3, when the championship leaders went off the road, leaving Cruttenden and Griffin needing just to finish to win the championship.

Cruttenden said: "I told Matt to back off and just drive steadily to the finish, which we were doing, but eight miles into the last stage we hit a rock and the car started under steering because we had a punctured front tyre.

"After struggling to change the wheel due to soft ground we continued on the stage, only to pick up a smashed windscreen from a rock thrown up from a car we caught.

"It been a great championship for us, with consistent finishes. I would like to thank Matt for a great drive and the Rallyschool.co.uk team for providing us with a reliable car. We hope to compete in next years championship, but, both being students, funds are tight, so we must find a sponsor."

Not only did the team win the Rally First 1.4 class, but Cruttenden came second in the overall co-driver championship and will pick up his trophy at the BTRDA presentation night in December.