Interesting start to the season for Cruttenden

The left hand drive VW Polo

A busy 2011 rally season got off to an interesting start for Newhey Rally Co-Driver, Joe Cruttenden. Just two days before the start of the Wyedean Rally (the first round of the BTRDA), Joe and his driver, Matt Griffin, were informed that the car they had planned to use for the event would not be available. Joe then began a few hours of frantic phone calls to secure another car and support for the event.

"We were hoping to run the new 1300 Micra on the Wyedean, but thanks to Rally4Real we were able to use their 1400 VW Polo, " said Cruttenden. "The Polo is a left hand drive car, and although I have competed in these before, it was the first time Matt had driven one competitively. In fact the drive from the hotel to the start of the rally was the first time we had been in the car," he added.

The Wyedean Rally, based in Chepstow, and comprising seven stages through the Forest of Dean, saw the pair make a tentative start to the event.

“It took us a while to get used to the left hand drive," said Cruttenden, "Our pace was not as good as we had hoped, and we lost a lot of time, as we were not getting the car into the corners correctly. This became more of a problem on the later stages as they had been badly cut up on the first run with over a hundred cars competing.”

Despite all this, the pair managed to take third in class, and earned some valuable points towards the championship.

This coming year is looking to be Joe's busiest yet in rallying. Not only will he be competing in the BTRDA Championship, but he will be competing in the British Rally Championship and co-driving in the Junior F1000 rally championships, guiding young rally drivers between the age of 14 -17 on their first steps into full rally competition.

Joe is also competing now as a driver and has acquired a rally-prepared Micra, which he is using currently to compete in the ANWCC Road Rally Championship.