Cruttenden increases championship lead

The Lupo Joe and Matt used

An increased lead in the BTRDA 1400L Rally championship was the reward for Newhey co-driver, Joe Cruttenden, as he and his driver, Blackburn's Matt Griffin, finished in second place on last weekend’s Somerset Rally.

The rally, based in Minehead, was the third round of the championship and used 11 stages through the forest and toll roads over Exmoor National Park. Last year saw the pair crash out due to a broken ball joint, so they were both hoping for a much better result this year

The first stage started well, with the pair setting the second fastest time in the class, but on the second stage their problems started.

“We came out of a tight hairpin, and when Matt went to change gear, there wasn’t another gear to select,” said Cruttenden, “After 15 or so seconds we managed to find one and set off again but the damage was done.” On stage 4, things got worse the crew started to lose the clutch en-route to the start and it eventually went with about a mile to go.”

Joe and Matt were able to keep going and got back to the service area in Minehead, where the service crew manage to find a little adjustment in the clutch, which the pair needed, as the next two stages were an uphill run over the Porlock toll road.

The lack of a clutch took its toll on the Lupo’s gear box and by the time they got to the finish of the last stage they had lost 1st, 3rd, and 5th gears.

“We were lucky to finish this one,” said Cruttenden, '”A second place was all we could expect under the circumstances and we are more than happy with that.”

Cruttenden and Griffin took full championship points due to the fact that the winning crew, Steve Brown and Paul Stringer, were not registered for the championship.

Cruttenden now has a 20 point lead in the co-driver championship and joint first in the Junior Co-driver championship. Their next event together should be the Plains Rally in Wales in May, but they may be forced to skip this round due to a lack of finances not being helped by a the need for a gearbox rebuild. However, Cruttenden’ s rally year continues on 30 April with a trip to Cirencester to co-drive for up and coming young Irish driver Calvin Beattie, in the F1000 Junior Championship.