Cruttenden claims second place in a double rally weekend

Cruttenden claims a 2nd place in a double rally weekend

A busy weekend for Newhey rally co-driver Joe Cruttenden ended on a high on Sunday, after competing in two rallies in one weekend.

Joe was asked to team up with Leicester-based driver Geoff Dean on Saturday's Plains Rally, the fourth round of the BTRDA Rally Championship. Situated around Welshpool, the event ran six stages through the forests of mid-Wales.

Running in a very powerful class, the pair were up against some of the country’s top drivers in some of the most powerful Ford Escorts.

"We knew we were not going to set the rallying world on fire on this event," said Cruttenden, "our aim was to finish and for Geoff to gain as much experience as he could. This event is tough on both crew and car, with a lot of big drops to catch us if we made a mistake." The pair finished 72nd of the 131 starters and ninth in class.

Following the finish on the Plains, Joe then drove down to Haverfordwest to compete on the Dale Stages on the Sunday.

Joe was co-driving in the third round of the Kick Energy Junior 1000 Rally Championship, alongside 14-year-old Josh Cornwell.

Having achieved a third place and a fourth place on the first two rounds, the pair were determined to go at least one place better.

Running on the tarmac and concrete roads of a disused military base, the pair, seeded third, knew they had to be committed, but that commitment soon took its toll, as over-exuberance on a jump resulted in the pair overshooting a junction and loosing valuable time. "We finished the first stage in fifth place,"said Joe, "and we knew we would have our work cut out to get a good result."

A fastest stage time on stage two saw the pair jump up to third, and close within five seconds of second place. Second fastest times on stages 3, 4 and 5 improved their overall position up to second overall and going into stage six they were only 10 seconds behind first place.

Equal times were set by the top three cars on stage six kept the gap, but the pair had more pressing matters on their mind now; with the roughness of the venue the front left suspension had worked loose causing erratic handling and a distracting knocking noise. Luckily the service crew were able to repair the strut and the pair went out with two stages to go and set another second fastest time, moving them within eight seconds of the leader.

Pushing as hard as they dared, a third fastest time on the final stage meant they missed out on first place by nine seconds.

"We are delighted with the second place and I am very pleased for Josh, in his first full season against more experienced junior drivers, he is really proving he has the talent and the ability", stated Joe.

"Unfortunately, stage one cost us Josh’s first win but we know now we have the speed and consistency to be amongst the top crews."

The result leaves Josh joint first in the drivers’ championship and Joe leading the co-drivers championship.

Joe's next rally will be the Jim Clark Rally, for which he is looking for a sponsor - he can be contacted through Rochdale Online.