Gwyndaf on RSAC Scottish Rally and life after 40
4 June 1999
Evans to go flat out for Scottish win
Welsh rally star Gwyndaf Evans will be going flat out in sixth gear in his
SEAT Ibiza 'Evo 2' rally car on the closed forest roads that make up the
competitive sections on next weekend's RSAC Scottish Rally so determined
is he to win this event for the first time.
The 1996 British Champion has just celebrated his 40th birthday (today, June
4) and a win would be an excellent belated birthday present especially
since he has finished third on the RSAC Scottish Rally on no less than four
occasions (including the past three successive years).
"I'm really focused towards winning in Scotland," Gwyndaf explains, "and
really want to enjoy a good run for the entire team. There has been an
awful lot of hard work behind the scenes this year, but of course people
don't see that. The team only gets the reward it deserves if we win, and
until now their commitment and dedication has only seen bad luck kicked back
at them. That's unjust, and we're determined to readdress the situation in
Scotland next weekend.
I like the Scottish International Rally a lot. It's very fast in places,
and we will be hitting the rev limiter flat out in sixth gear at over 120
mph many times which isn't hanging about on a narrow gravel tree-lined
forestry road.
Howard Davies, my co-driver, and I won the first day on the Scottish last
year after a big ding-dong battle with Alister McRae. We've got a good
feeling about Scotland and always enjoy the event, although we haven't
always been blessed with good luck. The longest stage is almost 19 miles
long through the Forest of Ae. We've had one good run through Ae, but we've
also had problems especially in the last two years.
Last year Ae was run as the final stage. We entered it with a 15-second
lead and looked well on course for rally victory. However, by the time we
finished the stage we had dropped to third position, having lost 45 seconds
with a number of unexpected problems. Not surprisingly I've got mixed
feelings about Ae forest, but at least this year the stage is repeated so
we'll have two attempts at getting it right!
I believe the entire SEAT Cupra Sport team deserves a bit of good luck in
Scotland. We had a very good two-day test near Newton Stewart recently, and
the SEAT Ibiza 'Evo 2' Kit Car proved once again it can withstand anything
we throw at it in testing. We have made a number of improvements to the car
and there is no reason why it won't be ultra-reliable on the event as well.
It's just a matter of our luck changing for the better.
"For sure we have the speed to be competitive, and if we have a bit of good
luck there is no reason why we can't win.
The Scottish Rally falls on the middle of a hectic schedule of rallies and
testing. We have only just returned from the Rally of Argentina, and the
day after the Scottish Rally we are going testing on asphalt in
preparation for the second half of the British Rally Championship and the
three remaining events on tarmac.
I thought that going to Argentina would keep me match-fit, but in fact I
had a lot of catching up to do when I got back home. I didn't feel that fit
when I returned to Britain. I felt I'd let my training go a bit, as the
long flight, the change of climate and a different diet combined to unsettle
my training schedule.
Argentina is famous for beefsteaks, and it's normal to tuck into a huge
slab of red meat one-inch thick in a restaurant. Trying to order pasta was
almost impossible they had it on the menu, but I suspect never really
expected anyone to order it! Once I ordered pasta and got chicken and
chips, which I ate because (a) I was hungry and (b) I didn't have time to
try and explain to the waiter the mistake particularly as he didn't speak
English or Welsh and my Argentinean isn't that fantastic either!
I'm very grateful to SEAT for sending me to South America and it was a
wonderful experience I shall never forget. Since I've returned I've been
working really hard and doing some intensive keep fit to get back into good
shape. Even on the recent test, I never missed an opportunity to train.
Even the team was amazed when, after driving for 150 miles around a forest,
I jogged back to the hotel! Physically I feel much better now than I did
when I got off the plane, but it took me a full week of hard exercise to get
back to my normal self.
Of course, the Scottish Rally will be my first rally as a 40 year old,
having celebrated my birthday on Friday (June 4). People tell me life
begins at 40, so let's start with a rally win! Now I'm the same age as Juha
Kankkunen, and he won the Rally of Argentina, so there's clearly no reason
why I can't win in Scotland. I certainly don't feel any older. In fact, I
feel fitter than I have ever done, so it shouldn't make any difference to my
speed."
The RSAC Scottish Rally will start at 9 am from Whitesands, Dumfries on
Friday (June 11). The first of the 133 miles of competitive sections which
this year will be timed to a fraction of a second for the first time is in
Dalbeattie forest before the first of two visits to a gruelling 19-mile
stage in the Forest of Ae. After six special stages, the rally returns to
Dumfries at 8.45 pm.
After an overnight halt, the rally restarts at 8 am on Saturday for a final
loop through Dumfries and Galloway. This includes popular rallying stages
like Proton Glengap, Glentrool and Clatteringshaws, before the champagne
celebrations back in Dumfries at around 5.35pm.
ends