F1 analyst Tony Jardine and skeleton champion co-driver Amy Williams finish 16th overall and 1st in class at Rally Yorkshire as they move further down the road to WalesRally Yorkshire (Sept 27-28) brought success for Olympic Gold medallist Amy Williams and her driving partner Sky Sports News F1 analyst Tony Jardine. The driving duo impressed by finishing the prestigious but exacting penultimate round of the British Rally Championship based in Pickering with an excellent top twenty finish.
Traversing the quickest stages in UK rallying across the Yorkshire dales, including frightening night stages, the pair battled over ultra fast and sometimes rough tests to finish in a strong 16th position that belied Amy’s lack of experience in only her second ever rally.Amy said, after picking up her second class win in as many rallies “This is another step along my steep learning curve. I went on my first ever recce and then experienced my first ever navigation at night, but my worst fears were unfounded as I could see more than I thought! The experience has been invaluable, I want to thank WRC co driver Daniel Barritt for taking time out of his busy world rally programme to continue my fantastic training. He left straight after Rally Yorkshire to head to WRC Rally France, we wish him all the best in his quest for a top ten finish in the works Ford”
Daniel Barritt, who co drives alongside rising star, Welshman Elfyn Evans also tutored Amy through her first rally, the Merrick Stages. Jardine and Williams also received excellent support form York based motorsport team, Prospeed, headed up by Olly Marshall.Williams has set out to qualify as an international co-driver by the time of Wales Rally GB, which is the final round of the World Rally Championship (14-17 November) and has now completed two out of the four rallies she needs to reach international license status in time. After a first in class finish at the Merrick Stages and this great placing at Rally Yorkshire it seems that the ultimate goal of competing in Wales Rally GB is now within reach.
Rally Yorkshire was the first time that Williams had to face driving at night, as this unforgiving rally pitches crews straight into the gloom of the first two stages. With long straights leading to unforgiving sharp corners Williams and Jardine both had to have their wits about them. Williams said “Driving in the dark has to be one of the most unnerving things I have ever faced, however I could see surprisingly more than I thought I would. I’m happy to get through it unscathed but the lessons learned in the dark will put me in good stead for the first three stages on Wales Rally GB, which are all at night”
Despite the success so far, Jardine and Williams still need to complete another two rallies in order for Amy to graduate to an international license. Jardine said of the upcoming challenges “We may have had another good run here but we can’t be too confident yet, Amy has made excellent progress in such a short space of time but we have another two difficult rallies coming up, not to mention Wales Rally GB itself which will push us to our limits!”Amy and Tony are now preparing for their next rally, The McRae Stages in Scotland, which takes place on 5th October.
