Team Rallyschool.co.uk driver Tony Simpson managed just two miles of the recent Red Dragon rally. His day ending prematurely when his Volkswagen Polo slid into a ditch on the very first stage.
Retirement from the fifth round of the popular and highly competitive BTRDA National Rally Championship has dealt the likeable Liverpudlian’s championship ambitions a bitter blow. He now lies seventh in class N1, which is for virtually standard 1400cc cars. However, a string of good results could see the RST International backed driver claw his way back towards the top of the standings.
Having finished a solid second in class on the previous round of the championship, the Somerset Stages, frustratingly missing out on a class win by just three seconds, Simpson’s confidence was understandably high before the start of the Red Dragon.
The Port Talbot based Red Dragon Rally used 45 miles of stages in the South Wales forests, many of the roads are also used on Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship, the Wales Rally GB. Simpson’s demise came on the Walter’s stage, in Rheola forest, which uses a specially designed arena section to allow easy access for spectators who get to see the cars negotiate many jumps and testing corners.
Both Simpson and his Mortgage Matters backed Volkswagen Polo 16v rally car were in fine fettle and looking forward to a challenging day of competition. With the rally consisting of just four stages, Simpson and co-driver Robert Fagg had no choice but to push hard from the very start. Just two miles into the first stage of the day they were caught out by the slippery conditions and slid off the road. Unfortunately, the Polo was stuck fast, and Simpson was left to reflect on a disappointing day.
“It was a simple mistake, I missed a pace note and as a result we were going twenty or thirty miles per hour too fast on the way into the bend, the outcome was inevitable. I have never known gravel to be as slippery as it was on the first stage of the Red Dragon, it really was treacherous”.
The rally has a history of being unkind to Simpson. He rolled his Polo off the road on the same event in 2003. His accident this year was not as dramatic and it dented his championship aspirations more than the car.
With half of the season now gone, and with the Rallyschool.co.uk team deciding not to contest the next round of the championship, Simpson must hope that some of his rivals make mistakes from which he can benefit, and that he can consistently finish in order to claim valuable championship points. Despite the disappointment of retiring from the Red Dragon, Simpson remains optimistic about the remainder of the season.
“We know we have the pace to challenge the championship leaders, we have proven that on past events. We just need to find some consistency and string together a decent run of results and get some points on the board. The pressure is now off a bit, we intend to battle as hard as we can but make sure we enjoy the rallies we have left to do”.
The next event for Tony Simpson and the Rallyschool.co.uk team will be the Llandovery based Quinton Horiba Stages rally on 10th July.
