The BRC Interview: Stephen Petch
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006Stephen Petch has got plenty of Yorkshire grit. The 23-year-old showed incredible composure to win the Kall Kwik Rally last year, knowing his dad Steve had just crashed head-on into a tree.
The snow-covered stages were treacherous but Petch jnr ploughed on to take his first outright victory by more than two minutes in a Group N Subaru Impreza. Petchy followed that up with another win in the Yorkshire forests - the North Humberside Rally in March this year - in only his second event in a world rally car.
So it comes as little surprise that Petchy is revved up for Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, the penultimate round of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. The SG Petch Scalextric driver said: “I love the Yorkshire forests. The stages are fast and flowing, which suit my driving style, and I’ve scored my two biggest wins in Yorkshire. The Kall Kwik was special being the first win, but Dad had that big accident so it took the edge off things.”
Stephen is hoping his previous success and familiarity with the event, will give him an edge “Winning the North Humberside in the Hyundai was awesome. I���ve been looking forward to the Trackrod all year. I know the stages, I know the surfaces, so hopefully I can show some speed and be right up there with the front runners on some of the timesheets.”
Despite his confidence and enthusiasm for the Trackrod, Stephen acknowledges consistency is key to future success: “I really need to finish this rally. We haven���t had much luck in the BRC this year and to be honest the Trackrod is the one rally in the Yorkshire forests that hasn’t been kind to us.”