by Rob Wilkins
TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH MATT BEEBE: CLICK HERE
Reigning British Rally Championship class R3 title-holder and
Crash.net columnist Matt Beebe is currently well placed in the race for both the R2 and Junior Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship crowns. Here prior to the penultimate round in the BRC - the Rally Yorkshire, he speaks to
Crash.net Radio's Rob Wilkins, who caught up with him at the recent Rallyday event at Castle Combe...
Crash.net:
Matt, what have you made of the Rallyday so far?
Matt Beebe:
It is the first time I have ‘competed’ at the Rallyday. I have been and had a look in the years it has been on before. It is a really good event and it is fantastic just to come and have a look. To be driving here and getting to go out there on the Castle Combe race track with nothing at stake is great. Just getting the car to slide around and hopefully putting on a good show for the spectators, it is a really enjoyable day.
Crash.net:
There’s a good turn out - and good weather too...
MB:
It is fantastic considering the summer we have had this year. The sun always shines on the righteous and I think we are all righteous at Castle Combe here today!
Crash.net:
We are two thirds of the way through the BRC season now, how have you assessed things generally speaking so far?
MB:
Well up until Ulster we were two points in front in the championship in our class and up until then everything was going according to plan. We had a couple of problems at the start of the year but so has everyone else. So as it has worked out going into Ulster we were two points in the lead in the championship. We had a bit of a score to settle in Ireland because my first time over there last year I crashed on the first stage. We went there this year then to try and get a little bit further and we got a lot further. We got to the penultimate stage and everything was going really well and we had been setting some really good times and we were leading the class by something like 2 minutes. Going into the penultimate stage though without warning the engine just let go and so that was really tough. To go from leading the class and being on such a high to just losing it all through no fault of my own was disappointing. But once I got home and thought about it I am really pleased with the way Ulster went. The pace was good, the car was working really well and my notes were good. I was really happy with how the event went. It was just a shame about the end result.
Crash.net:
It is back to gravel now, you have just had three tarmac events, does that make it tougher?
MB:
Yeah, the biggest thing going onto gravel from tarmac is the braking distances. They are sort of double the distance on gravel to what they are on tarmac. That takes a bit of getting use to. It will be a few corners before I am really on it again. I have done the Trackrod twice before though and so I know the forests up there and the roads. We are going to go up there for another good result.
