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.

Crash.net:
It is quite a compact rally though isn't it as it is a one-day event? It must make it quite intense…

MB:
It is actually the only round of the BRC that is all on one day. We do the recce on Friday but then the rally starts Saturday morning and finishes Saturday night. It is a really hectic day, non-stop - but that's what you like as a driver. It is one stage into another into another. You don't have time to relax and once you have got into it and into the rhythm, you can keep it going all day. If we can get into a rhythm early on and keep on pushing we will try and get a good result.

Crash.net:
What are your targets for that event?

MB:
Obviously to win the class in R2 in the BRC - that is our main aim and that is what we are going for in the championship. With every driver though if there is other cars out there and in the same sort of class as me - because the MG is actually an N3 car, where as the Citroen C2 in the class are A6 and the Suzuki Swifts are N2, so there are various different cars in the class within the BRC. I want to beat all the guys and girls going for the BRC, but if there is anyone else up there in an N3 car we want to beat those people as well. The Fiestas are in N3 and there is usually a couple of those out on events. We have been struggling to match those this year. It will be interesting to see on gravel and on a rally I know quite well, what the pace is like compared to the Fiestas and some of the other cars. We are going up there to get to the end of the event and see what happens.

Crash.net:
After that it is Rally GB, which is obviously quite a different event. But there is a big gap between Rally Yorkshire and the season finale.

MB: