Colin Appleyard Suzuki / Corbeau Seats backed driver Luke Pinder sealed a fine championship win despite a character building day on the Trackrod International Rally of Yorkshire. The young Yorkshire man and co-driver Peter Scott started the event badly, fighting an unusual handling problem through the first stage until adjustments could be made. With the car sorted Pinder set about reducing the time he had lost. Storming through the 2nd and 3rd stages setting fastest times went some way to his recovery. However on the next stage the engine management light came on and the car lapsed into “safe mode” and Pinder struggled to maintain his pace. Despite the best efforts of his service crew the problem could not be fully resolved and Pinder was resigned to driving to the finish in the hope that the car would last.
As things turned out, both of his championship rivals had also hit problems and the Yorkshire man was able to cruise to his second victory of the year. In taking both the Swift Sport Cup win and the R1 class win on the event, Pinder / Scott sealed overall victory in the Swift Sport Cup and also took the British Rally championship R1 class title. Perhaps more importantly they also secured the Swift Junior Championship and with it a place in the prestigious Pirelli Star Driver final, which in turn could lead to a fully funded top line drive in the 2010 British Rally Championship. The prize for the Swift Sport Cup is a fully supported drive in the IRC Rally of Scotland in November.
“It has been a good year all round” said Pinder, “It is very satisfying that we can prove our pace and consistency through our stage times. Quite often the results don’t tell the full story, the stage times do and I’m very proud of what we have achieved as a team this year."
