Lancashire rallyman, Daniel Boardman, is thrilled with his first ever class win (class N1) following the RBS International Manx Rally this weekend.
Not only is this his first class win, but this was his first ever tarmac rally, the first time he had competed in the newly built Suzuki Swift rally car, and also his first time alongside Manx local co-driver Gina Shelly.
Dan now plans to enter the Manx International rally in July this year, a 3 day event, and based upon this weekend’s performance, we can expect yet more exciting first class results.
Dan started the rally as car 91 (seeded highest in class N1), in a Suzuki Swift 1300 GTi, and finished the event in a very respectable 51st position and was even faster than Harry Dodd driving a £300,000 world rally car on some stages who finished 49th and the Dorset Police backed 300bhp Subaru which finished 56th overall. “We entered in the standard Suzuki Swift as it is a relatively cheap car to run and to gain some tarmac experience. Despite being in one of the slowest and most standard cars in the rally and that I had never made my own pace notes or competed in night stages we managed to beat several 4wd rally cars which produce around 3 times the power. I made a rather spectacular start to the event, spinning near the start of both the first and second stages, much to spectators’ delight, but then soon settled into the event. We broke an engine mount at the end of the first nights stages, which a fellow Fiesta competitor helped me fix, at which point we were lying some 3 minutes ahead in the class. I am ecstatic with my results as it was the first time I had ever driven on roads like this, to beat local crews in much higher powered machinery is just about the best credibility I can get. I hope it proves to everybody that I have the all round skills, passion and talent needed to take my career to the top!” says the TVR Design Engineer.
A week prior to the event Daniel and co-driver Gina had made their own pace notes for the event. It was the first time Daniel had made his own notes but despite the first stage being over cautious the rest of the stages were spot on and Gina did a great job to get the team back in 1st place. “It was a great result and I enjoyed the rally” she said.
The RBS International Manx Rally covered a total of 14 stages (120 competitive miles) on closed public roads through high streets, hills and countryside, returning to the famous TT grandstand in Douglas for a high profile finish. The event included one of the longest stages in Europe some 21miles long.
“The Manx island roads are extremely technical yet rewarding with open fast and flowing A roads which turn off on to the narrowest of B roads (or rat runs) across fords and “hairy” big jumps with wonderful scenery. It’s one of the only events, which I can drive on the same stages as all the World Champions have done in the past. Although I have done a few rallies now I had only competed on gravel so it was a good opportunity to practice a less sideways driving style. The car is a lot different to the Fiesta ST but I gained valuable experience, I am hoping for some good results to set the scene for the two tarmac rounds of the Fiesta SportingTrophy later on this year” says Dan.
“It’s a great event to watch too as there is good access to all the stages and there were thousands of rally fans to lend their support. I’d like to say a special thank you to John Kneen who prepared the car, and also thank all my sponsors for their support so far and including, C.B. Horne, EBC brakes, Rossall School, Lancashire Salvage and Total Fitness who help me keep physically fit, which is an extremely important part of being a professional driver. Koni, Sportsline, Leda and Bilstein, Silverstone Tyres, Luke and Corbau also sponsored Daniel which helped with the overall build of the Suzuki Swift rally car. Without the sponsors help I would not be rallying. Thanks has to go to the organisers and marshals who did an outstanding job to make the event run safely and smoothly. I will defiantly be back soon.
“This event was part of my plan to gain much-needed tarmac experience and now I feel I have more than proven my potential on tarmac” said Dan. Dan’s gravel experience is only slightly greater, having competed in just a handful of forest rallies. However his potential on gravel has also been proven in the Ford Fiesta championship, finishing 8th out of 24 seasoned rally professionals, with a number of top 4 stage-times on the first round, which was the Malcolm Wilson in March.
Daniel is now beginning to gain the recognition he deserves for his rally driving talent, and has ambitious plans to contest the British Championship within 3 years’ time.