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Personal
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Name:
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BOBBY WILLIS
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Age:
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45 |
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Marital status:
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Single |
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Children:
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Simon (13) and Deborah (12) |
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Occupation:
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Co-driver |
| Place of birth: |
Hong Kong |
| Country or county where you live: |
Northern Ireland |
| Does your spouse / partner like rallying? |
Yes |
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Any other hobbies?
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Shooting, Golf |
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Your opinions
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Favourite food:
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Roast lamb |
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Favourite drink:
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Singapore Sling and water (in separate
glasses) |
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Favourite motorsport paper / magazine:
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Rallysport, Daily Telegraph |
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Favourite sports person (other than rallying):
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Frank Bruno / Andre Agassi |
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Favourite film star:
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Norman Wisdom / Clint Eastwood |
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Favourite holiday destination:
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? |
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Which TV sports programmes do you watch?
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News and motorsport |
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Starting out
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How did you start out?
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Father used to drive when in the army.
Took me to see the Circuit of Ireland in late 60s. Interest rekindled
when I came across a navigation rally in mid 70s |
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First event:
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Jeff Chandler in navigation rallies from
1972. Belfast, Bangor and Newtown Motor Club rallies from 1975.
First International with Clifford Davis in 1977 in a Mark 1 Escort
- Circuit of Ireland |
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Rallying background
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Type of licence held:
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International
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Which motor club do you belong to?
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UAC |
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Do you contribute towards your rallying?
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No |
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Have you ever driven on a rally?
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No |
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Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?
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Yes, I'm sorry to admit that the last
time I marshalled was in the 80s |
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How many events do you get to watch? (eg. per year)
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Very few |
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How many rallies do you take part in? (eg. per year)
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Approx. 10 |
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Have you competed abroad? Where and when?
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UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Dakar
Rally and associated countries. Yugoslavia, Spain, France, Czech
Republic, Finland, Sweden, Australia |
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Your opinions on rallying
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Favourite rally car:
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Alpine Renault |
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Favourite rally driver:
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Juha Kankkunen / Ari Vatanen |
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Favourite rally co-driver:
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Luis Moya |
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Favourite bit of road or forest:
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Tim Healey pass |
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Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?
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Pace notes |
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Things you dislike about rallying?
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The change in rallying (it
had to happen) - events used to be really tough!!! |
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Who do you think will win this year's World Rally Championship?
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Richard Burns
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Rallying history
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Drivers you have sat with:
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Sundstrom, Martin Ericsson,
John Haugland, Abdullah Bakhashab, Alan Johnston, Jean-Louis Schlesser
and many more |
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Best driver you have ever sat with?
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Jean-Louis Schlesser - Dakar
'95 |
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Best result:
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6th overall Acropolis 2000 |
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Worst result:
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Retiring from 1990 Monte
Carlo after recceing for 3 weeks - only completed 2.36 km before crashing! |
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Championships contested:
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British and Irish Championships
1980 - 86
Middle East 1992 - 97
World Rally Championship 2000 |
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Best Championship result:
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Middle East 1995 - Driver
won championship |
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Best rally memory:
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Winning a stage in Dakar
1995 |
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Strangest incident on a rally:
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Being threatened at gunpoint
and forced to retire from the 1990 Gunaydin Rally, Turkey |
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Biggest accident:
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There have been a few -
This year's Portugal was fairly bad but 1996 Abu Dhabi was probably
the worst when we hit a hidden sand dune whilst flat in 6th......... |
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Your current performance
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How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?
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Get fitter (difficult)
Lose weight (seems impossible) |
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If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do?
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Support an 'unknown' co-driver.
Perhaps fund an updated 'British Junior Rally Team', with whom I competed
in 1983 |
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Your future in rallying
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Where would you most like to compete (in the world):
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America and Asia Pacific |
| Which rally would you most
like to compete in? |
Safari |
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Ambition in rallying for the future:
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Compete on all rounds of
the World Rally Championship. Then compete on all Raid Rallies |
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What would you like to put back into rallying?
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The same as if I had £50,000
to spend! |
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The future of rallying
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Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?
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Rory Galligan |
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Which up-and-coming rally
co-driver can you recommend?
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Michael Orr, Michael Gibson,
Michael Park |
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What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?
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Try as hard as possible
to gain experience abroad. Do as many events as you can. |
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posted 21/6/00
updated 19/11/02
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