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Personal
Name:	Carl Williamson
Age:	** 30
Marital status:	Married
Children:	** Had another daughter on 14th December 2002 - so 2 girls now - outnumbered!
Occupation:	** Media
Place of birth:	Swansea, S Wales
Country or county where you live:	Back now in S Wales
Does your spouse / partner like rallying?	Erm….she now tolerates it
Any other hobbies?	I wish I had the time……always rallying
Your opinions
Favourite food:	Steak, steak and more steak
Favourite drink:	A nice cup of tea
Favourite motorsport paper / magazine:	Has always been Motorsport News, but the websites are becoming the better source of relevant news now.
Favourite sports person (other than rallying):	I also like golf, and Ian Woosnam carries the Welsh Flag
Favourite film star:	Norman Wisdom
Favourite holiday destination:	Holiday? I got married in Cancun, Mexico and that has to be my most memorable I suppose
Which TV sports programmes do you watch?	The new coverage on S4C of the WRC is excellent and will only get better and better.
Starting out
How did you start out?	My brother in 1993 on the Cilwendeg in a Mk2 1600cc Escort My cousin taught me how to plot a 6-figure map reference and I haven’t looked back.
First driver you sat with:	My brother John Williamson
First event:	Oops – see above
Rallying background
Type of licence held:	International
Which motor club do you belong to?	Clwyd Vale MC, Broughton & Bretton MC, Amman & District MC
Do you contribute towards your rallying?	No, because I am out literally every weekend, it costs me a fortune in expenses anyway.
Have you ever driven on a rally?	Once, a novice road rally – the navigator was awful Ha ha - only joking, Darren!
Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?	Only once or twice, but a big thank you to all those who marshal regularly and make my sport possible
How many events do you get to watch? (e.g. per year)	1 or 2 if I’m lucky – but I hate watching, because I wonder why I’m not doing it myself
How many rallies do you take part in? (e.g. per year)	Approx. 50
Have you competed abroad? Where and when?	Belgium, France, and England (joke)
Your opinions (rallying)
Favourite rally car:	Opel Manta 400 – nothing seems to breathe fire quite like it
Favourite rally driver:	So many – John Bloxham, Pentti Airikala, Roger Clark More currently, I suppose Richard Burns
Favourite rally co-driver:	Luis Moya and Nicky Grist (am I allowed two?)
Favourite bit of road or forest:	Epynt, where angels fear to tread
Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?	Notes should be because of the accuracy but, as a navigator, I have to say maps because of the satisfaction of drivers telling you it felt like notes if read correctly. Not always the case, mind!
Things you dislike about rallying?	Costs and lack of support for struggling clubmen
Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2002?	Burns again of course!
... and in 2003?	** Burns , but I'll be looking out for our team mate Mikko Hirvonen.
Rallying history
Drivers you have sat with:	Oh dear, too many to list really, I’m a bit of a rally-tart!
Best driver you have ever sat with?	Hmmmm, again, too many to list
Best result:	Winning the 1999 Rali Bro Caron road rally against all the local ‘hot-shots’. Stage event - would have to be 2^nd overall on 2002 Red-Kite Stages ** 17th overall on 2002 NetworkQ
Worst result:	Every non-finish
Championships contested:	Welsh Road Rally ANWCC road rally AWMMC road rally BTRDA Welsh National rally Welsh Clubmans Peugeot Super 106 Welsh Tarmacadam All of the above on a regular basis ** BRC for 2003 and the Italian Subaru Cup
Best Championship result:	1999 Welsh road rally champion ** Welsh road rally champ in 2002
Best rally memory:	I started road rallying at the height of plot ‘n’ bash and I remember it ‘clicking’ one night on the Suzanne Crawley – my brother and I started car 66 or something and finished the event about 11^th on the road because I plotted it all flat out on the move. Some astounded Expert faces as us novices passed them!
Strangest incident on a rally:	Probably the one above
Biggest accident:	I’ve had many rolls and crashes, but with the amount of events I do the odds are against me getting away without a few. None really stand out though.
Achievements gained from rallying:	Friends I have made.
Your current performance
Your current driver(s) and events or Championships being contested in 2002	Still tying up some deals for the 206 Super Cup – hopefully Howard Price on the Road Rally Championships John Morgan on selected events Gareth ‘Gog’ Jones on selected events
... and in 2003?	** BRC with Jari-Matti Latvala in works Focus - also selected rounds of the WRC in the Focus Italian Subaru Cup with Latvala and various other events throughout the year.
How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?	I always want to improve. Organisation is probably the biggest thing.
How could you improve your current driver’s performance?	** To be honest, Jari-Matti is such a natural talent at only 17 he amazes me every time we get in the car. The scary thing is that he'll keep on learning and improving, the future looks very bright for him indeed.
If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do?	** I've become more and more disillusioned with the lack of money out there for struggling talent - I'd set up some kind of fund for a Welsh team.
Your future in rallying
Where would you most like to compete (in the world):	All over the world – but USA looks good at the moment.
Which rally would you most like to compete in?	Australia and Kenya I also would like to do some of the Endurance Cape to Cape sort of rallies. The more challenging, the better really
Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for?	** I'm already co-driving for him!
Ambition in rallying for the future:	** I've exceeded my ambitions to now - taking it one day at a time now and see where it goes.
What would you like to put back into rallying?	I’ve never had any encouragement from other competitors when I started out – it’s very difficult if you don’t know anybody already in the sport. Hopefully rallying is getting more exposure now and things are a little easier, but I’d like to help young (well, younger than me) navigators into the sport. The kind of help I never had.
The future of rallying
Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?	Dorian Rees, very impressive!
Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend?	Apart from me? A young girl from Anglesey called Gwawr Hughes – watch out, the lads!
What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?	Get out as much as possible! Practice should make perfect.
posted 17/4/02 updated 17/1/03 (items marked **)