Personal

Name:

Janice Hooley

Age:

* 27

Marital status:

Single

Children:

None

Occupation:

Marketing for a food company

Place of birth:

Nottingham

Country or county where you live:

Nottingham, England

Any other hobbies?

Watersports, Horseriding

Your opinions

Favourite food:

Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream

Favourite drink:

* Nice cup of tea

Favourite motor sport paper / magazine:

Rallycodriver

Favourite sports person (other than rallying):

Paula Radcliffe

Favourite film star:

Morgan Freeman

Favourite holiday destination:

Thailand

Which TV sports programmes do you watch?

Olympics when they are on

Starting out

How did you start out?

I was lucky enough to see Penny Mallory speak at a conference about rallying & I always thought being a woman I would have no hope – she gave me the confidence to have a go at it. I then posted on the British Rally forum.  It was suggested I marshaled an event. When I was marshaling I asked loads of questions and 2 days later I was rushing my licence through to compete on an event that weekend!!  I managed to borrow helmets / racesuit, etc. from club members! I have even been under hypnosis to keep me focused whilst competing and to help me eat during events.

First driver you sat with: 

Paul Rees

First event:

Hixon Airfield, March 2003. We came 1^st in class

Rallying background

Type of licence held:

* International

Which motor club do you belong to?

Dukeries

Do you contribute towards your rallying?

Yes

Have you ever driven on a rally?

Does a rallyschool count? I had a day driving with David Higgins in the co-driving seat and this was amazing!  He had to pull the handbrake for me as I wasn’t strong enough!

Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?

Yes, club stage events around the East Midlands and the odd road rally

How many events do you get to watch? (e.g. per year)

Hardly any. * I have seen about 5 events so far in 2005

How many rallies do you take part in? (e.g. per year)

20 in 2004

Have you competed abroad? Where and when?

Not yet, I had a chance to compete in Catalunya this year but it was too early in my career.

Your opinions (rallying)

Favourite rally car:

Peugeot 206

Favourite rally driver:

Richard Burns

Favourite rally co-driver:

* Scott Martin, he is sitting in one of ‘the’ most high profile co-driving seats in British rallying with probably the most amount of pressure. I am sure I could learn so much from him.

Favourite bit of road or forest:

* I love the Irish and Isle of Man roads

Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?

Map reading as it is more of a challenge for a co-driver but I am best on notes and I believe we can go quicker, especially if the driver had made his own.

Things you dislike about rallying?

Toilets – or lack of them. On my first forest event I made a driver stop off at the local Tesco on a road section! 

Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2004?

I would love Solberg to win

...and in 2005?

err, Solberg

Rallying history

Drivers you have sat with:

Alex Evans, Dorian Rees, Stuart Cheape, Simon Moore, Stephen Blackham, Marcus Tett, Marcus Fuller, Vicki Price, Andy Stevens, Paul Rees and David Higgins

Best driver you have ever sat with? 

* That’s a difficult one! David Higgins, Dorian Rees, Ashley Field and Simon Moore are all very good at certain things

Best result:

* 3 Top 10 fastest stage times on the 2005 Roush Manx in a non-WR spec car. We were also 4th overall on the 2005 West Cork Rally but retired on day 2.

Worst result:

* Having a puncture and then rolling the rally car on the 2005 Pirelli. We were leading the championship until then.

Championships contested:

* 1.9 205 Scholarship 2005, MSA National Tarmac Championship 2005, Heart of England Championship 2004

Best Championship result:

Winning the Ladies' Championship 2004 and finishing 2^nd in Class

Best rally memory:

Winning Spirit of the Rally award 5 days after my first roll.  This was a huge achievement

Strangest incident on a rally:

See dislikes in rallying

Biggest accident:

Rolling whilst testing, driver flew out of the driver's window!

Achievements gained from rallying:

Having fun whilst doing something I love. 

Your current performance

Your current driver(s) and events or Championships contested in 2004

Vicki Price who has recently won the under 21s, in the Heart of England Championship

... and in 2005

Alex Evans in the 1.9 205 Scholarship and Ashley Field in his Darrian T90 on the MSA National Asphalt Championship

How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?

I prefer to have an in-car camera to learn from. I always ask the driver for feedback and I speak to fellow co-drivers for advice. * If there are any co-driver training courses please contact me, I am always willing to learn something new!

How could you improve your current driver’s performance?

Try to understand them 100%.

If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do? 

Set up a co-driving school and write a book

Your future in rallying

Where would you most like to compete (in the world):

* Sweden would be excellent

Which rally would you most like to compete in?

* Manx again! Or any World Rally event.

Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for?

Matthew Wilson / Petter Solberg

Ambition in rallying for the future:

To compete in the WRC by 2007

What would you like to put back into rallying?

I would love to give up my job completely and work full time on anything rallying.

Ideally I would like to help co-drivers get the most out of rallying.

The future of rallying

Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?

Alex Evans * & James Wozencroft

Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend?

* Janice Hooley, Richard Edwards, Scot Martin, Gemma Price, Rob Fagg and Shelley Rogerson. There are so many committed co-drivers out there, it’s quite difficult to chose just one!

What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?

You don’t need a pot of gold to do something you love!

Any other comments?

* Visit my website for more information: ww.janicehooley.com or contact me via email@janicehooley.com

posted 2/2/05
updated 5/7/05 (items marked *)