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Personal
Name:	Kenny Owen
Age:	** I am 43 in January (19th to be precise)
Marital status:	Think so…I have a wife… does that qualify?
Children:	Three girls - all rally mad
Occupation:	Motorsports organiser international
Place of birth:	Llandovery, second field on the right - baaaaa!
Country or county where you live:	Carmarthenshire UK
Does your spouse / partner like rallying?	She has to! Yes, possibly the best secretary in the country…honest
Any other hobbies?	Women, drinking, music, women, music, drinking ,women…
Your opinions
Favourite food:	Good old fish and chips
Favourite drink:	Any cocktail in the Bora Bora bar in Lisboa, Portugal.
Favourite motorsport paper / magazine:	Dinefwr District Car Club Times
Favourite sports person (other than rallying):	Gianfranco Zola
Favourite film star:	Sean Connery / J-Lo / Halle Berry
Favourite holiday destination:	Anywhere other than UK / Afghanistan!
Which TV sports programmes do you watch?	No time….but sometimes football and of course rallying when I get to see it. Men and Motors is good.
Starting out
How did you start out?	Got out of bed! Silly question? My father was involved with motorsport at club level in the 50s & 60s.
First driver you sat with:	Can’t remember. I think it was Wyn Hughes (Spot) - bloody madman! Good friend though.
First event:	Sarn Helen Road Rally, Division One Welsh Championship
Rallying background
Type of licence held:	National A Stage Rally Driver (International too expensive although held for many years)
Which motor club do you belong to?	Take your pick. My own club is Dinefwr District Car Club.
Do you contribute towards your rallying?	Never, why should I? Sometimes when I can afford to.
Have you ever driven on a rally?	Only 12 cars, won them all, bar 2
Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?	Did I ever? Best training ground for all competitors. Everyone should put something back in to the sport…..please?
How many events do you get to watch? (e.g. per year)	None. Work on them all. Around 30
How many rallies do you take part in? (e.g. per year)	Any offers. As if the offer is there?
Have you competed abroad? Where and when?	Many times. Ypres this year. Good result with Ernie Graham Mk1 Escort BDG
Your opinions (rallying)
Favourite rally car:	6R4 - most excitement anyone can get… apart from a night with J-Lo!
Favourite rally driver:	Ari Vatanen
Favourite rally co-driver:	Me! Scotty perhaps! Seriously though it has to be torn between two. John Brown in his heyday and Nicky Grist. Nicky has taken some stick recently and for no good reason.
Favourite bit of road or forest:	Wales! Simple.
Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?	Both. This is the attraction of rallying - so much diversification. Not like boring old racing!
Things you dislike about rallying?	Too many rules laid down by MSA committees who are generally racing orientated. Scrutineering (not because I do anything dodgy but because of the attitude of some officials, not all, most are true professionals). Would like to hear comments on this?
Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2002?	Colin deserves it, but Marcus is favourite
...... and in 2003?	** Gronholm again perhaps! Watch out for a young Mr Solberg or Mr Martin. They are both going to be World Champions at some time. If I had to put my money down it would be on Petter (bloody nutter!).
Rallying history
Drivers you have sat with:	Most recent: Ernie Graham, Phil Henderson - two natural and professional drivers.
Best driver you have ever sat with?	See above
Best result:	Has to be a road event - the Monmouthshire rally - navigated for a young Peter Tonks from Abergavenny. Phil Mills took over the seat after me, ahhh memories. Collected 7 separate awards that night and 3^rd overall in a Peter Vaughan 1300 Escort. Gear box expired on the way home!
Worst result:	Nut cracker! Certainly was for me. Out cold 80mph plus into hedge bank dead stop…ouch! Don’t remember much! We were leading at the time.
Championships contested:	British Historic this year / Peugeot 1600 / all Welsh championships at one time or another / Safety Devices for numerous years.
Best Championship result:	Welsh 1300 Championship 3^rd 1885 after leading all year. Two accidents put paid to that. Phil Mills finished second, funnily enough with Wynne Jenkins. Where is Wynne?
Best rally memory:	Everyone. Ask me at the bar!
Strangest incident on a rally:	Seeing a UFO…. ok, no giggles…I wasn’t the only one!
Biggest accident:	See worst rally above
Achievements gained from rallying:	Trophies numerous but nothing that stands out.
Your current performance
Your current driver(s) and events or Championships being contested in 2002	Semi retired.. any offers? Ernie Graham, when the seat is available.
.... and in 2003?	** I will be competing in the National Tarmac Championship with Gary Scott in a Vauxhall Corsa and a Ford Puma
How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?	By being out every weekend…please… someone?
How could you improve your current driver’s performance?	Ernie Graham…never..too good
If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do?	** Well the girlfriend has got married and now lives in Holland so I had better stop crying and think of something else? How about......a season ticket at Chelsea FC! It costs about that much!!!!!
Your future in rallying
Where would you most like to compete (in the world):	Closed roads in Wales Anywhere that looks after our sport, Ireland, European countries...Afghanistan sounds good for off-roading!
Which rally would you most like to compete in?	Swedish - don’t really know too many good events around. Portugal rallies are brilliant - pity about crowd trouble
Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for?	Colin McRae / Sebastien Loeb / Gilles Panizzi / ** Petter Solberg
Ambition in rallying for the future:	It’s a secret! Although some people believe that it is in the public domain!
What would you like to put back into rallying?	I put enough back in, thank you.
The future of rallying
Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?	There are so many youngsters that will never be picked. It hurts me to see the way how drivers like Richard Burns are learning their trade. They should do at least two years in the lanes first.
Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend?	Don’ t know - see above.
What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?	Learn your trade at all levels starting with table top rallies and 12 cars. Also constantly entering night road events in Wales and then progress into the woods or tarmac championships. The Welsh Clubman Championship is a good starter!
Any other comments	Who’s buying the beer?
** Kenny's own question	** Would anyone be interested in mixed surface rallying? My answer is that I will organise if enough interest. Email Kielder Computers Ltd to contact me about this.
posted 30/10/02 updated 18/12/02 (items marked **)