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Personal
Name:	Marc Jones
Age:	25
Marital status:	Living with girlfriend
Children:	None
Occupation:	Crash Safety Engineer for Ford Motor Company
Place of birth:	Swansea
Country or county where you live:	Essex
Does your spouse / partner like rallying?	She supports me, but had a bad experience with the cold and rain in Rhondda and hasn’t been out watching since!
Any other hobbies?	All kind of sport, especially rugby.
Your opinions
Favourite food:	Seafood
Favourite drink:	Budweiser
Favourite motorsport paper / magazine:	Motorsport News, CAR magazine
Favourite sports person (other than rallying):	Jonathan Davies
Favourite film star:	Al Pacino
Favourite holiday destination:	USA
Which TV sports programmes do you watch?	Virtually every one!
Starting out
How did you start out?	My father used to be involved in rallying, so when I was old enough went down to the local motor club and was instantly hooked.
First driver you sat with:	Andrew Blackburn
First event:	Valley Services Road Rally 1995
Rallying background
Type of licence held:	International
Which motor club do you belong to?	HRCR
Do you contribute towards your rallying?	Yes
Have you ever driven on a rally?	No and judging by my road car accident record probably best not to!
Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?	Used to marshal on road rallies, but now struggling to find time.
How many events do you get to watch? (e.g. per year)	1-2
How many rallies do you take part in? (e.g. per year)	On average, about 15
Have you competed abroad? Where and when?	Ireland several times since 1998 Belgium 1999,2000,2001 France 1999
Your opinions (rallying)
Favourite rally car:	Escort Mk2
Favourite rally driver:	Sebastian Loeb
Favourite rally co-driver:	Phil Mills – has come through the ranks of road rallying to win a WRC event.
Favourite bit of road or forest:	Nant-y-Moch Reservoir
Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?	Map reading is obviously satisfying when you get it right, but it is also satisfying writing notes that read well on the rally.
Things you dislike about rallying?	The amount of financial backing required to compete at WRC level.
Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2003?	Marcus Gronholm. He is in a class of his own at the moment.
Rallying history
Drivers you have sat with:	Road Rallying: Andrew Blackburn, Emyr ‘TR’ Jones, Adrian ‘Penrallt-Wen’ Davies, Alan Gaunt, Huw ‘Jopa’ Evans, Adrian ‘Fonz’ Evans, Aled Davies, Gareth Owens Stage Rallying: John ‘Henllan’ Evans, Charles ‘Bodge’ Hodge, Dylan Thomas, Simon ‘Bomber’ Harris, Nigel Davies, Clive Davies, Phil ‘Promax’ Morgan, Rob Swann, Mick Harris, Leon Pesticcio, Dafydd Larcombe, Andrew Pawley, Rob Russell, Bob Fowden, Mel Evans, Ray Bellm
Best driver you have ever sat with?	Mel Evans and Dafydd Larcombe.
Best result:	1st Overall Bro Dyfi Road Rally 1999 2nd Overall West Cork 2003
Worst result:	Somerset Stages 2000, retired about 200yds into the 1st stage!
Championships contested:	Welsh road rally BTRDA ANCRO Ford KA Peugeot 106/206 Safety Devices MSA Historic Get-Connected
Best Championship result:	Haven’t really contested a championship fully enough to gain a result, although have led my class on a few of them.
Best rally memory:	Leaving the start ramp as car 1 in an Impreza WRC on the 25th anniversary of West Cork this year.
Strangest incident on a rally:	Road Rallying: In my early years, we were trying to find a control in a field when I saw a light. We tried to catch the light but it kept going away from us. Eventually realised it was our light reflecting off the eyes of a sheep! Stage Rallying: Super special in Cardiff on the Network Q 2000, the car we were up against took a wrong turn and we ended up right behind it, and eventually side by side over one of the jumps! I believe he was excluded!!
Biggest accident:	Fortunately I haven’t really had a major accident. Although I always wear the crotch strap a little looser following a head on crash in a KA!!
Achievements gained from rallying:	Plenty of friends and also plenty of stories!!
Your current performance
Your current driver(s) and events or Championships being contested in 2003	Get-Connected with Mel Evans in a Subaru WRC MSA British Historic Championship with Ray Bellm in a Mk1 Escort. Any thing else that comes along…?
How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?	I could always be fitter, but would also like more experience of World/European championship events
How could you improve your current driver’s performance?	Mel has surprised me with his immediate pace in the new car, although I’m sure he will get quicker once he spends more time behind the wheel. Ray has the natural car control from his racing experience, just needs to compete in more rallies to adjust his style to rallying.
If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do?	Put it towards competing in WRC/ERC events.
Your future in rallying
Where would you most like to compete (in the world):	Australia or New Zealand would be nice.
Which rally would you most like to compete in?	Monte Carlo
Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for?	Sebastian Loeb
Ambition in rallying for the future:	Compete in further World championship and European events, but mainly to just keep enjoying it.
What would you like to put back into rallying?	When I first started off, I received excellent advice from several local experienced co-drivers (and still do!). As I get more experienced, I would also like to share that advice with new co-drivers.
The future of rallying
Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?	Gareth Jones
Which up-and-coming rally co-drivers can you recommend?	Daniel Maclachlan, Mark Crisp, Dorian Davies
What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?	Ask as much advice as possible from the experienced co-drivers. Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail (I know it’s a little clichéd, but it’s so true!)
posted 19/4/03