Name:

Mike Panes

Age:

41

Marital status:

Separated

Children:

No

Occupation:

Civil Engineer

Place of birth:

Edinburgh

Country or county where you live:

Swansea

Does your spouse / partner like rallying?

Doesn’t matter

Any other hobbies?

Football, squash, skiing, good food and wine 

Favourite food:

As long as it’s good, I’ve no favourites but lentil soup rates highly

Favourite drink:

A very nice Chianti I can only get when I visit my brother in Italy (and I can’t remember the name of it!) but any good wine

Favourite motorsport paper / magazine:

Motorsport News

Favourite sports person (other than rallying):

Ellen McArthur – dedication, commitment and big balls

Favourite film star:

Don’t watch many films but Sigourney Weaver’s got to be there somewhere

Favourite holiday destination:

Canada - Skiing

Which TV sports programmes do you watch?

If 2 flies were kicking a ball on TV, I’d watch it. I draw the line at golf and cricket though. 

How did you start out?

First few events were driving, unsuccessfully. As I guess every one does, I was going to win my first rally….. After some expensive accidents and mechanical mishaps, the thought of someone else paying the bills was much more appealing. 

First driver you sat with: 

Gareth Davies who was a bit of a hero in my local motor club.

First event:

The Nutcracker Stages which was based in Glasfynydd. The forest used to be used for the RAC but hasn’t been used for many years. We were 4^th overall, which wasn’t bad for my first attempt at reading maps in the woods. That ‘success’ fuelled my enthusiasm and certainly put any plans of further driving on hold.

Type of licence held:

International

Which motor club do you belong to?

Amman and District Motor Club

Do you contribute towards your rallying?

Other than time, no 

Have you ever driven on a rally?

See above, all very unsuccessful, including a big accident on the infamous Devil's Leap on Eppynt.

Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?

Yes, regularly, if I’m not competing or helping out with other teams. I’ve had a pretty hectic programme over the last few years so it’s not as often as it used to be, but if I’ve got a spare weekend, I’m usually marshalling somewhere in South Wales. The motor club I’m a member of is a big marshalling club which has won the WAMC Marshals Award 6 times over the last 7 years. 

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

Not too many.

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

I had 26 scheduled for this year before foot and mouth intervened

Have you competed abroad? Where and when?

Yes, France, Belgium and Ireland. Hopefully, I’ll be competing in the Spanish Championship next year. One of the drivers I compete with has business interests there, so is looking at the Spanish Championship as a marketing opportunity. 

Favourite rally car:

Peugeot 206

Favourite rally driver:

Ari Vatanen

Favourite rally co-driver:

Fabrizia Pons (wonderful accent)

Favourite bit of road or forest:

Molls Gap / Healy Pass and Rheola

Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?

Maps – there’s more skill involved reading them when you’re being bounced about in a rally car but well written notes and a good driver / note relationship is hard to beat when it comes to 100% commitment

Things you dislike about rallying?

Cheating. 

Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2001?

I’d like to think Colin McRae will win it but he’s got a big hill (not a mountain yet) to climb before he gets there.

Drivers you have sat with:

A lot!

Paul Alexander
Dai Bevan
Gareth Davies
Jane Edgington
Bob Fowden
Gareth Griffiths
Bill Gwynne
Anthony James
Steve Jones
John G Morgan
John Morgan
Phil Morgan
Simon Mauger
Frank O’Connell
Leon Pesticcio
John Price
Sabrina Shaw
Malcom Walters
Alun Williams
Apologies to those I’ve missed

Best driver you have ever sat with? 

Smoothest driver; Bill Gwynne.
Bob Fowden pushing John Price after we broke a half shaft on Epynt was impressive too.

Best result:

Winning the KA round in Flanders. Not the highest placed but definitely the best result – won by 1.1 seconds 

Worst result:

Me driving, crashed on the first stage on Epynt about 400 m after the start! 

Championships contested:

Motoring News, Safety Devices, Welsh Tarmac, Welsh National, Ford KA, Peugeot 106, Ford Puma, Oasis.Shop.com, Formula Rally 

Best Championship result:

Won class in Motoring News 4 years in succession.  
Also 5^th overall in Championship in 1993 in a 1300cc Nova.
Won Welsh National Championship Class 1999. 
Won Ford Puma 2000 

Best rally memory:

Lots of them but probably meeting the many friends I’ve made through the sport.

The girl washing the windscreen for us on this year's Wirrall was a good one, too (memory)…….. nice bikini top! 

Strangest incident on a rally:

Meeting a tractor on a stage in West Cork about 15 years ago. Caused a few missed heartbeats. 

Biggest accident:

I’ve had a few of those but probably hitting a bank whilst flat in fifth in Wexford in 1994. The car broke sideways just as we entered the corner and hit the bank side on. I cracked my crash helmet on the driver's helmet which gives an indication of the severity of the impact. As we were running at 30 second intervals, I jumped out to slow the following car down, and ran down the road the wrong way.  Enough said!

Achievements gained from rallying:

Made lots of friends, and had many experiences I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to gain in other forms of sport and visited many places I wouldn’t have under normal ‘holiday’ situations.

Team work approaches. throughout my rally career, has helped develop a more integrated approach to many of my ‘day job’ problems.

Your current driver(s) and events or Championships being contested in 2001 

Paul Alexander, Peugeot 106 Super Cup / Formula Rally

Gareth Griffiths, Safety Devices and Oasis.Shop.com

How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance?

Give up my day job and do all the necessary paperwork such as service schedules during the day rather than fitting them in around a social life. 

How could you improve your current driver’s performance?

I’m sitting with two relatively inexperienced drivers, despite their ages, so improving performance is always high on the agenda.

Communicating my own experiences in a way which will benefit the driver isn’t always easy (try telling Gareth ‘L4 over crest’ in Millbrook is ‘flat’ when he’s never been there before, never mind in a WRC Escort), so driver / co-driver understanding needs to be good.

Paul and I have a great ‘in car’ relationship.  He does what I tell him on stages and, so far, it’s worked well.

Having a respect for each other's discipline is paramount to the relationship between driver and co-driver. As that respect improves, so too does the confidence in each other's ability and, from that, there’s opportunity for improvement.

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

I’d put it toward getting closed roads in Wales.

I learned all my basic co-driving skills on night events, mostly in Wales. There’s a wealth of roads, which could be used for stage rallying and many areas would have support from local economies.  Just look at the money coming into Duns from the Jim Clark rally.  How many small towns could afford to throw away that sort of potential income? (That’s the moral answer)

The real answer is throw it at Paul Alexander and go for a Super 1600cc drive next year.

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

Italy, they’re motor sport mad there.

Which rally would you most like to compete in?

Either Corsica or Kenya

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

Colin McRae, Paul Alexander on an unrestricted budget and Kris Meeke, the guy’s going places! 

Ambition in rallying for the future:

Win the 2001 Peugeot Super 106 Cup and have a good shot at Formula Rally Title the year after. 

What would you like to put back into rallying?

I currently put back a lot. I marshal when I have weekends free and, until recently, was a committee member of Amman and District MC. 

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

Kris Meeke.  His performance on Wirrall was very impressive. If he can keep that up and get the right management package, he’ll be a works driver in 4 or 5 years, vying for a title shot. 

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

Got to be somebody in the 106 Cup. As well as top drivers, the nature of the competition produces top co-drivers. Without a good co-driver, a driver is disadvantaged.

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

If you’re not sure, ask. More experienced co-drivers are usually very helpful, providing you’re not asking at a crucial time during a rally. 

In motorsport, few opportunities come your way.  If you’re looking for a career at it, speak to those with the experience, listen and learn. Don’t worry too much about sitting with one driver.  If there are greater opportunities to gain experience elsewhere they’ll understand your situation and will support your new experiences, particularly as they can gain from them as well as you.