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Exclusive Interview with
Top British Co-driver and Driver
Richard Ceen
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| Personal | |
| Name: | RICHARD CEEN |
| Age: | 46 |
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Technical Director of small international Marine IT and control systems company |
| Place of birth: | London |
| Country or county where you live: | North Wales |
| Does your spouse / partner like rallying? | No |
| Any other hobbies? | Scuba-diving, Far-Eastern style cooking, cycling, travel |
| Your opinions | |
| Favourite food: | Indian / Thai / Japanese-style dishes |
| Favourite drink: | Real ale |
| Favourite motorsport paper / magazine: | Motoring News |
| Favourite film star: | Jodie Foster |
| Favourite holiday destination: | Italy or Canada (West Coast) |
| Which TV sports programmes do you watch? | The very few that actually feature motorsport! |
| Starting out | |
| How did you start out? | As a driver building my own cars in the 70s and 80s. After some success in Hillman Imps, I developed a Clan Crusader with which I won my class in the Castrol Autosport National series in 1980 |
| First driver you sat with: | Roland Williams in 1979 Bob Ceen in 1994 |
| First event: | As a driver - Gwynedd Rally 1973 As a co-driver - Woodpecker 1994 |
| Rallying background | |
| Type of licence held: | International Rally |
| Which motor club do you belong to? | Caernarfon & Anglesey |
| Do you contribute towards your rallying? | No |
| Have you ever driven on a rally? | Yes, as a driver building my own cars in the 70s and 80s |
| Did you ever marshal on events? When and where? | Fairly often - last time was the Manx 98, after retiring with Adam Kent |
| How many events do you get to watch? (eg. per year) | 5 or 6 and always the Rally GB |
| How many rallies do you take part in? (eg. per year) | 6 - 8, mainly internationals |
| Have you competed abroad? Where and when? | Not yet |
| Your opinions on rallying | |
| Favourite rally car: | Focus WRC |
| Favourite rally driver: | Gwyndaf Evans |
| Favourite rally co-driver: | Andy Bull |
| Favourite bit of road or forest: | Dyfi-Gartheiniog |
| Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events? | Pace notes are ultimately faster |
| Things you dislike about rallying? | Arbitrary inconsistencies in the application of rules, regulations and policies by some authorities, from the MSA down. |
| Who do you think will win this year's World Rally Championship? | My money is on Richard Burns |
| Rallying history | |
| Drivers you have sat with: | Bob Ceen, Jason Sharpe, Adam Kent, amongst others |
| Best driver you have ever sat with? | Difficult to say - they have all been brilliant in different ways |
| Best result: | RAC 1996 - the certainty of
a top-20 finish, before going off 4 stages from the end BRC 1998 - top independent co-driver, behind Trevor Agnew |
| Worst result: | Manx 1998 - the frustration of retiring with a broken gearbox after a stunning driver over only 6 stages, reaching 13th overall |
| Championships contested: | British Rally Championship 1997 - 2000 |
| Best Championship result: | BRC 1998 - top independent co-driver, behind Trevor Agnew |
| Best rally memory: | Arriving at the flying finish of the last stage of the Kerridge as best Gp N, 1998 |
| Strangest incident on a rally: | Swapping ends while flat in top in Pantperthog while driving a Clan Crusader and still staying on the road! |
| Biggest accident: | Going off sideways with a blown engine in Gartheiniog 1996, stopping dead against a tree on my side of a Mazda Gp A from 50 mph - I could see double for at least half an hour! |
| Your current performance | |
| How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance? | By spending more time with the team before and preparing for events - practice makes for a slick team |
| How could you improve your current driver's performance? | No current driver at the moment but - a decent Group A preparation package plus a budget would go a long way with my last driver! |
| If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do? | It would be difficult to resist the temptation to drive myself again in the BRC next year in Gp A8 but I can think of several really talented young drivers who would benefit from such a package to make the mark towards personal, if not professional, success. |
| Your future in rallying | |
| Where would you most like to compete (in the world): | Any of the WRC series, especially the Asia-Pacific rounds |
| Which rally would you most like to compete in? | Hokkaido Rally, Neste Rally or San Remo |
| Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for? | There are several - too many to mention! |
| Ambition in rallying for the future: | To move up to WRC events and to use my overseas experience in co-driving outside the UK or for an overseas driver in the UK |
| What would you like to put back into rallying? | To assist a really talented young driver to achieve success at a professional level |
| The future of rallying | |
| Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend? | Mark Perrott |
| Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend? | Jayson Brown |
| What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers? | The on-the-stage performance has to be faultless but, with an amateur team, quietly getting the man-management and team logistics skills right is really just as important. |
| Richard is a registered member of rallycodriver.co.uk.
If you could use his help to further your rallying career, register with us and we'll put you in touch. |
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| Return to Top Co-drivers for even more exclusive interviews |
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