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Exclusive Interview with Top
British Co-driver
Stewart Merry
|
Stewart Merry co-drives for Barry Johnson in the Scottish and British Rally Championships 2003 Stewart's news (updated 19/12/03)
updated 4/1/03 (items marked
**) |
|
| Personal | |
| Name: | Stewart Merry |
| Age: | 39 |
| Marital status: | Married to Eleanor |
| Children: | Definitely not |
| Occupation: | Accountant |
| Place of birth: | Leicester |
| Country or county where you live: | Jersey, Channel Islands |
| Does your spouse / partner like rallying? | Yes – former navigator who probably likes rallying more than me |
| Any other hobbies? | Travelling and reading |
| Your opinions | |
| Favourite food: | Chicken or steak |
| Favourite drink: | Chardonnay or Shiraz |
| Favourite motorsport paper / magazine: | Motoring News or Rally XS |
| Favourite sports person (other than rallying): | Anyone who is good at what they do |
| Favourite film star: | Harrison Ford or Julia Roberts |
| Favourite holiday destination: | ** After visiting in 2002 now New Zealand |
| Which TV sports programmes do you watch? | None – too much football |
| Starting out | |
| How did you start out? | Navigating for my father on road rallies when I was 13 |
| First driver you sat with: | My father |
| First event: | Road rally - Moonbeam 1977
with my father in a Vauxhall Viva
Stage rally – Ecosse Stages 1980 with David Scott in a 1300 Mk II Escort |
| Rallying background | |
| Type of licence held: | International rally |
| Which motor club do you belong to? | Various |
| Do you contribute towards your rallying? | Yes – always have done |
| Have you ever driven on a rally? | Yes – but only road rallies |
| Did you ever marshal on events? When and where? | Yes – too many times to
list
Also Clerk of the Course for a number of road rallies for Lanarkshire Car Club in 1980s |
| How many events do you get to watch? (eg. per year) | Usually 3 or 4 a year |
| How many rallies do you take part in? (eg. per year) | Varies but average lately has
been 6 or 7 a year – with exception of none last year when I was
working in the Cayman Islands
** 2002 = 13 |
| Have you competed abroad? Where and when? | 1990 Haspengouw and 1991Ypres ** 2002 Rotorua Rally in New Zealand *** 2003 Bohemia Rally Czech Republic 2003 Rally Finland 2003 Ojibwe Rally USA But want to do much much more |
| Your opinions (rallying) | |
| Favourite rally car: | Subaru Impreza or Mk II road rally Escort |
| Favourite rally driver: | Colin McRae – for his speed and attacking style |
| Favourite rally co-driver: | No one in particular – although many have become friends over the years |
| Favourite bit of road or forest: | Forest - Dyfi and Gatheiniog
Road – Barbondale |
| Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events? | Either pace notes or maps - but definitely maps rather than using organiser-supplied notes without the chance to check them |
| Things you dislike about rallying? | Breaking down |
| Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2002? | Colin or Tommi – depending who has the least bad luck |
| ..... and in 2003? | ** Colin McRae |
| Rallying history | |
| Drivers you have sat with: | More than once – Murray
Grierson, Neil Dougan, Ian Wilson, Raymond Munro, Jimmy Paterson, Monty
Pearson, David Scott, Steingrimar Ingason, Colin Pinkerton, ** Julian
Reynolds, Glyn Jones and Chris Moore, *** Barry Johnson,
Martyn Harrison and Gareth Jones
One-offs include – Jim McRae, Brian Lyall and David Gillanders Road rallies – numerous but mainly with John Shanks, Alan Sproul, Tom Muir, Bob Livock, Drew Murray, my father and my brother |
| Best driver you have ever sat with? | Roger Clark - along the sea front at Dunoon before the Burmah International rally many many years ago |
| Best result: | 3rd overall 1994 Vauxhall International with Murray Grierson in his Subaru Legacy |
| Worst result: | Retiring on 1993 Trackrod with Murray Grierson in his Metro 6R4 when we only had to finish to win ANCRO championship |
| Championships contested: | Scottish – first 1993,
second 1994
ANCRO – second 1994 |
| Best Championship result: | 1993 Scottish Champion with Murray Grierson in his Metro 6R4 – we won every round we competed on |
| Best rally memory: | Too many to list - but sitting on the finish ramp of the 1994 Vauxhall International after finishing a career best 3rd overall was pretty good as was winning my first forest rally – the 1989 Weldex with Ian Wilson in his Mk II Escort |
| Biggest accident: | 1995 Trackrod – rolled ??? times on Gale Rigg with Murray Grierson in his Subaru Legacy |
| Achievements gained from rallying: | Loss of money! And lots of enjoyment! |
| Your current performance | |
| Your current driver(s) and events or Championships being contested in 2002 | Competed on Bulldog with Julian Reynolds – hopefully competing on some WRC events in 2002 |
| .... and in 2003? | ** Barry Johnson - Scottish Championship and BRC |
| How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance? | Spend more time in a rally car and compete on more International events |
| How could you improve your current driver’s performance? | Money – lots of it |
| If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do? | Give up work for a year and do as many rallies as possible |
| Your future in rallying | |
| Where would you most like to compete (in the world): | ** Asia Pacific |
| Which rally would you most like to compete in? | New Zealand WRC event |
| Ambition in rallying for the future: | To finish in the top ten of world championship event |
| What would you like to put back into rallying? | At some time in the future I would like to be part of the organising team of a major event or championship |
| The future of rallying | |
| Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend? | ** Chris Moore - drastically needs some funding to show true potential. |
| What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers? | To compete on as many and as big events that you can |
| Any other comments | I have always competed because I enjoyed navigating |
| updated 4/1/03
(items marked **) updated 19/12/03 (items marked ***) |
|
| Stewart's news |
| 2003 review - 24 events in total! |
| 2003 turned out to be a much
busier year than I was expecting. Final count was twenty four events for
the year. Pirelli International - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC Leading after the car park tests. Survived the horrific fog on Friday night only for the gearbox to break as soon as the sun came out on Saturday. Manx National - Martyn Harrison Metro 6R4 After a slow start on Friday night we were flying on Saturday afternoon. Third overall for the second half but lost too much time in the first half to make a impression. Weldex -Barry Johnson Impreza WRC A chaotic event ended in a muddy ditch after building up a very big lead. Least said the better. Scottish - Barry Johnson WRC A very enjoyable event spoiled only by punctures. First when Latvala pulled back in front of us after changing his, then had four of our own, including one on the road section back to the finish! Jim Clark - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC A broken gear linkage lost us a lot of time then a wheel rim exploded in half after a sixth gear jump. The time lost combined with a transmission problem saw us throw in the towel before the overnight halt. Bohemia - Gareth Jones Impreza WRC A surprise outing in this very well organised Czech Euro championship event. The tarmac stages were great but the car never ran right from the shakedown onwards. Well worth the visit. McRae Stages - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC Despite losing the brakes halfway through the first stage we were right up there with Kris Meeke until a cam pulley broke at the start of the fourth stage. Quinton - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC After the disappointment of the McRae we borrowed an engine and got a late entry for Wales. A steady run (fastest on all but one stage) resulted in our first BTRDA win. Barry enjoyed his first run in Wales. WRC Finland - Gareth Jones Corolla WRC Finland was very hard work and certainly a challenge for both driver and navigator. After a few spins and a few minutes in a ditch I sent the Toyota into the undergrowth. End of rally. Ojibwe Forest - Barry Johnson Hyundai After the nightmare of Finland our first taste of rallying in America was a huge success. Great roads, great car (once we had adapted to its rather different driving style) and a great weekend. Never saw a bear all weekend, though! Park Stages/Hamsterly - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC After America I had to do some work overseas so I left Barry alone to wreck his Subaru on the Woodpecker. Hiring a car from Kenny McKinstry was the perfect way to bounce back from his crash. Double wins in the same weekend was the result. Trackrod - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC Yorkshire is certainly a very, very fast place to rally. The Subaru ran perfectly after its Woodpecker re-shell. Many thanks to John Pye and his boys for a superb job. Bulldog - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC A day plagued by brake and handling problems was made even worse by a front wheel puncture and broken suspension after hitting a rock lying in the middle of the road. Tempest Stages - Gareth Jones Saxo S1600 Great fun and a podium finish. Pity the organisers can't find a few more miles of gravel and a few less miles of tarmac. Grizedale Stages/Galloway - Barry Johnson Impreza WRC We were hoping to finish off the year with a couple of good results but despite setting fastest times on the opening stages of both events it was not to be. Playing catch-up with Steve Petch on the former after a couple of spins was spoilt by a broken driveshaft on the second last stage. Then a puncture on the Galloway to end our rallying year. Stewart |
| Even busier in 2003: |
| Been a bit busy lately!
Border Stages |
| Three events in two weekends so far in 2003: |
| Snowman Rally First event was the Snowman Rally based at Inverness, round one of the Scottish Championship. This was my first event with Barry Johnson and was a very enjoyable day. The event started with an eleven miler, half of which was covered in snow. We had a good start and set a solid second fastest time. We had a few tyre problems on the next couple of stages and were third going into the last stage which was the longest of the day at just over eleven miles. The stage was very slippy with a good covering of ice for a lot of the stage. We were a bit cautious here and slipped to fourth after Jon Burn had a storming run in his aged 6R4. Good to see a lot of people I hadn't seen for a while on a nice sunny day in the Highlands! Kall Kwik Rally Straight after the finish we then packed up and headed South to Yorkshire for the Kall Kwik Rally. A long drive followed by a few hours sleep saw us in Pickering for scrutineering the next morning. Unfortunately after setting second fastest time on the opening eight miler in Dalby (even after reversing at one of the numerous chicanes) we had an off on the second stage in Staindale. This "straight on" damaged the power steering and we decided it prudent to retire rather than carry on. Rallye Sunseeker Third event in two weekends was the Rallye Sunseeker, round one of the ANCRO championship. Again this was my first event with Martyn Harrison in his 6R4. We had a good start on the tarmac stages but the forests were a bit sore on the Metro. The front fell off going through a hole and we didn't even know until the start of the next stage! It doesn't really cope with the bumps as well as a Subaru but on the tarmac it was undramatic (largely due to its superb braking) as we set a number of fastest times on the way to eighth overall. And next..... Next event is the SRC Border Rally with Barry. Unfortunately this event clashes with the Rally Of Wales which we would have done. Stewart 28/2/03 |
| Busy start to 2003 |
| First event will be the Snowman
Rally based in Inverness. This is round one of the Scottish Championship
which I will be competing in with Barry Johnson in his Subaru WRC. Barry
is really hoping it's going to be a traditional snowy start to the year
so I'm sure it's going to be an exciting day.
Providing everything goes to plan we will then dash down the road to Pickering to compete on the Kall Kwik Rally the next day! Hopefully no snow in Yorkshire, just the usual high speed motoring. The following weekend I will then be out on round one of the ANCRO Series - the Rallye Sunseeker with Martyn Harrison in his Metro 6R4. Martyn hasn't competed lately and is returning to the sport in a newly-built Metro to campaign the ANCRO series. It's been ten years since I last sat in a Metro with Murray Grierson so it will be interesting to compare the Metro with the Subaru. Stewart |
| Plans for 2003 |
| This year I will be navigating
for Barry Johnson in his Impreza. Read the full story.
Stewart |
| Events so far this year and future plans |
| March 17th saw me out with
Julian Reynolds in his Gp N Evo IV. After a steady day, including
one fastest overall stage time, we finished 2nd overall. Good to be back
on maps again and Hafren was as good as ever. Throughout the day we had
a good fight with our fellow Geoff Jones-run car of Nigel Griffiths/Andrew
Owens and the Evo ran perfectly after our disappointing propshaft failure
on the Wyedean. The following weekend Eleanor and I went over to Barcelona spectating on the Catalonia Rally. Watched a couple of stages on Friday but gave the crowds a miss on the Saturday and drove the Sunday stages instead! For the Astra Stages Julian and I swapped the Evo IV for his Gp A Impreza. After a few problems with catching slower cars in the dust and some badly worn tyres over the last stage we finished a very encouraging 5th overall and first non WRC. This included a 2nd fastest time on the first stage and a third fastest time on the second. Our best time would have been on the 9 mile SS5 but the top crews all cleaned this stage! We have now announced our programme for the rest of the year (see below) - the highlight of this being the NZ's Asian Pacific round Rotorua Rally and NZ and GB WRC events. Looks like it's going to be a very good year. I had also hoped to be competing on the BRC with another driver but unfortunately that fell through at the last moment but I would still be interested in a run on some of the events if I can. Stewart Merry 17/4/02 |
| Reynolds / Merry - programme for 2002 |
| After much consideration,
Reynolds and Merry will contest a selected number of classic Welsh forestry
events, with a combined programme of two events in New Zealand driving
a Reece Jones-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6. Reynolds will contest the
Rotorua Rally, a round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, and
the Rally of New Zealand in the World Rally Championship. The calendar
of events is below: Astra Stages Rally - Llangollen. Finished 5th overall. International Rally of Wales, Wrexham. May 18-19th. Mutiny Rally, Ludlow/Powys. June 1st. Rotorua Rally, New Zealand. June 28-30th. Swansea Bay Rally, Swansea. July 20th. Quinton Stages, Llandrindod Wells. Rally of New Zealand, Rotorua, October 3-6th. Bulldog Rally, Welshpool. October 19th Rally GB, Cardiff. November 14-17th. Jamie Edwards |
Granite City| Return to Top Co-drivers for even more exclusive interviews |
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