Drivers

Jonathan started his motorsport career some 20 years ago as a co-driver alongside Masham’s Richard Welford in his Ford Escort Mk2. He then moved on to regular outings with Brian Gill from Bedale in all number of cars including a Daihatsu Charade GTTi to a Ford Escort Cosworth. Brian and Jonathan made a very successful team, taking numerous second place overall on the Christmas Stages Rally but were unfortunate not to taste the victory champagne. Jonathan’s last co-driving experience came in 2003 when he and Brian took the trip to the annual Barbados Rally Carnival in a 1978 Opel Kaddet, originally built for Brian’s father, John, in the 1980s. The bulk of Jonathan’s co-driving career was alongside Brian, however there were also outings with Glen Workman and Mick Stephenson.

In 2004 Jonathan received a phone call from Glen Workman to ask if he would be interested in a half-share of a Talbot Sunbeam, Glen had found on eBay; the idea being that Jonathan would do single venues in the car and the pair would team up for the forest rallies, Glen driving and Jonathan co-driving.

The Sunbeam was soon purchased, stripped and re-built ready for Jonathans debut at the wheel. The first event would take place at Manby Airfield in Linconshire. Jonathan recruited an old friend Ian Vickers to co-drive for him as a way of thanks for his help in re-building the Sunbeam. The pair finished the event almost last, having lost the battery lead on the first stage.

Driving was now in Jonathans blood and after a post-event phone call with Glen, the Sunbeam was purchased outright. Jonathan and Ian quickly moved on, taking several class awards inc first in class on the Trackrod International Rally at their first attempt at a gravel rally.

In 2005 a new Sunbeam was built, fitted with a Toyota 4age engine. Although this car only compete in four rallies, class honours were achieved on each occasion. Late in 2005, Jonathan sold the Sunbeam due to a new business venture, for now, his rallying days were over.

In 2007 Jonathan returned to motorsport at the wheel of a Honda go-kart with a reasonable amount of success, however the rallying bug was still there and Jonathan was itching to get back into the sport. Later that year the opportunity arose to hire a Mitsubushi Evo 7 from his brother’s business, A Sport Rallying. An entry was made for the Annual Christmas stages at Croft with co-driver Ian taking the other seat. The duo’s four-wheel drive debut was a great success, they finished seventh overall. Following this was an eighth place on the 2008 Jack Frost Rally with Mick ‘Magic’ Johnson co-driving.

Jonathan found himself re-bitten by the rallying bug, so it was not long before a BMW E30 325 was purchased. Jonathan started competitive action in the E30 towards the end of 2008 doing rallies and entering the Rallycross Superprix at Croft. In 2009, the initial plan was to contest the BMW RWD Rally Challenge alongside the newly formed BMW Rallycross Challenge, but with the country deep in recession, Jonathan’s efforts were restricted to rallycross with success at Nutts Corner, where he took victory in two finals and ended the season as runner up in the championship.

Johny switched his car to a more powerful BMW 325 for 2010 where he enjoyed several podiums in the BTRDA Supermodified category including a win at round 5 (Blyton), round 7 (Lydden Hill) and round 8 (Blyton) which was enough to secure the championship title before the final round (where double points were available)

Currently he plans to return to Rallycross in 2011 with a different car and to upgrade to the MSA championship....

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