For Peter Gwynne Motorsport Junior Driver Jake Taylor, the trip to Pembrey Circuit
for Round 4 of the British Rallycross Championship was filled with excited
anticipation having made his Rallycross debut here back in 2013.
With the Junior Swifts opening the event, in search of the
fastest line through the freshly graded gravel section, clipping a tyre stack
sent the Retford Racer into a spin. Hot on his heels fellow competitor Charlie
Bean entered Taylor’s tornado of dust only to meet in the middle resulting in
heavy front end damage to both cars.
Somewhat deflated with his return to paddock being assisted
by a recovery vehicle and a Marshall speculating it may be the end of his days
racing Taylor relayed the incident to the team and they set about the rebuild.
Taylor patiently observed the team at work as fellow
competitors and crews from the Swift Camp came to check the welfare of him and
the car. The severity of the damage came
to light making Taylor’s hopes to return to track fade as the first heat was
missed. Changing from his overalls, the sixteen year old resided to the fact he
would be a spectator for the rest of the day.
The crew conscious a non-point scoring round would hamper
his title chase battled on to get the car straight and prior to heat 2 all four
wheels were on providing the chance to get back out and score some vital points.
Overalls back on and a smile restored, Taylor realised the
game had now changed. With two heats
remaining and the awareness of the Swift having taken a severe shunt,
completing the last two heats were paramount to be eligible to contest the
final.
Showing a mature attitude Taylor lined up on the grid with
the clear objective of completing the remaining heats rather than chasing the
win to make the final which is where it would all count. Further issues that arose due to the earlier
impact were overcome and his place in the final was secured.
Keeping a level head Taylor kept it smooth in the final to
bring home a comfortable third place and silverware not thought possible
several hours earlier.
Jake Taylor: Pembrey was eventful to say the least, full of ups and downs. Thought it was early retirement when I collided with some tyres. The mechanics did an excellent job bringing it back to life, which was truly staggering, although without my racing head on I had to trickle the damaged swift back home and I still landed a podium 3rd place finish. I am definitely going to be checking the level of grip out there next time before I go for it! Pembrey will be a day to remember!
Sarah Watson, Peter
Gwynne Motorsport: Jake is just so
keen. Although this is only his fourth rallycross event, with the great
increase on pace he showed at Knockhill and having driven the track before, he
was anxious to get out there and get a result. It was such a shame the gravel just caught him
out at the start of the day. For a
young driver, Jake’s level of maturity impressed us all today, reflecting on
what happened and learning from it. His
feedback to the mechanics on how the car handled when returning to the paddock meant
they were able to diagnose further issues and overcome them to ensure the car
finished the day, getting him valuable points to keep him in the running for
the championship.
A great job by all the team, and a big thanks to all the other Swift drivers and crews that came to offer help get Jake back out there.
