It's a family affair for rally team (From Gazette Series)

It's a family affair for rally team

AN ace father and son rallying team are close to achieving a famous family victory on the tarmac.

Mark Brown and his father, Dave, are currently lying in fifth place in the Cotswold Championship, a tarmac rallying event that features nine rounds of driving at destinations across the South West.

Driver Mark hails from Yate and is supported by his navigator father Dave, from Wotton-under-Edge, in the pair's Rover Metro GTI.

Both relative newcomers to rallying, the Brown duo have enjoyed an excellent season so far and, with four more events still to come, are in a good position to push for the championship.

Their fifth place standing comes after five events, in which the pair have endured all manner of scrapes only to shine through and make a good impression on the tarmac.

So far, the Browns have competed in each of the championship events, including The Regency Stages at Brean, Tour of Caerwent at Caerwent Chepstow, The Brook Motorsport Stages at Longcross test track and The Abingdon Car-Nival at Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

The pair had achieved a string of decent results before the most recent event, at Abingdon, where they were forced out of the competition on stage three after experiencing electrical problems.

They also had a close call during the Caerwent event having lost control of the car on a tight 90 degree left hand bend, hitting the curb and stalling the car, which threw them across the road and onto the grass verge. Luckily, the car started and was not damaged and they continued to a finish.

A Rover Metro GTI 16 valve and ex-factory automobile, the car is serviced by Neil Bond of Neil's Autos in Yate. It is currently undergoing suspension changes and is also having a newly built gearbox and limited slip differential installed in an attempt to catch out some of the pair's rally rivals in a much faster and more highly developed machine.

The idea is to make maximum use of the fairly standard 16 valve Rover K Series engine which, amazingly, has also found its way under various guises into the bodies of vehicles such as a MGF, Landrover Freelander and Lotus Elise.

Despite being handicapped by an underdeveloped engine, the pair have finished in consistently high places throughout the championship and it is their tidy driving and ability to get through each event that have helped them to fifth spot in their class.

Both Mark and Dave have been involved with motorsport for a number of years, although neither are tarmac veterans.

As driver Mark said: "I have been competing in tarmac rallying since February, 2000, when I started navigating in a Mini in the Welsh Historic Rally Championship. During 2000, with a driver who had not driven for 17 years, we won our class in the Historic Rally Championship.

"I then decided after navigating for another year that it was time to give driving a go and bought a 1.8 Astra GTE to use in 2003. My father wanted to have a go at navigating and joined me in 2003 where we did selected tarmac events. "We acquired the Metro last year as the Astra was not suitable for the Cotswold Championship that we are contesting."

Wotton motorsport enthusiast Dave had not been involved in rallying at all before he joined his son as a navigator last year. A motorcycle racer in the 1960s, he rode a Manx Norton at venues such as Donnington Park, Thruxton and Castle Combe and gained a silver replica in the 1967 Senior TT after impressing on his Norton. He remains a keen motorcyclist and can still be seen riding sports bikes on the road today, although rallying has become a major part of his life as he attempts to gain a unique family success.

Mark added: "We are, of course, indebted to the support of our sponsors and without their kind support it would not be possible to compete in the championship.

"There are another four events left in the championship, with the final round being a revisit to Longcross in December. The next events are going to be The Azighmur Stages at RAF Colerne and The Fat Albert Stages at RAF Keevil. These are fast airfield events and do not really suit the Metro as being a small light car it is more suited to the tight and twisty events such as Caerwent and Longcross."

With 'Team Brown' currently lying in fifth place, a push for glory will be needed if this father and son team are to claim the Cotswold Championship.

l Mark and Dave Brown are sponsored by Mark Austin of The Royal Oak in Wotton, Nick Taylor of Cotswold Edge Carpets and Mike Chalk of MCR Vehicle Sales in Yate.