Mawdsley’s RAC dream ditched at final hurdle (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Mawdsley’s RAC dream ditched at final hurdle

10:23am Thursday 19th November 2009

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A lifetime ambition to compete on the RAC Rally looked set to be a dream come true for Malcolm Mawdsley – until the penultimate stage.

The former Blackburn businessman was set for a brilliant class win and third overall in the Open section, but crashed out within sight of the finish.

However, Mawdsley, who was driving a specially-converted two-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza, was far from downhearted about the retirement.

“It was a fantastic weekend, I can’t believe how well we did. We won most of the stages on the final day, closing the gap further and further on each stage,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we went off into a ditch nine miles from the end and, because of the time it took to get the car out, we had to retire.

“The fact there was no damage at all made it all the more upsetting at the time.”

Mawdsley, who now lives in Bradford, and navigator Kevin Bardon were competing on last weekend’s four-day recreation of the RAC Rally from the 1970’s.

“Over 40 years ago as a young boy I stood on the side of a weather-beaten track watching cars competing on the RAC, and I was bitten by the bug,” said Malcolm, 62.

“I took up rallying, but never got the chance to do the RAC in its original form. Roger Clark was my hero, so when the event was created as a tribute to him, I was determined to take part.

“A lot of time and effort was spent converting our four-wheel-drive Impreza into a two-wheel-drive so that it would be eligible, and although we contested other events in 2009, it was really the focus and climax of our season.”

It has been a year of highs and lows for Malcolm’s team, Activ8 Motorsport, who are based in Roe Lee, Blackburn.

They opened with a top 10 finish in the Telford Winter Stages, but then retired from the Coracle Stages when the turbo blew.

Despite that, the team still finished third overall in the ANWCC Forest Championship.

“Competing on the RAC was celebration of all the hard work, blood sweat and tears we have put in over the last twelve months,” added Malcolm.

“We didn’t expect to be prizewinners, although we did get very close, but we gave it our all.”

l Malcolm Mawdsley and the Activ8 Motorsport team have been supporting MacMillan Cancer during 2009, and would like to thank Gordon Birtwistle at Proflex UK, Clitheroe; Richard Bulmer at Tractive Solutions and Aintree Motors.

In the main Roger Albert Clark Rally, which was open to historic rally cars, Blackburn business-man Russell Morgan and Martin Kenyon brought their Ford Escort RS2000 home in 13th place and second in the C3 class.

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