9:03am Thursday 22nd July 2010
By Neil Johnson
MATT Griffin is refusing to give up the chase for the BTRDA Rally First Champ-ionship.
The 20-year-old Blackburn driver picked up a well-earned fourth place on the Quinton Stages to keep himself in the title hunt.
Griffin, who drives a distinctive yellow Volkswagen Lupo, has endured a tough start to the season amassing just 32 points in the first three rounds out of a possible 90.
But he bounced back with a two gritty drives, culminating in a 26-point haul on the Welsh gravel rally.
“The rally went well and we kept pace with the leaders, right until the last stage,” said Griffin, who was co-driven by Joe Cruttenden, from Rochdale.
“Then we had our dreaded last-gasp puncture. It’s happened before and it’s always costly, this time we missed out on second place.
“The only stroke of luck we had was that the crew that finished second weren’t registered for po-ints, so we get third place points.”
The result leaves Griffin, who is studying at Motorsport at Myerscough College, near Gar-stang, 40 points adrift of overall leader Mick Smith.
But with 60 points on offer on the final two events of the year, Griffin is still hopeful.
“Two of my rivals either rolled or went off on the Quinton, which means they are in the same position as me and have to finish the last two rallies in order to get five scores from seven rounds “ he explained.
“All is not yet lost and as there is now the summer break and I’m still positive about scoring well, it’s all to play for.”
Griffin is also lying fifth overall in the 1400cc class and third in the Junior category.
The next round is the Woodpecker Stages in Ludlow, Shropshire, on September 4.
BTRDA Rally First overall: 1: Mick Smith 125 points 2: Stephen Brown 124 3: Ashley Slights 116 8: Matt Griffin 85
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