West Midlands Motorsport Junior Team - Conrad Euregio Rally

There was joy and disappointment in equal measure for the West Midlands Motorsport Junior Team at the recent Conrad Euregio Rally, the final round of the 2005 Quaife Peugeot 205 Scholarship. Joy for team mentor Matt Barker and co-driver Richard Walker, who secured their first win in the series this year with a dominant drive, but disappointment for team members Tom Curtis and Dai Roberts, who lost their chance of winning the championship overall after retiring with electrical problems.

Ten Peugeot Scholarship crews made the trip to Holland for the rally, which is based in the town of Hengelo and incorporates a round of the Dutch Peugeot 205 championship. West Midlands Motorsport provided support for four crews; three Junior Team cars for Barker / Walker, Curtis / Roberts and Jody Bowcott / Dominic Brown, and a customer car for Dominic Hodge / Mark Mason.

Barker immediately stamped his authority on the event, taking the class lead on stage one and steadily increasing that lead over the course of the day, despite having to dodge mud pulled onto the road by cars cutting corners. Eventually, the Birmingham driver finished two minutes clear of second placed crew, Simon Moore / Huw Mathias. Barker's dominance was such that he placed 28^th overall and set fastest Peugeot 205 time on every one of the ten stages. "It's really satisfying to win, after our mechanical problems during the year" said Barker. "We set the car up specifically for tarmac, which proved to be the right choice on these slippery roads. The rally is very well organised, and we especially enjoyed the night stages. It created a superb atmosphere."

Curtis started the event with a good chance of taking the Peugeot Scholarship overall, if he beat reigning champion Simon Moore. But the Welsh youngster was out of luck before he could mount a challenge for honours, and an electrical problem left him stranded at the side of the road. He was out of the rally on only the second stage, leaving Moore only needing to finish to take the title.

 Despite the disappointment for both Curtis and the West Midlands Motorsport Junior Team, Barker, as team mentor, was high in his praise for his protégé: "I can only imagine how disappointed Tom feels right now, but a driver of his ability will always bounce back. I'm sure he will be a real force to be reckoned with when he moves on to the new Ford Fiesta ST Championship next year.  On behalf of the whole team at WMM, we wish him all the very best for the future."

Jody Bowcott, now a Junior Team regular, had the very experienced Dominic Brown in the co-driver's seat for this event, and repaid WMM's faith in his abilities, finishing third of the Scholarship contenders after a trouble-free run. Despite his relative inexperience, Bowcott pressurised Moore all the way, finishing just two seconds in arrears at the end of 80 miles of competitive driving. The result gave Bowcott third overall in the Peugeot Scholarship, and he also won the award for Best Junior Driver, a fine achievement in his first season of competition.

Dominic Hodge / Mark Mason's customer car needed the attention of the West Midlands Motorsport mechanics to change the brake pads after the fifth stage. This gave the crew some much-needed stopping power at the end of the long straights that are a major feature of this rally. Due to the timely repairs, Hodge scored his best ever result, finishing fourth of the Scholarship crews and 58^th overall. The Oxford driver also scored sufficient points to finish eighth in the 2005 Peugeot Scholarship standings, despite it being his first season of rallying for 23 years.