JERSEY Rally driver Sam Touzel returned home from the Welsh Hills last weekend with superb results to his name.
Touzel, alongside co-driver Max Freeman, completed a third place finish in the ERC Rali Ceredigion 2024 National Rally and also third in the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship.
The rally itself, staged in Aberystwyth, Wales, consisted of 150 cars, 14 stages and 113 miles of racing, all packed into three intense days of drama.
“I’m absolutely delighted with our performance last weekend,” said Touzel.
“I have to give a huge amount of thanks and respect to my co-driver Max [Freeman].
“He pumped out our notes faster than an auctioneer and it helped massively to get us through my hardest and longest rally to date.
“It was a huge team effort last weekend in keeping the car going and getting us to the end.
“I wasn’t making it easy on the PB Engineering team, but they got everything sorted and I’m so grateful.”
This particular Rally event added more significance to its drivers, as it acted as the UK’s round of the FIA European Rally Championship.
With this came the added benefit of attracting some of the world’s most aspiring rally drivers and delivering significant global media coverage, with all the action broadcasted live in partnership with WRC Promoter.
Touzel continued: “This race was one of the European international rounds, so the best in Europe and the best in Britain competed together.
“They have other championships in it where I’d set a couple of top ten international stage times.
“In my championship, that I’ve been competing in all season, I’ve been building confidence each round and to finally achieve a podium in my first season is mind-blowing and something I’m incredibly proud of.
“The stages in Wales were so treacherous that at any moment you could’ve gone off the road.
“But we also had the weather to contend with, as it was raining the greasy roads made it hard to control the car at times.
“It means quite a bit to have finished as well as we did.
“All the support from everybody back here on the Island and also in the UK has been amazing.
“My co-driver Max is a high-level navigator who’s done all the international rallies, so have had him by my side was so vital and we’re both so proud of the result.”
