WHILE IT is impossible to fill the gap left by Colin McRae, the sight of another Scot rocketing through the forests this week in the World Rally Championship in Wales will provide fresh hope that Scotland might one day boast another champion. Barry Clark, raised in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, became the first Scot since McRae to drive under manufacturer status in the world championship when he raced in Jordan earlier this year.
Interestingly, he shouldn't even have been on the course.
The 26-year-old, who followed his father around the Scottish rally scene as a child, was promised a WRC drive in Turkey in a Ford Focus for winning the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International
series in 2007. He also secured funding for two other WRC events, Corsica and Wales. Jordan wasn't even on the horizon.
"I was meant to be there as a mechanic but ended up driving," laughs Clark. "I only got there just a few hours before the shakedown test."
When Argentinian driver Luís Peréz Companc was whisked away on urgent business, the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team were left at the service park minus a driver. Clark, on his way to the Jordanian desert as a technician with the Ford World Rally team (his day job), was called by the worried team bosses.
"The reconnaissance was Tuesday and Wednesday and I didn't even arrive until the early hours of Thursday morning. We had no notes. It was also very interesting in that the co-driver was Spanish and I didn't understand a word he was saying.
"People didn't even expect us to get past the first stage."
Clark finished 12th in his debut and, suddenly, his name spread through the venue as quickly as Sébastien Loeb's Citroën C4. Here was a rookie, in a car he'd barely sat in, with a co-driver who spoke a different language, finishing just outside the top 10 in a world rally event. It was almost an affront to the sport's senior statesmen.
He did little to stop the chattering tongues in his first bona fide rally for the Munchi's team months later, either, finishing 10th on Rally Turkey. With a brand new co-driver, Irishman Paul Nagle, Clark ran the stages faultlessly, also picking up his first ever manufacturer point in the World Championship for Munchi's.
On Rally Corsica, he beat some of the full-time manufacturer team drivers, finishing 10th again on his asphalt debut. This week, he races with the Stobart UK Ford World Rally Team in the WRC finale in Cardiff knowing another good performance will enhance his stock as a full-time world rally driver in the making. Finance permitting, Clark could be facing up to Mikko Hirvonen et al on every event in the 2009 calendar.
"I am certainly knocking on the door. I'd like to think a lot more people have seen what we can do. Wales is a really difficult one. I want to impress and show tons of speed but you can't afford to damage the car. It is a case of knowing when to push and when not to risk things. If we are on the pace, hopefully we can get the top 10 again. If we could get top eight then that would be fantastic."
Although his progress has been steady, Clark has never hidden his desire to become a World Rally driver. In fact, his website goes further, stating that his true desire is to be world champion. He started auto-testing as a 16-year-old in Aberdeenshire in 1998 and progressed through the domestic and British ranks. In the last three years, he has claimed three international titles and became the first recipient of the Junior World Rally Championship rookie award, in 2006.
"This is what I have always wanted to do," says Clark, who rises at 4.45am to do a work-out in the gym before heading off to work in the Ford team garage.
"This week I'll be racing alongside (multiple MotoGP world champion] Valentino Rossi, who is also driving for Stobart, and that should be amazing. If we can build on what we have done this year, I think we can go all the way. It is just a case of getting a chance."
FACTFILENAME: Barry Clark
DATE OF BIRTH: 30/07/82
AGE: 26
BORN: Aberdeen
KEY MOMENT: Rally Turkey 2008: 10th overall in the World Rally Championship is quite incredible, really. Everyone knew how little experience we had.
INSPIRATION: Colin McRae and Richard Burns were both British world champions with different styles. I'd like to think my style was a mix of both.
ASPIRATION: A full-time drive in the WRC next year would be brilliant but it will all be down to finance. My team are working hard on this just now.
The full article contains 813 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
