|
As if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, Ryan also has a behind the sees involvement in British rallying. The Motor Sports Association is the governing body of motorsport in the UK and Ryan is a member of the MSA's Specialist Rallies Committee which over-sees all aspects of rallying in this country.
Ryan joined the local Whitby Motor Club when he was old enough at fourteen, and quickly moved into co driving on road rallies and at sixteen Ryan began co driving on stage rallies. However, Ryan always had the urge to drive and just two months after his seventeenth Birthday, Ryan lined up for his first event, the 1993 Trackrod Rally, held in his native North Yorkshire Forests. He finished a highly creditable thirteenth overall out of the seventy-eight starters and this led on to a full campaign the following season in the Peugeot GTI Rally Challenge.
The hotly contested one-make series was quite a step for the youngster but he improved throughout the year, amazing seasoned onlookers when he won the final round of the series, the Tour of Flanders in Belgium. Not only was this Ryan's first International Rally, it was also his first event on foreign soil and the first time he had made his own pace notes! He was also the youngest ever winner of a round of the Peugeot Challenge and remains so even now. Quite an achievement.
The Newcomers award was his prize at the end of the season, presented to him by an up and coming rally driver at the time called Richard Burns…
1994 brought another assault on the Peugeot series, Ryan hoping to follow in the footsteps of Burns and win the series that Burns had won himself three years earlier. '94 was an incredibly strong year for the Challenge with drivers such as Justin Dale and Neil Simpson taking part, both of whom went on to become works drivers in manufacturer teams. Another great year from Ryan saw him take another win in Belgium and second in the Championship, just missing out on the title after an off the road excursion on the last round! However, he did win the Peugeot Junior title for the best driver under the age of twenty-five…at nineteen years old.
In 1995 Ryan moved up again to the British Rally Championship in a Peugeot 306. Despite leading virtually every round of the championship, Ryan suffered a frustrating year where mechanical problems often robbed him of a result. He still managed two wins during the year and finish fourth in the British Junior Championship. The following year unfortunately brought more of the same. Ryan took another win and third in the series but it wasn't he win he badly wanted.
The following year saw a change of tack. Ryan was driving a four-wheel drive car for the first time, a Subaru Impreza WRX, in the British Production Cup Championship. Now up against some very experienced and well-funded opposition, Ryan had a superb year taking several top ten results on British Rally Championship events. He also took the award for the top private entrant on the Scottish International Rally and finished the year as a finalist in the Ford Champion of the Future competition.
1998 saw a move away from Subaru into another four-wheel drive car, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 3. Ryan had another competitive year in the BRC before his first assault and the Rally of Great Britain (formerly the RAC Rally). A strong performance throughout saw him heading for a top twenty position before final day suspension failure cruelly put Ryan out of the event.
In 1999 Ryan drove an ex-works Ford Escort Maxi before moving on to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4, which had previously been used on the Group N World Rally Championship. In the latter car, Ryan took seventh overall on the Manx International Rally taking second in Group N and again claiming the award for top private entry.
Without attracting a large backer, Ryan knew that getting the manufacturer supported drive he was striving for would be difficult. In 2000 Ryan took the decision to take a step sideways in the Peugeot 106 Super Cup with the appeal of the championship being the works supported drive on offer to the winner. Despite two successful seasons in the Super Cup the title still eluded Ryan.
For 2002 Ryan decided to contest the Ferodo Ford Puma Championship in the hope that a change of car would bring a change of fortune. That it did! Ryan won the first four rounds in a row and took six wins from seven starts to secure the Ford Puma title and a drive with the Ford Junior Rally Team in the 2003 British Rally Championship.
It was to be a roller coaster year for Ryan with highs and lows, but throughout he showed his speed, getting quicker and quicker as he gained experience of the car. On his penultimate event in the Super 1600 Puma, Ryan took second in the hotly contested category on the Ulster International Rally. He then went on to set the most fastest times in Super 1600 on his final outing in the Puma, the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire.
The 2003 season was rounded off with the best result of Ryan's career so far. The opportunity arose to drove an ex Subaru World Rally Team Impreza on the final round of the British Rally Championship, the Tempest South of England Rally. Despite no testing in the car, Ryan got to grips with the machine very quickly taking a fantastic second overall behind the factory supported Ford Focus of World Championship regular, Jari Matti Latvala.
With Ford withdrawing its involvement from the British series, Ryan moved back to the Champion Rallysport stable for the majority of the 2004 taking a superb overall win on the Kall Kwik National Rally in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 and once again proving his speed on the British Rally Championship in the production category machine.
2005 saw Ryan contest the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge. Champion, reunited with former co-driver, Craig Thorley, began the season in his Champion Rallysport Lancer Evolution VI before backing from the Conchango Group lead to the use of a new Evo VIII. Two mid season wins in the new car gave them a championship lead they were never to lose and a drive with the works Mitsubishi Motors Team in the 2006 British Rally Championship was their reward for becoming Evolution Challenge Champions.
The 2006 season turned out to be the best of Ryan's career to date. Two International Rally wins on the Pirelli Rally (against no less than seven former British Champions) and Trackrod Rally Yorkshire were followed up by leading the British Championship runners home on Wales Rally GB, the final round of the 2006 World Rally Championship.
Champion also claimed a superb second the British Rally Championship.
In 2007 Ryan's BRC campaign got off to a strong start with third place finish on the Pirelli International Rally. Unfortunately a lack of sponsorship meant only a limited programme of events were contested despite his great performances the previous season. Champion continued to test for the Mitsubishi World Rally Team and actually made his debut in a World Rally Car on the North Humberside Rally in a Mitsubishi WRC.
|
