News

Swift goes for Croft glory to cap great year

Following on from a successful year in 2011, Darlington rally driver Paul Swift aims to round off the season in style as plans for next year are coming to fruition also.

After winning the Fuchs-Titan ANCC Stage Rally Championship tarmac driver’s title this year and finishing second overall in the AS Performance North of England Tarmac Championship, Swift also finished in an impressive top ten placing in the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship in his 2.0 litre Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800.

Swift, who is famed for his stunt and precision driving at shows around the world as well as starring in television commercials, will tackle all three championships again in 2012 and having gained valuable experience this year, he is hoping to add to the seven British titles and multiple Guinness World Records which he also holds.

But before the preparations can begin for the 2012 season, the 31-year-old and his Darlington co-driver and part-time racing driver, David Cox, have two local events at Croft Circuit which they are hoping to impress at when they tackle both the Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally on New Year bank holiday Monday (January 2nd) and three weeks later, the Autogas 2000 Jack Frost Stages Rally on Sunday January 22nd.

“We learned an awful lot about the car on the events in 2011 and thanks to the support of all our local sponsors we are pleased to confirm our rallying campaign in the Ford Escort Mk2 will continue in 2012. We have ironed out a lot of teething problems with the car which saw us retire from a few rallies early on in the year. We are also revisiting many rallies again this year with experience of the stages which is invaluable so we are hoping for some good results. But for now the emphasis is on both the Christmas Stages and Jack Frost rallies whereby I’d like to get inside the top ten on them both if possible,” said Paul.