Motorsport ace wins class on forest rally debut

A teenage rally driver on an elite motorsport programme at Loughborough College won his class in his first-ever forest rally.

Alfie Hammond, 18, is a second year student on Loughborough College’s Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme in partnership with Motorsport UK in Cumbria.

His training paid off in Cumbria recently when he completed the Malcom Wilson Rally, winning his class on his first attempt in a 1300cc Nissan Micra rally car.

Kaye Liddle, a lecturer on Loughborough College’s Elite Sport programme, said: “Alfie’s competitive rally experience had been limited to single venue events, so the goal going into the Malcolm Wilson Rally was to finish. So to win his class was an exceptional result for a first run through forest stages.”

Alfie and 147 other competitors took on the event which was split over seven special stages around Cumbria, including the famous Grizdale forest as previously used in the UK round of the World Rally Championship.

Alfie, despite no previous forest rally experience, set competitive stage times from the start which kept him in contention for the top three in his class.

He, and co-driver Peter Williams, managed to avoid incurring any penalties or mechanical mishaps, which ultimately led them to winning the ‘1400C’ class, beating some more experienced crew. 

They were placed 65th overall out of 85 finishers, which put them ahead of a lot of much more powerful machinery and experienced crews. 

PHOTO: Courtesy of Ian Watts