Roach youngest BRC champ

TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Conor Roach is the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Virgin Atlantic champion driver for 2013.
In a battle that came down to the wire, Roach, who also became the youngest driver ever to win the coveted title, joins the club’s honour roll, alongside his father Derek Roach, who was champion driver in 1991 and 1992.
The new champion, who drove the Chattel House Realty Peugeot 106, ended with 137 points.
He pushed early championship leader Rhett Watson, the Super Modified 12 winner, into second place with 135 points.
The two had ended the season with 150 points each but were separated by the club’s “drop score system”.
Whereas each failed to win his class only once all year, Roach’s second place at Scotiabank King of the Hill was worth 13 points while Watson’s lowest score was 15 (any one of his six speed event class wins), so Roach prevailed by two points.
Speaking from Canada,  Roach, a former Barbados Karting Association champion, told NATIONSPORT that winning the BRC drivers’ championship was an excellent feeling.
“The pressure leading up to the final loose event was immense, knowing my parents were flying me in from University in Canada solely for that event; and while they had a “win or lose, it doesn’t matter” attitude, the stakes were still high,” he said.
Pointing out that he was up against cars that were much faster than his, Roach said he really had to give it “110 per cent” to win both events.
He noted that Jeremy Croney had driven very well in his Peugeot 206 and only 0.7s separated them at the end of the first sprint and made the win that much more satisfying.
“It was a year of hard driving against excellent competition, against better people, and while I came out victorious, I’d like to share this title with my fellow drivers in the lower groups, who put vast amounts of time and money into something they love but may not get the recognition they truly deserve,” he said.
Roach lauded his father Derek Roach, who prepared the car all year, and made sure everything was ready for the final event.
He also credited Chattel House Realty for providing sponsorship midway into the season, his Sol Rally Barbados 2013 co-driver Damien Johnson, Geoffrey Ullyett, Andy Szucs, Jason Tindale, Dominic Straker and Shawn “Smiley” Squires.
Group N champion Geoff Noel in the Globe Finance Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX finished third on 128 points.
Modified 6 and WRC-2 champions Neil Corbin in the Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Castrol/Emtage Electric Toyota Starlet and Roger “The Ninja” Hill in the Esso/Nassco/ MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC completed the top five on 111 and 110 points respectively.
After a season-long battle, Josh Read at the wheel of the Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/SDRR/Weetabix/Royal Purple/EZone/Coffee Bean Toyota Starlet, beat Ian Warren in the Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift to win the BRC two-wheel championship.