Machynlleth based Geoff Jones belied his lack of recent rallying activity by taking a podium finish on last weekends Plains Rally and admitted to having far too much fun on what was his first ever rally in a World Rally Car.
Geoff, a former works driver for Nissan and Proton in the late 1990’s, was reunited with his former co-driver Rhydian Welson for the Welshpool based Plains Rally, an event which Geoff was contesting in an ex Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC kindly lent to him by John Lloyd and supported by Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
This time, however, the lack of recent competition experience and perhaps a little bit too much flamboyant driving from Jones meant that he would have to settle for third overall after a day of high speed action in the woods. His task was made difficult when Geoff suffered two spins during the course of the rally, but the massive grin at the end of the day showed that the overall result was irrelevant.
When John Lloyd offered me the use of the Focus for my home event I had to try to remain calm whilst I accepted the offer. This is the first time I have ever driven a world car in competition and I actually learnt a lot about the car.
By finishing third overall on the 2008 Plains Rally Geoff continues his run of podium positions that extend back to the 2005 Plains Rally, an event which he won, again in a car loaned to him by John Lloyd.
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