Below Zero to Hero

The 2021 Roger Albert Clark (RAC) Rally was one that won’t be forgotten in a hurry, a real test, a true adventure in the spirit of the great Lombard RAC Rally’s of the 1970’s and 80’s. Over five days of driving competitors and crews were faced with some of the toughest gravel stages across England, Scotland and Wales.

Despite ever changing weather conditions courtesy of storm Arwen, which brought with it gale force winds, torrential rain and icy snow blizzards, the rally battled on, cuts were taken, crests were jumped and corners were taken flat out and sideways.

By the end of the last stage on the last day the war of attrition was won by Ryan Champion and Craig Thorley in their perfectly prepared Tuthill Porsche 911. The car, which usually spends its time drifting around frozen lakes at the Below Zero Driving Experience in Sweden, was drafted in to take the fight to the plethora of Mk1/2 Escorts, which up until this year had dominated the event. The battle hardened 911, along with its experienced driver, co-driver and support crew, was consistently fast across all stages and never put a wheel wrong, finishing the event 4:04 ahead of the nearest Escort.

Here, Champion and Thorley blast through another undulating gravel stage during a rare glimpse of morning sunshine. The rear engined 911, spitting out rocks and gravel, picks up an inside wheel as it drifts through a tricky fast left. Whether its a frozen lake or gravel forest track it doesn’t seem to matter, for Champion and the 911, the style remains the same.