JWRC: Q&A: Barry Clark - EXCLUSIVE.

by Rob Wilkins

Britain's Barry Clark clinched the Junior WRC rookie title on the recent Wales Rally GB, the final round in the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship. Crash.net Radio caught up with him at the finish and spoke to him about the event...

Q:
Barry congratulations, you have won the JWRC rookie title. You must be very pleased?

Barry Clark:
Yeah certainly, we are over-the-moon with that. The plan from the outset, coming here, was to secure the title. We did a lot of pre-event preparation for it and the plan was just to ensure we took the title. We had a fantastic day on Friday, we avoided all the punctures and drove around all the big rocks and it paid dividends. We built up a solid lead on Friday, which we have just extended over the rest of the event. We have stayed out of trouble all weekend. It is just fantastic.

Q:
Was it all plain sailing then?

BC:
It has been in a way. We did have a bit of a drama on Saturday with the car though, with the wheel bearings. That was a bit of a panic before we got to the super special [in Cardiff] and back. Other than that it has been a good weekend though. There is not a scratch on the car and no other work was needed to be done that was not regular maintenance. So, we are extremely happy.

Q:
Do you get extra brownie points for that?

BC:[laughs] ..Well hopefully they will come and be paid in the bar later on!

Q:
It was a double victory in a way of course, because you won the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International class too...

BC:
We have shown the dominant way in the Fiestas this weekend. Sadly we lost out on the international title to Alessandro Bettega, but this weekend we have shown, as in Finland, that we are a force to be reckoned with in the Fiestas. The pace is certainly there.

Q:
Were you happy with the car and tyres throughout?

BC:
Yeah, as I say, the car hasn't missed a beat all weekend and other than routine maintenance it has been pretty much spot on.

Q:
What were the conditions like? How tough was it?

BC:
I haven't found them any worse than what I was expecting. It is Wales, it is December and you have got to expect the mud and all the rest. In that respect it has been fine. The one thing I am glad about is that there wasn't any fog - although had there been it would have been the same for everyone anyway.

Q:
Are you looking forward to the ceremonial finish now?

BC:
Certainly, it will be nice to spray that champagne in front of the home crowd. It is a fantastic finish to the year for us.