Photography by JCCB Rally Photography
Emily Easton-Page has been crowned winner of the BTRDA Junior Co-Drivers Championship after a superb result on the final round, the Cambrian Rally.
Emily and her driver Liam Clark finished 10th overall and fourth in the Interclub category, which was enough for our reigning John Easson Award holder to clinch the title.
The pair were on the pace of the BTRDA front-runners throughout the event, and were never out of the top five with their Fiesta Rally2.
“It was a nice way to finish the season and I’m really pleased, it will go well with the Scottish Junior Co-Drivers title I got in 2022,” said Emily.
Comprising seven stages in the North Wales forests, the Cambrian Rally boasted a full house entry with British Championship and BTRDA titles to be decided.
And Emily and Liam got off to a great start on the opening 12km Elsi stage, clocking third fastest time and 11 seconds faster than arch-rival Russ Thompson.
“We were relieved to make it through Elsi, which was incredibly slippery. Eight crews retired on that stage alone. But following our test the day before the rally, Liam was in a confident mood,” explained Emily.
“We were swapping times all day with Russ, culminating in a brilliant second fastest time on SS6, so we decided to really go for it on the final stage.
“There’s a fine balance between pushing hard and keeping it neat and tidy. With hindsight, I think we overdid it and almost chucked it off three times.
“We ended up three seconds slower than Russ and missed out on third place overall by 0.7 seconds, which was heartbreaking at the time as we really wanted to finish the season with a podium.
“However, we have really shown good pace this year, we just need to be more consistent. Given it is our first season together, and our first crack at the BTRDA series, I think it shows just how far we have progressed.”
