Gearing up for his biggest challenge to date, young Hexham & District Motor Club member, Carl Robson, will be diving in at the deep end when he takes on a class field of championship contenders who will be contesting this weekend’s Kielder Forest Rally, a round of the MRF Tyres BTRDA Gold Star Championship. In what will be his first-ever gravel rally, Carl and his co-driver, David Robinson, will be pitting their Toyota Yaris against the regular front runners in the BTRDA Rally First class and he will certainly have plenty of opposition as the rally has attracted a field of almost 100 rally cars to Hexham for the event which will see the cars driving over a series of “Special Stages” in the giant Kielder Forest complex, Kielder is, of course, well known to rally drivers the world over and it will be present a daunting challenge to young Carl and, indeed, the rest of the field as well.
Carl is in his first season in rallying having previously competed with considerable success on two wheels in motocross. His introduction to the world of rallying has not been smooth running or straightforward as the car has suffered from several teething problems, indeed his first outing in the Toyota lasted barely a mile before the gearbox cried enough !. It will be a huge relief for the young driver just to make the start line as the search for replacement parts and the job of putting the car together again has seen frantic activity at the Robson family workshops in Hexhamshire so one hopes all the hard work will pay off.
Carl has quite a rallying pedigree to live up to for his Father, David, was the Scottish Tarmac Rally Champion and a winner of many events while his Uncle John competed with some success in the British Rally Championship. Carl is, in fact, the third generation of “Rallying Robsons” for his Grandfather, the late John Robson, competed for many years in the Hexham & District Motor Clubs events and was a multiple times winner of the club’s hill climb championship. While young Carl won’t be expecting to hit such heights just yet he will no doubt be hoping for a good result on this weekend’s event.
Photograph credit of Carl Robson.