Olympic gold medallist to compete in Ryedale-based rally

Britain’s only Winter Olympic gold medallist in over three decades will further her latest ambitions in Ryedale at the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire on September 27th and 28th.
Tony Jardine, left, and Amy Williams, rightTony Jardine, left, and Amy Williams, right
Tony Jardine, left, and Amy Williams, right

Amy Williams, who sped to victory in the Skeleton Bobsleigh at the Vancouver Games in 2010, has swapped to a different kind of crash helmet in her bid to take part in the Wales Rally GB – Britain’s round of the World Rally Championships – in November.

In order to compete the 30-year old self-confessed ‘adrenaline junkie’, who gained an MBE and the ‘Honorary Freedom’ of hometown Bath in the wake of her Olympic success, must finish at least three ‘National’ standard rallies. She has teamed up with public relations expert and Sky TV motorsports analyst Tony Jardine in a Honda Civic and the duo’s debut ended in a class win the Merrick Stages in Scotland earlier this month.

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Williams was a leading 400-metre runner before switching to the skeleton with historic results. Not since ice-dancer Robin Cousins at Lake Placid in 1980 had a British man or woman stood on the top step of the Winter Olympic podium while the national anthem was played, until Williams’ track record-breaking success in Canada.

She is therefore no stranger to high speed action - hurtling down the skeleton runs at up to 80mph, with her head just inches from the ice, on the way to her Olympic gold medal.

Since retiring from the sport in 2012, Williams has been doing the celebrity rounds as well as becoming co-presenter of long-running BBC television programme ‘Ski Sunday’.

On the opening evening of the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, round five of the MSA British Championship, she will get her first experience of navigating in a rally car at night – speeding between trees lit only by the bank of spotlights on the Honda’s bonnet.

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Williams said: “I hear that the Rally Yorkshire stages are renowned as being among the fastest in the country and therefore quite daunting with long straights sometimes leading to difficult hairpins.

“I am very new to this sport, and so I see it as a huge challenge to see how fast I can learn the skills.”

She added: “I am hoping that be background of skeleton racing will help me on the faster stages and my quick reactions will take over and that I will be able to keep up on the pace notes!

“I will get the chance to experience doing a recce for the first time on Friday morning, which will be a great chance to learn to write pace notes from scratch.

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“I know some of the stages will be in the dark, which for me will be a very new experience and a good chance to practice for Wales Rally GB.

“It will only be my second ever rally and it is my birthday on the 29th, so it would be lovely to finish on a good result and have a double celebration at the end!”

The Trackrod event, which continues throughout Saturday, is based in Pickering and features many of the classic North York Moors forest stages made famous by the RAC Rally – forerunner of the Wales Rally GB.

In addition to being part of the British Championship, the weekend rallying festival also includes rounds of two other national title races – the hugely popular BTRDA (British Trials and Rally Drivers Association) Series and the West Wales Rally Spares RAC Championship for historic vehicles dating back to the 1960s, plus numerous keenly fought regional championships.

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