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| PROFILE |
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Name: Charlotte Banner
DOB: 07 / 07 / 1988
Residence: Ripon, UK
Club: Ripon Motorsport Club
Licence: Rally National Navigator 'A' |
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My interest in motorsport started when I was ten. I used to go out marshalling with my parents, and still do when I am not competing! From that young age, my interest began to grow, not just for marshalling, but also for competing. I have marshalled on Road Rallies, Forest and Tarmac events, covering all aspects of marshalling from PC's, ATC/Starts to FF/Stop Lines, in stage and everything in between.
I have also attended Marshal Training days organised by the MSA to improve upon my marshalling capabilities, to which I am qualified as a Rally Marshal (previously known as a Grade 3 Marshal). I have also travelled various distances form Ripon to Dukeries (Sherwood Forest) to Malcolm Wilson (Cumbria) to the Isle of Mull. As well as marshalling part of the stage, I have also helped in the setting up and dismantling of the stage.
When the chance came about for me to have a go with Kevin (Procter) in a Subaru Impreza, I thought that this was my opportunity to see if competing was for me. Thanks to Kevin, I now have the bug and enthusiasm for the competing side of the sport, although I will not neglect my marshalling duties.
With just the 6 events that I have competed in with Kevin and Bill Bates (Peugeot 106 GTI), and the finishing results that we have achieved together in 2007, I have won the Novice Navigators Championship in our club. This is not something I could have achieved without the aid of Kevin and Bill. This then spurred me on to join the Tyrespot Championship.
My career in rallying took another step forward, when, at the Christmas Stages (2007), Larry (Carter) and I got talking. He was asking how the day was going and if there were any rallies planned for the forthcoming year. We then got onto the subject of the Riponian, and how he was going to compete in it, this being his first forest rally as a driver. He said that Darren Grimston, the driver Larry used to co-drive for, also wanted to compete in the same rally, but was seeking a co-driver. This got me thinking and I said to Larry that I have always wanted to compete in a forestry rally. This set the ball rolling and on the 10 th February 2008 , Darren and I competed in the Riponian together.
The day was to be a day of firsts for me. I had never competed in a forest before, nor had I navigated for Darren before. I had no experience of a multi venue event and pacenotes were like a foreign language to me!
In the last hour before we were due to start, I was becoming rather nervous! To add to the nerves, the delay during Stage 1 didn't help. As soon as we did get started, I knew I was going to enjoy the rest of the day and was really looking forward to the third stage where we were to enter the forests!
As the stages passed, my confidence grew and I was exhilarated to have completed all 14 stages. The provisional results showed that we were lying 29 th Overall and 7 th in class. Unfortunately, due to a mechanical fault, we went OTL and therefore were classified as DNF in the final results.
Although rallying is my main past time, I also enjoy running and I am a member of Ripon Runners Running Club and go running Tuesday's, Thursday's and at weekends. |
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