The TradOak Rally Team led the way for future rallying amongst a field of 33 modern and 54 historic rally cars entered in Rally North Wales on the 16th March 2024, by their continued sustainable and environmentally responsible sponsor’s stance to start their 2024 season.
The Traditional Oak and Timber Company who reclaim and recycle oak beams in a special air-dried process, and Coryton Fuels advanced bio-gasoline made from agricultural waste which significantly reduces the team’s 1973 Chrysler Avenger’s greenhouse emissions, both made a leading contribution to the environment by a rally team in the Welsh event.
Motor Sport Digital Editor Dominic Tobin, who started only his second ever rally in six years as co-driver in the TradOak Team, not only managed to chip off the rust, but guided driver Tony Jardine to 26th historic car overall and second in the 1600 cc class. The crew now lead the HRCR Stage Masters Championship.
The Get Jerky Rally North Wales event ran eight special stages over the classic World Rally Championship forests of Dyfnant and Gartheiniog, yet despite the driving rain and slippery tracks, the TradOak Team finished on the class podium and Dominic Tobin enjoyed his return to the rallying hot seat. Dominic said; “We had a blast! I don’t think either of us expected to end the rally second in class, especially as it was five years since we last teamed up.
“I was definitely rusty to start with, but luckily Tony knows what he’s doing – we got through the first tricky couple of stages and found our rhythm. It doesn’t get much more exhilarating than sliding through forests on these high-speed stages and doing it all with Coryton sustainable fuel feels like the future of historic rallying.”
David Richardson, Business Development Director of Coryton Fuels commented; “We’re proud to continue our support of Tony Jardine and the TradOak Rally Team in 2024, supplying SUSTAIN fuels for their upcoming events. TradOak’s use of reclaimed timber aligns perfectly with our commitment to carbon recycling at SUSTAIN and, with Tony’s involvement added to the mix, the partnership looks set for success.
Sustainable fuels allow us to utilise a range of vehicles, old and new, whilst limiting the impact they have on the environment. Thanks to last year’s events, we’ve been able to raise awareness of this fact amongst an audience that’s shown real interest in being the early adopters of technology. In 2024, we plan to build on this appetite by continuing to showcase the technology in action and provide further education about the power of this sustainable solution.”
The TradOak team is run by Phil Bradshaw Engineering and was using the latest soft Pirelli GM8 tyres to great effect in the wet conditions as Tony Jardine explained; “Whilst they were great and fast flowing stages, the streaming wet conditions made the surface very slippery at times. We also encountered some quite rough and rocky sections of the forest which meant that we needed a tough tyre but equally soft enough to generate enough heat. Our Pirellis gave us both great grip and were robust over the rough stuff, it was just what we needed.
Now we can look ahead to the Plains Rally in May when we will try to keep our championship class lead.”
