A Rally Hero Retires
Why Steve Petch is a rallying great.
The multiple champion’s retirement is a loss to the sport.
Steve Petch has been a constant presence at the forefront of the national rallying scene for more than 20 years. But now that Petch has decided to retire from driving, it’s time to take stock of his career and celebrate the many reasons why Petch should be considered a national rallying great.
He’s a very good rally driver
Steve Petch is the sort of man who doesn’t like to make too much noise about his achievements, which is a shame. The best barometer of success for a rally driver is the number of titles they’ve won, and on Petch’s CV are both BTRDA Gold Star and ANCRO National Championship titles. He won the BTRDA crown in 1992, driving a Ford Escort Cosworth. He then moved to the National Championship, winning the Group N title before claiming the overall crown in 2000, behind the wheel of an Escort WRC.
He started rallying in a Daihatsu
That’s right. He may now be known for driving immaculate Hyundai Accent WRC machines, but Petch’s first forays into rallying in 1981 were far more humble. “I started off with a three-cylinder, left-hand drive Daihatsu Charade that had been imported from some middle eastern country,” he recalls. “We’d taken this car in a swap and a guy who worked for me at the time said, ‘can I make a rally car out of it?’ So he built it into a car for club rallying, and that was the start.
“We went on to build up a Daihatsu Charmant, which sounds exotic, but was really a Daihatsu body on a 1600cc rear-wheel-drive Toyota Corolla running gear. It was a bit of a clubbie car, something like an Escort Mk2 today. I started in that doing every club event I could. For a couple of years, I mostly did single-venue asphalt rallies at old autodromes. It was proper clubmans stuff. It didn’t cost a lot of money and I had a lot of fun.” Petch soon added a ‘proper’ 1600cc Toyota Corolla which, as it was homologated, let him contest national and international events.
He’s driven some great rally cars
After progressing from the Corolla, Petch briefly moved into a ‘whale-tail’ Ford Sierra, which proved an interesting move. “John Pye, who built it for us, described it as being ‘like a Jack Russell on wet lino.’ That description sticks in the mind.”
From there, Steve Petch progressed to a Group N Escort Cosworth and, after running Group N Subaru Imprezas, moved up to a Group A Escort Cosworth. He eventually swapped that for a Escort WRC, and then moved onto a Hyundai Accent WRC. Understandably, it’s the last two cars he has the fondest memories of. “As my favourite, I think you’ve got to go with the Escort WRC. That was a proper car. It had a sequential box and loads of grunt. The Accent WRC is a quicker car, but the car I had most fun with is the Escort. You really had to be aggressive with it, but it would respond when you did.”
He runs one of the best teams in national rallying
One of Petch’s proudest achievements in rallying came through his role as team boss of SGP Motorsport. In 2004, the outfit pulled off a major upset by helping David Higgins claim the British Rally Championship title. Not bad given that Higgins hadn’t planned on doing the series until after the first round.
“He came to me and said that he fancied doing the Pirelli Rally, and asked if we could do a deal on the car,” Petch explains. “I said ‘you insure it and we’ll provide the car.’ After he won the event, we were both hooked, so we both thought that we’ve got to do some more. David had to go and do the job, but the guys worked really well with him. It was a tremendous result for us. It really was an enjoyable year.”
As well as running son Stephen, SGP Motorsport will run Richard Gower in the MSA Gravel Rally Championship this year. “He’ll have a strong year,” says Steve of Gower, who had a troubled season in the BRC in 2005. “He just needs to get that monkey off his back and he’ll be there or thereabouts.”
He supports talented drivers
As well as his successful partnership with the cash-strapped Higgins, Petch has been a strong supporter of several drivers, notably including Junior World Rally Championship star Guy Wilks. The Suzuki JWRC driver took an SGP Accent WRC to victory on the Grizedale Stages last December.
“Guy is one of our local up-and-coming drivers,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to support him, because he’s a good lad. Winning Grizedale was a nice bit of repayment.”
He’s puts a lot back into rallying
While helping talented drivers would be enough, Steve Petch has been a major supporter of all facets of rallying, particularly in the north east where he has, for example, sponsored the Hamsterley Stages.
“I’ve had so much fun in rallying over the years that I think it’s important to give something back,” he reasons. “If I can afford to do it from a business point of view, by sponsoring the local event or supporting a local driver, then that’s what I think we should do. For example, look at the marshals that stand out there. They’re heroes, contributing their time for absolutely nothing. As drivers we’ve got to be responsible and give something back.”
He’s got a successor
Steve admits that he’s been thinking about retiring for a few seasons now, but you sense one of the reasons for his decision is a desire to focus more on the career of his son Stephen. Petch Jr has shown flashes of considerable speed in his career to date, and this year is due to tackle the BRC in a Mitsubishi Lancer E9.
“All I’ve got to do is get him to be consistent,” says Steve. “He has highs and lows, and he’s got to find his pace, which I think he’ll do this year. It’s an important year for him, and hopefully I can give him the support he needs.”
He’s a really nice bloke
Ultimately, Steve Petch is one of the nicest men in rallying. Actually, he’s probably one of the nicest men in the world. He’s always happy to talk to anyone – and no matter how badly his rally is going, he always sports a big grin on his face.
“I treat it seriously, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he says. “You have low spots, like when you crash or breakdown, but the plus side is that there’s always more highs than lows. I think that’s what everyone who goes rallying feels. I can’t pick out one high spot of my career, because it’s all been about the pleasure you get out of the sport. That’s why we do it.”
Our thanks to James Attwood of Motorsport News.
