Chesterfield’s Seb Perez stars on both rally and race tracks

Chesterfield rally driver and Matlock Motor Club member Seb Perez excelled his talents over the Bank Holiday weekend and showed what he can do both on a rally track as well as a race circuit.
By Community Sport Reporter
Published 2nd Jun 2021, 16:04 BST
Updated 3rd Jun 2021, 09:33 BST
Seb Perez in action at Brands Hatch in his 1965 Porsche. Photo by Steve Hindle.Seb Perez in action at Brands Hatch in his 1965 Porsche. Photo by Steve Hindle.
Seb Perez in action at Brands Hatch in his 1965 Porsche. Photo by Steve Hindle.

Perez, with co-driver Gary McElhinney, took their debut British Rally Championship by storm at Oulton Park to take a top ten result and sixth in class.

Perez tackled the eight special stages around Oulton Park on the Neil Howard Stages event like a duck to water in the brand-new Hooch/M Sport-sponsored Ford Fiesta R5 rally machine.

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Waved off at the start ramp on Bank Holiday Monday morning, special Stage 1 saw Perez take sixth fastest on the 7.02-mile test in 8mins 3secs and a little slower on stage two that was a repeat of the first test.

Seb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRCSeb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRC
Seb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRC

Stages three and four were slightly shorter but twisty and demanding and repeated again for the second run with Perez keeping to sixth place out of the 151 starters.

The last four stages were a similar affair; stages five and six repeated with Perez dropping a few places but being consistent in his approach.

By the end of the last two stages Perez was back on track and in the mix with the class leaders putting pressure on their every move.

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Out of the eight stages the team only dropped out of the top ten three times, only to be back there very soon afterwards.

Seb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRCSeb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRC
Seb Perez in action at Oulton Park. Photo by Jacob Ebrey Photography/BRC

Perez and McElhinney finished the day tenth overall and sixth in class.

After the rally Perez commented: “I am happy with how the weekend went, it was a strong performance and took a bit of getting used to at the start. I lacked a bit of pace on the first two stages but that’s understandable with the new car.

"I was happy with the pace overall and being in the mix with the top five of BRC on the first round and incredibly happy with the result. We hope to carry on with this into the Nicky Grist Stages rally, round two of the series in July.”

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On the previous Saturday and Sunday, Perez and his Porsche Carrera Cup GB teammate, Nottingham’s George Gamble, took their Franklin and Sons-sponsored historic 1965 Porsche 911 to Brands Hatch in the Masters Historic Racing Club ‘Gentleman Drivers’ endurance race.

They finished fifth in class in a mixed race after a good qualifying session.

Related topics:Seb PerezChesterfield