Luke Pinder

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Luke Pinder is a 24 year old British rally driver from Shipley, West Yorkshire. Luke has been involved with motorsports in Leeds since the age of 13 having started competing in Autograss and moving to rallying when he passed his driving test at the age of 17.[1]


Contents

[edit] Career overview

2008 British Rally Championship BRC R2 Class – Ford Puma
2007 CHAMPION – BRC Silverstone Tyres Stars 1400 Rally Championship and Rally GB (MG ZR)
2006 WINNER of Raymond Munro Dream Drive scholarship
Development work on Citroen C2R2
2005 CHAMPION - Peugeot 206 1400 Championship
2004 Numerous stage rallies, best result 18th o/a Riponian
2003 Numerous stage rallies best result 1st in class N1 North Humberside
2002 CHAMPION - ANCC junior stage rally
Alwoodley MC Stage rally CHAMPION
2001 Finished 8 stage rallies
2000 CHAMPION - White Rose AC Senior class 1
Passed driving test
First Stage Rally (Xmas Stages)
1999 Junior CHAMPION - White Rose AC
1998 10 Autograss meeting (1 win)
1997 Bought autograss car 1 meeting

[2]


[edit] 2005: Peugeot 206 1400 Champion

In 2005 Luke entered the Peugeot 206 1400 Championship, and despite been up against a number of better funded teams Luke managed to secure the coveted Peugeot 206 1400 Championship.[3]

[edit] 2007: Silverstone Tyres BRC 1400 Champion (Ford KA)

Luke Pinder entered the 2007 BRC 1400 Championship after agreeing a last minute drive with Chris Birkbeck to drive one of his new Ford KA 1400 rally cars. Despite the team failing to finish the first two races due to technical failures, Luke managed to come back and take the championship dramatically during the last event of the season.[4] Part of Luke's prize for winning the championship was a prize drive on the 2007 Rally GB in a MG ZR.

[edit] 2007: Prize Drive in Rally GB (MG ZR)

As part of his prize for winning the BRC Silverstone Tyres 1400 championship, Luke contested the coveted Rally GB in a MG ZR[5] and despite not testing the car before he managed to finish Day One of the Wales Rally GB with a commanding lead in their class (N1)[6] and went on to claim a class victory.

Luke finished the rally with a commanding class lead of 45 minutes and 66th o/a against far more powerful cars.

[edit] 2008: Tesco 99 BRC R2 Class (Ford Puma Kit Car)

Luke and his co-driver Martyn Taylor have been retained by Chris Birkbeck for the 2008 season. The team plan to run a Ford Puma 1400 Kit Car in the R2 class of the British Rally Championship.[7]

[edit] Praise from past masters

Pinder's driving skills have drawn praise from the likes of John Haugland after attending Haugland's winter rally school in Norway[8] and Pentti Airikkala when Pinder attended his rally school[9]

Pinder's relationship with John Haugland has seen him attend the renowned Winter Rally school in Norway run by John Haugland. He took this opportunity to shine with both hands and he has developed a good working relationship with John Haugland and his team. This was reinforced when Pinder was invited back to Norway to drive the Peugeot Sport owned celebrity car on a round of the Norwegian Rally Championship and further when Haugland invited Luke to Rally Bohemia for individual pace note training.

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC - Leeds - Sport - Profile: Luke Pinder
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Rally UK: Pinder, Baker take on the world., motorsport news, results, features, teams, drivers, updates
  4. ^ Silverstone Competition Tyres BRC Challenge
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ [4]
  8. ^ John Hauglands Winter Rally School in Norway
  9. ^ World of Leftfootbraking.com - Rallying, racing, cars and motorsport

[edit] External links

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