Reigning Northern Ireland Junior rally champion Sam Adams will contest the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship for the first time this year – and whilst the talented 21-year old is doing it to gain more top-level competitive experience, his results last year in his Pinto-engined Ford Escort Mk2 suggest that he could be one to watch in the highly-competitive 2-litre class.
Sam made his rallying debut in 2016 and the following year won his first junior title.
Since 2019 Sam has benefitted from having the experienced Michael Johnston sat in the co-driver’s seat.
Michael has been competing as a navigator for the past 35 years, up to and including international events, and is a former Clerk of the Course of the Ulster International Rally. To date, Sam and Michael have contested 14 events together, including winning their class on seven consecutive events last year.
“Last year we made a serious attempt at the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, which was Sam’s first attempt at proper closed road rallies,” explains Michael.
“We finished first in class on all five championship events, with Sam winning the Junior title at his first attempt, while we also won our class on the Circuit of Ireland and Ulster Rally.
“We have not competed on the Protyre Asphalt Championship before and we haven’t done any of the championship events before either, so we’re looking forward to this new challenge advancing this very talented young driver’s range of experience.”
Sam is a lorry driver by day for his father’s company Adams Transport and has recently become a dad to a beautiful baby girl called Ava.
For up-to-date information on Sam and Michael’s journey, please check them out on Facebook @AdamsMotorsport.