Having taken a year off competing, Chris Simmons will return to the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship on the Proflex Manx Rally (11/12 April) – driving his very rapid Darrian T90 GTR.
Chris, who is a third generation Gloucestershire dairy farmer, got hooked on rallying watching the Bath Festival Road Rally before he started competing on night events in an Escort.
Having stopped competing to bring up a family, Chris’ wife brought him another road rally Escort as a 40th birthday present – and that eventually led him into stage rallying.
Chris became Welsh Tarmacadam drivers’ champion in 2023, before taking a year off – only contesting one rallying at Castle Combe in 2024, which saw the car’s gearbox explode.
His SRT Motorsport-run T90 GTR has been rebuilt over the winter and now has a slick new paint job reminiscent of a works Ford RS200.
Co-driven by Frazer Moss, Chris gave the car a pre-Manx test run on the Kath Curzon Memorial Rally at Pembrey Circuit, finishing seventh overall and fourth in class (missing out of sixth overall / third in class on a tiebreak).
Chris has contested five rallies on the Isle of Man, with a career-best seventh overall and third in class coming on the 2022 Manx Rally.
“I’m no ordinary dairy farmer, that’s for sure,” admits Chris.
“I’ve been rallying on and off for thirty years – firstly on Welsh road rallies and now stage events.
“I’ve had the Darrian for ten years. We put a 2.5-litre Millington engine in it – milk prices must have been good that year – and she flies now!
“We run under the SRT Motorsport banner, but the car is prepared and run by myself and a group of family and friends from Shropshire.
“It’s been completely rebuilt over the winter, with a new gearbox, new brakes and a new paint job.
“I’m looking forward to the Manx. I love the challenge of the Isle of Manx stages and we had a good run there a few years ago, so hopefully we can do that again this time.”
Well done team Mum