PRESS RELEASE: 23 June 2008

Matt Beebe - Rally of the Midlands

Lady luck failed to shine on Matt Beebe at the Rally of the Midlands last weekend, as the Nuneaton based rally driver suffered a crash that could leave his season hopes in tatters.

Beebe rolled his car during special stage 8 of the competition, held at Merevale and saw his tournament prospects ended as a result. Approaching the end of the course, a tyre popped on his MG ZR 160, and left the car to hit a gate post side on and roll twice before returning right way up.
Fortunately, both Matt and co-driver Phillip Prosser emerged from the crash uninjured – if not a little shaken.

The three times BRC rally champion had hoped to bounce back from a disappointing Jim Clark International last month, but unfortunately suffered problems from the outset. On the way to the first stage on Friday evening, Beebe was haunted once more by gearbox problems and had to have a replacement fitted later that night.

When he finally got rallying on Saturday morning all had looked bright, as Beebe was showing his true form to finish fourth fastest at the Merevale 3 stage. The optimism was short lived however, as on the very next run on the stage the accident occurred.

This latest setback may well put the twenty-six year olds short-term ambitions on hold, while the full extent of the damage to his car is assessed. Beebe said “We may now have to look at what rallies we are able to compete in for the rest of this year. The car had been up for sale to try to get some much needed funds to enable us to do the Ulster International a round of the British and Irish Rally Championships as we had had confirmation on Friday lunch time that the Irish drive with South West College (formally Omagh College) was going ahead next year. This is a bitter blow to the team and all the hard work that has been done by everybody but it now looks as though Ulster for this year will be put on hold and we will have to miss it unless we can get some support/sponsorship.”

“Finally thanks to Quadro Services, Freedomis, Queens Road Home Improvement Centre, Hankook, AVO Suspension and PIAA for all their support both past and present, to m3motorsport for getting us out on Saturday morning and for building a car that enabled us to walk away from it without injury after the roll.”

For more info on Matt Beebe go to www.mattbeebe.co.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE: 19 June 2008

Rally of the Midlands Beebe bounces back
Nuneaton Rally Driver Matt Beebe hopes to bounce back to top form this weekend when he takes part in the Rally of the Midlands, Friday and Saturday 20th-21st June.

Three times British Rally Champion Beebe suffered a torrid time on his last outing in May, when he and his team travelled to Kelso in Scotland for the Jim Clark International. Unfortunately, the car suffered two mechanical failures early on in proceedings that left the teams’ high hopes shattered.

Beebe believes this weekend will herald a return to type however, when he takes to the roads in his fully repaired, Hankook shod car on Friday. “We’ve had a lot of good luck in the past, so I can’t complain. You win some, you lose some, thats rallying.”

“It’ll be a good start on Friday night, with a few stages to get you going before the real mileage on Saturday, the weather and tyres will play a big part.”

Amidst his optimism, Matt is wary not to get carried away about what he can achieve: “If we can finish without errors, we’ll have done well. We’re up against some more powerful cars, and if they finish we haven’t realistically got much of a chance of winning overall.

“Some of the cars will be a lot faster over the straights, but we hope to take some time out of them on the more windy stages such as Merevale and Bramcote.”

Despite this Beebe is looking forward to some good competition from his similar specification rivals, such as Leamington based Peugeot specialist Andy Baker. “I always have a good battle with Andy, and I’m aiming to beat him and be the first two-wheel drive finisher.”

The Rally of the Midlands runs over Friday and Saturday, with stages taking place in a range of venues including Mallory Park and Hinckley town centre.

Matt Beebe is still actively searching for new sponsorship, and hopes to raise interest locally by competing in this weekend’s event, local businesses supporting Matt this weekend are Quadro Services, Freedomis and Queens Road Home Improvement Centre. Other support with thanks to AVO Suspension, PIAA and Hankook Tyres.

 

PRESS RELEASE: 19th May 2008

Matt Beebe - Jim Clark International

Talented rally driver Matt Beebe will compete in his first rally since becoming a Dad, when he takes part in the Jim Clark International this Bank Holiday weekend.

New father Beebe will travel up to the rally held at Kelso in Berwickshire, Scotland looking for a fourth win at the event, after sealing class successes in each of the last three years. He said: “I’m going up there to get a good result for Emily, and make her proud of her Dad. I’ve got the hat trick, and now I want another.”

As in previous years however, Beebe will not be competing as part of the British Rally Championship due to a lack of funding – although he sees this as a slight advantage. “It’ll be a good atmosphere in the car having the same co-driver as last year, Gareth Roberts, for the event. This year we’re not worrying about the Championship, so we can just get out there and give it some stick.

Before our main concentration was to get round the stages and although it’s still important to get a good finish we can give it a bit more of a push now.”

Beebe will face some tough competition if he wants to complete a quartet of victories, with up and coming stars Adam Gould, and Alistair Fisher also taking part in his class this year. Despite this the twenty-six year old was in defiant mood: “We wouldn’t have entered if I wasn’t confident. It’s definitely one of my favourite rallies, and the one I know the best.”

Matt will be driving on Hankook tyres for the rally, and said he aimed to perform well to repay them for their backing. “Hankook have given us a lot of support, and I’ll be trying to get a good result for them as well as myself, we used them in 2006 and achieved a class win.

I’ll be up against a lot of BRC teams using Pirelli’s, and I want to prove that with Hankook tyres you can still do well.”

Next weekend’s rally will give Beebe a good indication of the competition he will face when he enters the Irish Tarmac Championships in 2009. The Jim Clark International forms part of the 8 round championship, with other rallies that have been part of the BRC, taking place in the Isle of Man and Ulster (an event he hopes to enter in August).

Matt has been able to enter the Jim Clark thanks to support from Hankook, AVO Suspension, Garwood Motorsport Services, PIAA and yet again his parents.

For more on Matt check out his website www.mattbeebe.co.uk he is still open to offers on the car which will run with FOR SALE stickers on.