BRC: Martin Rowe joins Volkswagen

• Nick Carter
• Max Communications
• Mon Jul 29 23:25:07 EDT 1996

Martin Rowe teams up with Volkswagen

Martin Rowe is the latest recruit to the Volkswagen rally team. The 26-
year-old Manxman will pilot the Revolution Wheels and Trigard-sponsored
blue 'Colour Concept' Golf GTI 16V on the final round of the British
Championship, the Manx International (Sep 12-14).

Rowe will be bidding to add victory in his home international to an
already impressive rallying CV which includes outright victory in the
1993 Manx National Rally. He joins Golf GTI regulars Tapio Laukkanen and
Ashley Blenkhorn in the Sony-backed team, and will be co-driven on the
Isle of Man by a Volkswagen team stalwart, Nicky Beech.

Said Onchan-born Martin: "Having not had a competitive drive since my
works deal with Peugeot fell through at the end of last year, the
Volkswagen drive is a dream opportunity for me - particularly since it
offers me a realistic chance of a good finish on my home event. The GTI
is a winning proposition."

Steve Bagnall, manager of Volkswagen's rallying partner team, SBG Sport,
is looking for great things from Rowe: "There are few people who know
their way around the Isle of Man as well as Martin, so we're hoping
that's going to give us an unfair advantage! We're delighted to have him
on board, and pleased also to welcome back Nicky Beech, who did such an
excellent job for us in '95 as co-driver to Dom Buckley."

Rowe's association with SBG Sport goes back to 1993 when he contested
the team's Shell-backed Group N Escort Cosworth in the National Rally
Championship, winning the Manx National outright and finishing the year
second overall in Group N and earning the Best Newcomer accolade. He
followed up that success by winning the Group N title and taking third
place overall in the '94 British Championship, earning himself a regular
seat in the recalcitrant works Peugeot for 1995.

Martin will take over the Golf GTI hot seat from reigning British
Champion Alister McRae, whose debut Volkswagen outing in the Mobil 1/Top
Gear RACMSA British Rally Championship comes on next week's (Aug 2/3)
Ulster Rally.

-- 
Volkswagen rallying
http://www.demon.co.uk/racing/vwrally.html