Rallycross star Dan Rooke signs off season as international vice champion

Morris Lubricants Racing ambassador Dan Rooke has completed another exceptional season by being named 2017 RX2 International Series vice champion.

Dan, 20, who drives for Team Faren from Sweden, surprised himself by challenging at the top of the International Series in his debut season, which was originally expected to be a learning experience.

He had planned to compete in the European rounds only, but his success in the first half of the season forced him to reconsider and he ended up competing in the Canadian and South African rounds also.

A run of bad luck with his car in the second part of the season saw him lose valuable points by retiring with steering problems after a collision with a rival in Canada and he failed to qualify for the final in wet conditions in France after struggling with vehicle set-up issues.

Then, in the final round in South Africa, the races began with a split rear brake pipe and ended with the car on its roof after clipping a barrier in a later race. Fortunately, Dan escaped without injury after his first ever car roll.

The drama left him with mixed emotions. “It was the worst weekend of racing that I have had but also a fantastic experience to visit such a beautiful country and to secure second place in the championship,” he said.

To crown the season, Team Faren won the Team of the Year trophy on their championship debut and Dan collected the vice champion’s award, having achieved four podiums, a victory in Sweden and reached all but one of the seven finals.

“We are super happy to receive the awards in our very first year,” he said. “It has been a dream come true to race at an international level and something I never expected to be doing a couple of years ago. I can’t wait to be back fighting soon.”

Looking ahead to next season, which begins in May, he is keen to get his sponsors onboard soon to support his challenge for top spot. One sponsor who has been with him on his trophy-laden journey is Morris Lubricants, one of Europe's leading oil blenders and marketers.

“It has been fantastic to be with Morris Lubricants again and to introduce them to the International Series,” said Dan. “I hope that we can continue the partnership again next year and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

“The plan is to continue in the RX2 International Series and to gain more experience of racing abroad where the level of competition is so much higher. I am still learning things about the car set up and my driving has to be very precise because mistakes can be expensive.

“I have had to adapted to the new format during my first season in the championship in a new car, which was 310bhp compared to the 600bhp of the super car that I was driving last year.

“The ultimate aim is to get a drive for a manufacturer and to work my way up the ladder to the headline World Rallycross Championship. I am also interested in driving touring cars in the future.”

Finishing second is something of a novelty for the talented Devon-based racer, who has rocketed to stardom in recent years by winning every UK championship he has entered.

He graduated to the International Series with Team Faren as the youngest ever winner of the MSA British Rallycross Championship supercars class on his debut last season.

Dan is one of more than 30 British drivers and riders at all levels of motorsport appointed as MLR ambassadors, which sees the Shrewsbury-based company provide them with all the lubricants they need for racing.

Andrew Goddard, Morris Lubricants’ managing director, said: “Dan is great ambassador for the company and an outstanding young British talent who is continuing his meteoric rise in international motorsport.

“He is a perfect example of why we launched the Morris Lubricants Racing programme to help young people establish themselves in motorsport. With his ambition, drive and talent and our lubricants, the sky’s the limit.”