West Kingsdown’s Rod Birley took two victories at his home track Brands Hatch in the BARC Quaife Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship last weekend.

The victories were made all the more special for Rod as he had so many friends and family were in attendance to see him race at his home track.

Speaking about how special it is to race at Brands Hatch, Rod said: “It is absolutely brilliant. The atmosphere at Brands Hatch is fantastic, we always get a good following here and the supporters are very knowledgeable. Yes of course. Mainly because a lot of friends and family come along.”

Both races were really competitive and that is just what the fans wanted to see with plenty of overtaking action on the track, something Rod agrees with.

He added: “Everyone likes to see close competitive racing with a strong field of cars and hopefully we deliver those vital ingredients.”

The Championship standings are really tight with three points separating the top two and a further ten points separating the top four, showing just how competitive the race series is. Rod currently leads the standings from Andy Woods-Dean.

He said: “That’s correct. I always try to see how the other classes are doing. I actually drove Andy’s car on one occasion last year. He generously loaned it to me whilst mine was out of action. This highlights the camaraderie we have.”

The next round of the Championship will be part of the next Bank Holiday weekend’s action on track and Rod is already looking forward to it.

He added: “In actual fact the next round is at Brands Hatch. The round at Cadwell Park is for the silhouette championship which is also run by our club. However, Brands on May 25th will be great fun as for the first time we will be appearing at the Masters meeting.”

Rod has driven his Escort WRC for a long time and admits that it is like a member of his family that he loves driving.

He said: “I have raced this car for 14 years so it feels like a comfy pair of shoes. Over the years my team and I have made countless adjustments and small improvements. This means that I know the car extremely well and have confidence to push it to the limit. It sounds like a bit of a cliché but it really is an awesome machine and great fun to drive.

“Luckily I have a good band of helpers, some of whom have been with me for many years and remain very loyal. The key to reliability is preparation, so yes we do spend a lot of time checking and re-checking the car.”

It hasn’t always been plain sailing for Rod and his car though as there have been a number of issues with the car over the years and Rod talked us through one occasion.

He added: “Probably the most notable was when I had a major incident at Thruxton during a Saturday race where the suspension was pushed through the chassis.

“A tremendous amount of work went on that night from friends and helpers and somehow the car was ready for the Sunday race at Brands Hatch. I missed the qualifying session so had to start last, but came through to win the race on pure adrenalin. It was the best way to thank them for their help.”

Pictures supplied by Joe Wright.