Andy Sargeant from AJS Tyres won the 4×4 production class at Rallye Labourd in France. The extreme rally driver admits it was one of the hardest rallies he has taken part in.
The Rallye Labourd was held over the 6th-8th April, based on the French/Spanish border in the Pyrenees, in and around a little village called St Pee sir Nivelle. Featuring huge drops and climbs, the extreme off-road themed rally is not for the faint hearted.
Rally driver Andy Sargeant is the custodian of a modified Land Rover Defender TD5 fitted with a Quaife QBE86G Heavy Duty 6-Speed Sequential Gearbox and centre ATB Differential. Following a successful 2017, Sargeant has kicked off this race season winning the rally’s 4×4 production class, with high hopes for 2018. Andy’s navigator was Chris Hammond.
The Saturday went quite well with some slippery conditions which was a challenge for the 2,200 kilo Defender. Andy finished the day just over a minute down on the leading Jeep.
That night it rained heavily which made for some deep standing water and even deeper rivers; ideal conditions for the Defender. The first stage saw the Landie catching up with the leading Jeep. An audacious overtake meant AJS Tyres were given a two minutes start time off the line behind the Jeep. This wasn’t enough to deter Andy as he caught the Jeep on a very technical mountain stage which made it tricky to pass. Unfortunately the Land Rover collected a puncture, but still finished with another stage win. Overall the team won 6 out of 10 stages.
Our congratulations go to Andy and the team at AJS Tyres. We expect it won’t be long until we see even more wins…
Contact us to discuss your racing driveline requirements: