Quickfire Korero - Rowan Shepherd
Driver Name: Rowan Shepherd
Car Number: 34
Championship position: 1st
What attracted you to the championship? I have always had my eye on the Toyota 86 series and the reasons being for its competitive racing and the way it is controlled. Money or the quickest engine doesn’t win you a championship in this class so for me there were a lot of factors that attracted me to the class.
Season highlight: It would have to be taking all three race wins at Manfeild. We struggled in the first two rounds and to bounce back with a clean sweep really put us back into contention again. It was a great team effort.
Season lowlight: The penultimate round of the championship was a let down. Unfortunately penalties and simply not driving well enough in the reverse top 10 race really chewed away the lead we had in the points making the final round of the championship difficult.
What you enjoyed most about the championship: The racing I’ve had this season is the closest I’ve had in my career. Racing against Ryan Wood and Simon Evans hasn’t been easy at all and I think we have really enjoyed the battles we had on track.
Why you would recommend it to another driver: I’ve raced plenty of different cars but this series feeds you a lot of information from your own data as well as other competitors’.
Something valuable you learned as a driver in the Best Bars championship: I really do believe those who take advantage of studying data with their team after each session are those that succeed on track. I’ve learnt a lot in the championship and look forward to taking these skills into other cars.
Plans for next year? Next we focus on the endurance series and I am hoping to confirm something in the near future. I hope to be back in an 86 again next season or to jump into a TRS car. Between those two programmes, I’d love to get back to 24h racing in Europe.
