The close-knit British rallying fraternity is mourning the loss of one of its best co-drivers after Dai Roberts died in an accident on the Jim Clark Rally on Saturday morning.
Roberts, aged 39, was co-driving for James Williams in their Hyundai i20N Rally2 as they battled for the lead of the British Rally Championship contest when they went off on the second stage of the day, Edrom, and made heavy contact with a substantial concrete structure.
Despite the very best efforts of those at the scene and the emergency services, Roberts succumbed to his injuries, while Williams was taken to hospital in Edinburgh with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the balance of the Jim Clark Rally was cancelled along with the Jim Clark Reivers Rally, which had been planned to run the following day.
The Jim Clark Rally was called off after the crash on Saturday morning
Photo by: JEP
Roberts was an incredibly popular and hugely experienced member of the co-driving community and this is the second tragedy to strike his family. His younger brother Gareth (Jaffa) died in 2012 at the age of 24 after an accident when co-driving for Craig Breen on the Targa Florio Rally in Sicily.
Dai continued competing and enjoyed tremendous success with some of Britain’s best drivers, often tackling 16 or 18 rallies each year.
He also drove on selected events and was noted for hurling his Peugeot 205 GTI around in style on a handful of rallies each season. He recently took the car to 49th overall and fourth in class on the Manx Rally.
His co-driving career took him across Europe and the Jim Clark marked a return to sitting alongside Williams, a partnership that first started back in 2015.
Autosport joins the whole rallying fraternity in sending sincere condolences to Dai’s family and many friends across the sport.
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Paul Lawrence
National
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