Bob Rutherford Historic Rally Scholarship for Young Navigators winner starts her rally journey

Bob Rutherford Scholarship winner Jocelyn ‘Joss’ Jones enjoyed the first of her HERO-ERA prize rallies as a navigator in the HERO Challenge Two near Louth in Lincolnshire. Despite an extremely difficult first competitive event, Joss who was navigating top driver and technician David Alcock in his potent Datsun 280Z, managed to cope with all the curved balls bowled at her, including a near accident when the car was up on two wheels on a test!

As Head of Competition at HERO-ERA, James Phillips commented; “It was close originally in the final selections, but we chose a really good winner, I think Joss won because she was very calm, I think she has a level head, and she proved that as she was tested in all areas on the HERO Challenge Two, but she showed all the qualities you need for a navigator despite the difficulties.”

In the aftermath of the scholarship win, Joss had a brief period in which to let the achievement sink in before she went into action on HERO Challenge Two, Joss said;  “I couldn't quite believe it, and it did take some time to sink in, but of course they were really happy and excited for me at home, and excited about what I'd be getting up to.”

With her competition experience in driving and limited vintage car navigation, Joss’ first very competitive rally in the HERO Challenge Championship was always going a bit of a shock to the system despite the homework and theory. So how did Joss assess her first championship rally alongside Dave Alcock in the powerful Datsun?

“I think for the first ever sort of rally, even competitively, it was really good, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a challenge, and I don't know quite what I was expecting, although I think it went well for the first try, but I know there were some elements I definitely would rather have improved on. But it’s better to learn that now rather than later on down the line as I can improve for next time.”

But what of the dramatic picture taken on one of the eight speed tests where Joss and driver Dave Alcock were up on two wheels in the striking yellow Datsun - what happened there?

Joss; “ I wish I could tell you! I was just reading out the instructions, but I think it was just a bit of a drop in the road which Dave magnificently drove out of it, but I didn't even realise the wheels were off the ground until I saw the picture at lunch, I was too busy navigating. I kind of felt a bit of a whoop, although I didn't realise quite how impressive it looked from the outside, but then I felt totally safe, and it felt all right in the car.”

So apart from really enjoying the rally and all the excitement, what did Joss feel were her strengths, and what were her weaknesses that she felt needed improvement?

“I think just overall is focus. Dave did pre-warn me of how after the break and then the lunch halt how it's a lot harder to get back into it, and I definitely felt that. So I think the focus on long term, like over the long periods, certainly needs to improve. I also just made a silly mistake, and it was just from what I thought I'd read properly, but I hadn't. I’d just glanced, and then automatically assumed something, and that was the biggest pitfall of Saturday, but we were able to recover from it.

“I tried not to let it knock my confidence too much, but I definitely think I really enjoyed doing the map plotting, and then following the map with a potty, because I've never used a potty before, so with the magnification you are able to see the map so clearly, which was nice.

“I enjoyed the maps, it felt like an accomplishment doing that correctly after I'd made a mistake on the last one, so felt like I redeemed myself a bit.”

And what was Joss’ view on the Hero Challenge Championship?

“Yeah, it was incredible. It was really great to see the wide breadth of cars, because I'm used to all of the pre-war stuff all in one place, so to see a massive range and variance of classic cars was good, and all the people were really interesting and lovely to talk to. They were very helpful too. Lots of people asked me how I was getting on throughout the day, and then there were some people who were particularly helpful in going over things with me, and just like checking that I'd done things right. So that was much appreciated, it's also helpful as you learn a bit more for next time.”

The next rally for Joss will be navigating a top driver in the HERO Challenge Three.

Before then, part of the Bob Rutherford Scholarship prize is to attend selected courses in the Motorsport UK Academy, and being part of the academy on various courses is a vital part of the learning process. Joss has recently returned for the first one held at Motorsport UK HQ at Bicester Motion and takes up the story;

“The first part was human performance with Porsche, so that was a kind of an introductory session on how you should be looking after yourself and preparing for this because obviously this is a sport where you need to make sure your body and mind are mentally and physically ready. So it was an introductory lesson into the preparation, then we went to the the gym with Porsche.

“We got to go through a bunch of different exercises, mobility stuff, which taught us how to properly exercise and do things that are specific for helping and aiding with rallying, which is really interesting. In the afternoon it was with Hintsa Performance, with all the psychology behind it, and that was a big thing for me to help with the focus, so I picked up on that and what I need to improve on.”

Clearly of enormous benefit, Joss is now looking forward to the next session with the Motorsport UK Academy in July on Media and Communications with Louise Goodman of ITV Sport.