Collins...young, gifted ’n black (From News Shopper)

Collins...young, gifted ’n black

11:27am Tuesday 4th March 2003 in

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WHEN the News Shopper exclusively wrote about Naftali Ayieko two years ago, he was the only black motor-racing driver in the country.

But now there are four and three of them live in south-east London.

Most of our readers will know a lot about Naftali, who hails from Plumstead, but won't have heard about Sam Collins, a 21-year-old from Beckenham, who aims to be the black Colin McCrae.

Collins, who likes to be known as SS instead of Sam, thinks more people from the ethnic communities should become involved in motor-sport.

He said: "Four black drivers out of the 60,000 registered is not a proper represenatation of the country.

"There's never been a black motorsport champion or F1 driver.

"In the 1950s, when black people first came over to Britain, they didn't have the money to do it, but now black people have enough money to compete.

"Most people don't realise how cheap it can be. Under-21s can enter events for free with any car, run by the Sevenoaks and District Motor Club. It's not expensive and anyone can do it."

Collins competes in two events the Rally 2003 and the Marketing Machine Speed League most weekends.

The Rally 2003 is organised by the Association of Central Southern Motor Clubs and the Association of South Eastern Motor Clubs.

He and his navigator, Ollie North who is from Northampton, finished second in the Novice Championship last season and won the "Best Novice" title in the south-east for rallying.

The series features around 100 drivers, who compete in ten rounds over 200-mile off and on-road circuits through the night.

Collins drives a standard Golf, made in 1986, with a few modifications. It uses special Coolway intermediate tyres, which are lightly-treaded and have three to four times more grip then standard tyres.

He said: "The cars have to be quiet because part of the race is on public highways, and as we run through some populated areas during the night we also have to keep to 30mph for those sections.

"This sounds slow but there are a lot of turns, with various hazards in the road and we often go down farm tracks covered in mud and gravel.

"If I get a turning wrong, I could get stuck in a ditch for the night, while there are often biggish rocks bouncing up which can hit the car.

"Corners are ranked from one to five. Five being a hairpin and Ollie will call out a number so I know what to expect. The roads are so challenging that you don't need to break the speed limit."

Driving starts at 10pm and ends at around 6am or 7am the following day.

So Collins' arms must ache quite a bit after all that driving?

"Yeah, big time," he said. "I'm still feeling it from last time. I injured my shoulder in my the last race in Devon, then had to drive all the way back home! I did about 700 miles in 12 hours, which is quite a lot of driving.

"During a race, Ollie may eat something if he gets hungry and I might drink a Red Bull to keep awake."

Collins became interested in motorsport when he did work experience at Frank Williams' base, in Oxfordshire, aged 16. He also watched it on television and went along to the old circuit at Crystal Palace, when Sevenoaks & District Motor Club whould organise an annual event involving old rally cars and road cars.

Collins took his motorsport driving test and then bought an old Golf when he was 17. He then went to East Surrey College and joined his mates in building and racing a car.

At university in Oxford, Collins started go-karting and finished in the top-ten for two years against some top drivers.

Collins fancies his chances of winning his class in this season's Rally 2003.

He said: "We have a serious chance of winning our class, which is one above last year's. I think we can do it comparing ourselves to the people we're up against as long as we don't damage our car."

He races his other car in the Marketing Machine Speed League, also organised by the Sevenoaks & District Motor Club.

It's an unusual-looking two-seater specialist car, one of only 30 built and Collins races it on circuits around the country such as Lyden and Castle Combe.

Starting next month, there are 18 rounds which take place every other weekend with more than 80 drivers in opposition.

Collins said: "The fastest car will out-brake and out-accelerate an F1 car, especially on a hill.

I bought my current car, which had been standing idle in someone's barn, in East Anglia, for just £40.

"It was built in 1989, has a 1300cc engine and weighs less than a Mini. It creates less drag than an F1 car and has race-built suspension.

"This will be my first season in that car and I will try to achive a decent finishing position."

Sebastian Loeb and Giles Panizzi are Collins' favourite rally drivers but, at the moment, there are no black drivers to aspire to like Tiger Woods has done in golf. Maybe, Collins could be the first?

He added: "I'd like to be the black Colin McCrae, only with less crashes!"

Collins, like all motorsport competitors, is looking for sponsorship, which he needs to upgrade his overalls and a sponsor could have their logo plastered on it.

* If you are interested in supporting Collins, call him on 07736 273668 or email on: ss_collinsuk@yahoo.co.uk