Steer we go!

SPECTATORS crouch, tingling with anticipation, huddled on a country lane deep in Ulster.

Suddenly, out of the piercing silence, 190bhp-worth of pure violence thunders into view, tearing between the banks of bobble hats.

Like an avalanche, the car spits flames as it slips and slides on the gravelly surface.

Approaching the crest, it gathers pace.

The crowd holds its breath, the car hits the jump, there's a moment of eerie silence, then it crashes back to earth, there's an awful screech, the driver slams on the brakes, and wrestles frantically with the wheel for dear life.

Like a snake, the car squirms wildly from side to side, but by some minor miracle he holds it, the crowd cheer like Romans in the Colosseum, and he screams away into the distance.

That's the awesome sight of rallying and it's no surprise that Neil Simpson is one of the sport's leading lights because he has always been an accident waiting to happen.

The 26-year-old from Colne was only seven when he first showed his need for speed.

Near the family home in Barrowford, he demonstrated his steely nerve when he raced down Pasture Lane on a home-made Go-kart, overtaking one of his mum's friends in a Mini on her way back from church.

Nineteen years on, he's set to make British Rally Championship history by fielding the first ever diesel-engined car in the series. At his dad's garage in Colne he certainly didn't fit the image of the boy-racer I had formed.

Sat behind his desk, he looked every inch the used-car sales manager, in charge of his dad's chain of garages.

The only evidence of a successful rally career came from two pictures hanging from the showroom walls.

But then modern-day rally-drivers are more about brain than brawn.

"Yes, you've got to have courage and confidence," said Neil.

"But a good driver is someone who can develop with the times, adapt to different cars and circumstances, understand the technology in the car and relay that information to the team.

"There are lots of drivers out there probably twice as quick as me but they're never there at the finish.

"And in rallying that's what wins championships and scores points, being there at the end.

"You've got to know when to hold back, and when to drive within yourself."

Few drivers have enjoyed a more rapid start to their rallying career than Simpson.

His first competitive drive came just three weeks after passing his driving test on his 17th birthday.

That club event, contested in a Talbot Sunbeam prepared in the workshops of his dad's garage, lit the blue-touch paper. And after tasting success at local level it was on to the serious stuff in a self-prepared Peugeot 309.

In 1991 he drove the Peugeot to second place in it's class in the EARS/Motoring News National Tarmac Championships before stepping up to the Peugeot Challenge for 1992 and '93.

Now partnered by present co-driver Steve Martin, he notched superb results in 1994 and clinched a Shell Scholarship, propelling him into the British Championships for '95 in a Nissan Sunny.

But his big break came in 1997 after almost a full season on the sidelines following a sponsorship hitch.

Volkswagen, who were chasing the manufacturers' title, offered him a drive on the British Championship-closing Manx International.

He rewarded their faith with a fifth-placed finish which won them the title and secured him a drive for the following season.

Alongside Martin, the pair made history as the first works-supported diesel-engined rally car to compete in Britain.

Their Greenergy-backed Golf TDI took the Mintex National Rally Championship by storm and the highlight of the season was the duo's astonishing fifth place overall on the Manx National Rally, some seven minutes ahead of their nearest two-wheel drive rivals.

Now, they are hoping to make similar waves in the British Rally Championships where they will form part of a three-pronged attack together with former British Champion Mark Higgins and Austrian Raimund Baumschlager. Simpson's new car, currently being built in the Hanover Workshops of Volkswagen Motorsport, is mechanically very similar to the petrol engines of his two team-mates.

But in place of the GTI's 20-valve, 280bhp 2 litre engine is a 1.9 litre TDI power unit, boosted by a Garrett turbocharger to give a maximum output of 190bhp and torque of around 260lb ft.

The goal is to prove to manufacturers that they can give petrol cars a run for their money.

But image cannot be sacrificed for the sake of performance.

Diesel has to fight clean.

"Diesel has an image problem. If you tell a rep you're giving him a diesel car he'll look for another job because people have this image of diesel cars being slow and noisy," said Simpson.

"Volkswagen want to get rid of that.

"But one of the most important aspects of the programme is that the car doesn't smoke because one of my sponsors - Greenergy City Diesel - are environmentally friendly.

"We could tune the car up and get a lot more power out of it but it would be no good to them if it was bellowing out black smoke."

So what are the chances of success?

As usual, a lot could depend on the successful partnership built up between Simpson and his partner in crime, co-driver Martin.

Rallying, like no other sport, depends on total, unadulterated trust between two individuals dicing death together.

"It's impossible to compete competitively without a good co-driver," said Simpson. "Steve knows me better than anyone, including my family and my girlfriend.

"He knows my limits and I know his and we operate together, totally as a team.

"If he decides one day he's fed up of living then I'll probably go with him because he can certainly decide my destiny."

And what can the pair seriously expect to achieve?

A diesel car has never competed in the British Championships before and with little time to do any testing before the series gets underway in March, it's hard to gauge what impact they will have.

"Hopefully, we can build on what we learned last year and take the car a stage further. If we can put up some creditable times against the kit cars and get some top 10 results on the gravel then I'll be happy.

"And if we can then go on to the tarmac rounds and make a bit of a splash with a few top six and seven results then I'll be absolutely delighted."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.