Five years have passed since rallycross lost one of its brightest young talents. Reporter Dan Wright looks back at the career of Blean’s Ryan Lawford, who will be remembered at a charity go-karting race on Saturday.

Will Gollop didn’t take on apprentices.

The 1992 European Rallycross champion had been running his G-Tech Motorsport firm in Hersden for years, building dozens of cars and winning multiple championships.

He wasn’t in need of another pair of hands but when a fresh-faced Ryan Lawford – aged just 15 at the time – asked for two weeks’ work experience, Gollop gave the Chaucer School pupil a shot.

Ryan’s dad, Martin, maintenance foreman at Canterbury Cathedral, remembers the time well.

“I had got to know Will through my work at the Cathedral and I wondered if there would be any chance Ryan could go to his workshop and have a look,” he says.

“Will said he never wanted an apprentice, but he agreed and Ryan went up there for work experience.

“He ended up being offered a Saturday job and every time he was off school he was there working for Will.”

It marked the start of a successful career for Lawford, who began travelling to events with Gollop when the three-time British champion returned to the sport with his all-new Ford Focus in the early 2000s.

“Ryan was mad keen on motorsport and he persuaded me to take him on,” Gollop recalls.

“He was a good lad and really trustworthy – you could always rely on him and he was a good help to me.

“He was very serious about motorsport.”

Lawford became keen to get behind the wheel himself, and asked Gollop if he could start racing his bright red Stock Hatch Peugeot 205, previously used by Chris Cake.

“When he was young, he always said he wanted to be a racing driver,” Martin, who still lives in Blean with his wife Julie, says.

“He was doing a bit of karting but when the chance to drive in rallycross came about, we sold the kart and did that.

“He didn’t want to do anything else but rallycross – he was really good at karting but rallycross was what he loved.”

Gollop – who was running future British Touring Car champion Andrew Jordan in his Focus at the time – admits he didn’t know what to expect from Lawford, who made his debut in the Peugeot at Lydden Hill.

“I had no confidence in him at all to start with,” Gollop recalls.

“I just didn’t know how he would do, but he really surprised me with how quick he was straight away.

“He really drove the wheels off the thing – literally sometimes!”

'He will not be forgotten...' - Will Gollop

Lawford soon became a regular competitor and was a frontrunning Stock Hatch driver between 2007 and 2009, winning events and challenging for the championship.

He switched to the new Swift Sport Championship in 2010, finishing third in the series despite rolling heavily at Blyton.

Even with limited testing, Lawford continued to show raw speed in Julian Godfrey’s SuperNational Fiesta in 2011 and ‘12, beating championship regulars in a car now based in Portugal.

“I think he surprised Will how quick he was,” Martin says.

“If he could have got the sponsorship, he would have got in a Supercar and he would have picked it up very quickly, like he did with the Fiesta.

“He had never raced a car before trying the Stock Hatch – he had only ever done it on the PlayStation at that point – but he had a real knack for it.”

Lawford continued to work with Jordan in later years as an engineer in the British Touring Car Championship, and was part of the tight-knit Eurotech Racing team that won the independents title in 2012 before his untimely death in January 2013 aged just 26.

“Ryan was a real pleasure to work with, always keen and happy to learn,” Gollop says.

“When you first met him, it would be difficult to assess if he had a competitive streak but he definitely did and had natural ability too.

“Everybody got on with him and it is good to remember him with the karting event – he will not be forgotten.”

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THE DETAILS

The Ryan Lawford memorial go-karting event will be held on Saturday afternoon at the Buckmore Park circuit in Chatham.

Drivers will compete in teams of three or four in a 90-minute endurance race to raise money for the Prevention of Young Suicide charity, PAPYRUS.

Among the drivers taking part include Andrew Jordan and British Rallycross competitors Tristan Ovenden and Darren Scott, who raced against Lawford when he competed in the sport.

In 2014, the first memorial go-karting event raised thousands of pounds for the Demelza Hospice Care for Children charity.

Entry to the race costs £65 per person. All teams will also be asked to donate money for their grid slot, with the highest donation earning pole position.

A short awards reception will follow the race, which will start at 2pm.

Drivers must be over 16 years of age and teams can be made if any single or duo drivers would like to attend.

All money raised will go to the PAPYRUS charity.

More than 20 teams have already signed up, but spaces are still available.

To enter, email Ryan’s dad, Martin, on martinlawford727@gmail.com