A 7-year dream of competing at an official FIA event came true for Mark Ferreday and Jordan Joines when they took their 1953 Denzel Powered Bug to an impressive 2nd place finish at the Wales Rally GB race in October.

The last time a Denzel Beetle competed at a similar level was back in the 1950s, when a Bug took part in the ’57 and ’58 Austrian Alpine Rally before going on to win its class in the ’59 race.

In 2010, Mark Ferreday and Jordan Joines set out to once again race one of these rare machines and it’s safe to say that their journey has had its fair share of ups and downs. Despite having parts stolen, work passed off as someone else’s and at one point nearly selling up and walking away, support by friends saw their dream realised at the Wales Rally GB.

This iconic rally is the largest and most high-profile motor rally in the United Kingdom, having first run in 1932 as the Royal Automobile Club Rally. 

Deep in the Forrest’s of wales watching @rsskunkwerks vintage vw compete and finish second in class (should have been first) was an amazing experience with @wpsengines @oldspeeder @dawnie_goodall #oldspeedvw #denzelpower #waleswrc2017

A post shared by Gooders (@mr_gooders) on Oct 30, 2017 at 3:07am PDT

At one stage Mark and Jordan were leading their class by a 1 minute gap out at the front. But after suffering a 1.30minute time penalty, their battered and bruised Bug crossed the finish line in 2nd place, just 4 minutes behind class winners Ken Davies and Alan Jones in their Volvo Amazon (complete with disc brakes and 165bhp!)

Rally driver Mark sums it all up, “It was a massive team effort, all I did was point it straight and press the gas… We made VW history with the only Denzel engine racing in the world, that's the first time in on gravel for that package! Now I know what needs changing in the set up on the rear end, so watch this space for next season in the British Historics!"

The title race was won by Brits Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt in their Ford Fiesta WRC, denying Sébastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia a consecutive and unprecedented 5th win in their Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

Brian Ferreday and Jordan Joines would like to thank everyone for their support with a special thanks to the following:
Ian Clark / Wolfsburg Performance Services
Paul Blofields
Mr Gooders
Dawn Goodall
Cog Box
CSP Germany
Robev Engineering Ltd
Cool Flo
Ray Schubert
Tom Niedernhofer
S Jones Automotive Photography