As seen on Is it Fast?: From the operating table to a Bowler in the UK rally championship. This is a must listen … My first interview since becoming a four-wheel rally driver… we talk bikes, mental health and so much more…

Is It Fast? podcast:

If you know a podcast that might like me as a guest please tag them below and let’s make it happen! I hope my sharing the brutalities of my story and journey can bring energy to others battling life’s challenges.

To listen to the ‘Is it Fast?’ podcast head to Spotify here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.

As seen in the Car Site: Bowler competes at Rallynuts Stages Rally in Mid Wales. Follow the action and get the latest updates on this exciting car event!

The weekend of the 15/16th April saw the Tata Elxsi Defender Rally Series compete at the 49th annual Rallynuts stages rally – widely recognised as a key stage rally in the British calendar. Rallynuts brought up to 120 teams together from multiple classes for some closely fought competition.

Rallynuts was established as the first public event for team Bowler in 2023, which saw five competitor teams take on the all-gravel 44 mile course for the first time. Based in Builth Wells, the event comprised of seven stages across Myherin, Sweet Lamb and Hafren forest with routes designed to test competitors to the limit. Joining the series for the first time after an intensive week of training was Andrew Burgess and co-driver John Tomley who missed the initial private round of the season at Walters Arena. The event also brought a late entry pairing of driver Dave Hooper and co-driver Paul Chambers due to Paul White unfortunately pulling out. They were joined by Finnish team Jorma Jokela and Janne Jokela, Bowler works driver Vanessa Ruck & Chris Cuming and John Cockburn and Christina Dobloug.

The highly slick Bowler works crew consisting of skilled technicians from both Bowler & JLR arrived in Builth Wells on Friday morning to get competitor cars prepared and lined up for scrutineering. By mid-afternoon, everything was in order with drivers and co-drivers fully prepared to race. Saturday started sunny but frosty with Bowler participants enjoying breakfast in the paddock courtesy of catering partners Feast Streat. Spirits were high and the bright morning sunshine was welcome albeit the frost meant teams had to consider icy patches as well as standing as they discussed race plans.

Bowler drivers headed for the first stage at 10am with the added challenge of 95 very different vehicles having already raced the routes ahead of them; the Bowler Defender would tackle the course very differently to the R5 Category cars, 2-wheel drive Subarus and Fords ahead of them – the Bowler is design for both gravel and hill rallies. The new drivers approached this new course cautiously, recognising the long season ahead, with all drivers successfully finishing the morning’s session. Dave Hooper and co-driver Paul Chamber’s finished the morning first with a total time of 32m23s. John and co-driver Christina also finished strongly with a substantial gap of 01m14s between them and the leaders.

Four stages and three hours into the competition, all the cars pitted for a one-hour service. Dedicated tech crews were briefed by drivers and went about thoroughly inspecting the cars with no issues found – a testament to the robustness of the Defender and Bowler engineering.

Back out to stage 5, confidence was clearly growing as all drivers began to improve on previous times whilst retaining their positions in class.

Stage 6 saw everything change with confidence growing even further, Jorma and Vanessa increased their speed and jumped up to 1st and 2nd place respectively; Dave Hooper slipped to 5th due to a slow puncture and John and Christina also slipped down to 4th owing to an interesting battle with a mk2 Escort.

Performances in the seventh and final stage couldn’t have been more different to the morning; Jorma’s steady persistence paid off as he took first place yet only 1 minute 8 seconds ahead of ‘The Girl on a Bike’ Vanessa. Regardless of being completely new to racing on four wheels, Vanessa is one to watch as her confidence grows combined with determination makes her a formidable challenger for established racers. Despite her motorcycle rally experience and mental programming, Vanessa admits that getting into a rally car for the first time just weeks ago was a completely new experience, but clearly the four wheels isn’t going to hold her back! Bowler are very excited for the journey with Vanessa as the series continues to grow.

Back in the pits at the race finale, drivers were met with applause from team Bowler and it was all smiles for team Jokela as they realised 1st place; “It was an amazing day, we increased our speed in every stage, beautiful roads and the car worked amazingly, big thanks to the team!”

2nd place was won by Ruck and Cuming with Burgess and Tomley coming 3rd. The Bowler Spirit of event award which recognised outstanding contribution or camaraderie from anyone associated with Bowler was awarded to Dave Hooper and Paul Chambers for teamwork and effort.

Calum McKechnie, general manager of Bowler, remarked; “It’s been a fantastic second round to the Bowler 2023 Championship here at Rallynuts, all the cars performed perfectly with absolutely no issues for the drivers, and we were lucky with the weather which helped us make the most of the absolutely beautiful setting here in Wales. Congratulations to all our competitors, it’s clear that confidence is growing, with times improving each stage but particular congratulations go to Jorma and Janne on their consistent progress and taking first place this weekend. I’d like to thank our sponsors Tata Elxsi for their support of this year’s championships and we now look forward to round 3 in Scotland in June.”

The next round of the Defender Rally Series by Bowler is a Hill Rally, which takes place on 17th and 18th June in Scotland with some further exciting news.

For the rest of the Car site article see here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.

As seen on Bowler Motors: Experience thrilling competition as the Tata Elxsi Defender Rally Series takes on the renowned Rallynuts Stages Rally in Mid Wales. With up to 120 teams from various classes, this stage rally promises fierce battles and intense racing for enthusiasts. Join us for an adrenaline-filled weekend on the 15th and 16th of April!

Rallynuts was established as the first public event for team Bowler in 2023, which saw five competitor teams take on the all-gravel 44 mile course for the first time. Based in Builth Wells, the event comprised of seven stages across Myherin, Sweet Lamb and Hafren forest with routes designed to test competitors to the limit.  Joining the series for the first time after an intensive week of training was Andrew Burgess and co-driver John Tomley who missed the initial private round of the season at Walters Arena.  The event also brought a late entry pairing of driver Dave Hooper and co-driver Paul Chambers due to Paul White unfortunately pulling out.  They were joined by Finnish team Jorma Jokela and Janne Jokela, Bowler works driver Vanessa Ruck & Chris Cuming and John Cockburn and Christina Dobloug.

The highly slick Bowler works crew consisting of skilled technicians from both Bowler & JLR arrived in Builth Wells on Friday morning to get competitor cars prepared and lined up for scrutineering.  By mid-afternoon, everything was in order with drivers and co-drivers fully prepared to race.  Saturday started sunny but frosty with Bowler participants enjoying breakfast in the paddock courtesy of catering partners Feast Streat.  Spirits were high and the bright morning sunshine was welcome albeit the frost meant teams had to consider icy patches as well as standing as they discussed race plans.

Bowler drivers headed for the first stage at 10am with the added challenge of 95 very different vehicles having already raced the routes ahead of them; the Bowler Defender would tackle the course very differently to the R5 Category cars, 2-wheel drive Subarus and Fords ahead of them – the Bowler is design for both gravel and hill rallies. The new drivers approached this new course cautiously, recognising the long season ahead, with all drivers successfully finishing the morning’s session.  Dave Hooper and co-driver Paul Chamber’s finished the morning first with a total time of 32m23s.  John and co-driver Christina also finished strongly with a substantial gap of 01m14s between them and the leaders.

Four stages and three hours into the competition, all the cars pitted for a one-hour service.  Dedicated tech crews were briefed by drivers and went about thoroughly inspecting the cars with no issues found – a testament to the robustness of the Defender and Bowler engineering.  

Back out to stage 5, confidence was clearly growing as all drivers began to improve on previous times whilst retaining their positions in class.

Stage 6 saw everything change with confidence growing even further, Jorma and Vanessa increased their speed and jumped up to 1^st and 2^nd  place respectively; Dave Hooper slipped to 5th due to a slow puncture and John and Christina also slipped down to 4^th owing to an interesting battle with a mk2 Escort.

Performances in the seventh and final stage couldn’t have been more different to the morning; Jorma’s steady persistence paid off as he took first place yet only 1 minute 8 seconds ahead of ‘The Girl on a Bike’ Vanessa. Regardless of being completely new to racing on four wheels, Vanessa is one to watch as her confidence grows combined with determination makes her a formidable challenger for established racers. Despite her motorcycle rally experience and mental programming, Vanessa admits that getting into a rally car for the first time just weeks ago was a completely new experience, but clearly the four wheels isn’t going to hold her back! Bowler are very excited for the journey with Vanessa as the series continues to grow.

Watch Vanessa’s Bowler experience here:

Back in the pits at the race finale, drivers were met with applause from team Bowler and it was all smiles for team Jokela as they realised 1^st place; “It was an amazing day, we increased our speed in every stage, beautiful roads and the car worked amazingly, big thanks to the team!”

2^nd place was won by Ruck and Cuming with Burgess and Tomley coming 3^rd.  The Bowler Spirit of event award which recognised outstanding contribution or camaraderie from anyone associated with Bowler was awarded to Dave Hooper and Paul Chambers for teamwork and effort.

Calum McKechnie, general manager of Bowler, remarked; “It’s been a fantastic second round to the Bowler 2023 Championship here at Rallynuts, all the cars performed perfectly with absolutely no issues for the drivers, and we were lucky with the weather which helped us make the most of the absolutely beautiful setting here in Wales. Congratulations to all our competitors, it’s clear that confidence is growing, with times improving each stage but particular congratulations go to Jorma and Janne on their consistent progress and taking first place this weekend. I’d like to thank our sponsors Tata Elxsi for their support of this year’s championships and we now look forward to round 3 in Scotland in June.”

The next round of the Defender Rally Series by Bowler is a Hill Rally, which takes place on 17^th and 18^th June in Scotland with some further exciting news.

For the rest of the Bowler Motors article see here

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.

As seen in The Forest Review: Follow Vanessa’s journey to success as she gears up for the rally in her Defender. Read The Forest Review’s review now!

Motorcycle marvel, Vanessa Ruck, defies all odds as she secures an impressive third place in her very first UK Defender Rally Series, driving a monstrous Bowler Defender vehicle. Just four days prior to this remarkable achievement, the 36-year-old had never even driven a rally car.

Also known as The Girl On A Bike, Vanessa recently announced her thrilling partnership with Bowler Motors as an official works driver for the 2023 UK rally series.

In this new venture, she will be racing the formidable Big Boy, a 2.0 300PS turbocharged Defender 90 rally car, while also driving a custom-built and impressively designed Defender 110 Fast Road for her everyday travel needs.

Despite being a newcomer to car racing, Vanessa’s extensive experience as an established motorcycle rider caught the attention of Bowler Motors.

The company offers a comprehensive and all-encompassing customer programme for aspiring rally drivers, which includes unwavering support and top-notch training throughout the entire process, from obtaining a licence to finding a skilled navigator.

Bowler, a specialised division of Land Rover, focuses on transforming the iconic Defender into a high-performance rally car capable of tackling the toughest terrains.

The modifications made to the vehicle include upgrading safety, strength, and suspension features, installing a robust roll cage, and providing advanced navigation equipment.

Vanessa explains: “The Defender is an aggressive all-terrain vehicle able to take on just about anything a driver throws at it.”

To cater to those wanting to start rally driving, Bowler created the unique Defender Rally Series. Vanessa enthusiastically signed up for the programme, which expertly guided her through the process from obtaining her rally driving licence to off-road practice at the renowned Land Rover Experience Centre.

During her intensive rally training, Vanessa was paired with experienced navigator Chris Cummings, who had won the prestigious UK Defender Rally Series the previous year.

Despite being new to car racing, Vanessa exceeded expectations by placing third in her category in Round 1 of the series. “I’m proud to have come in third in my category, and my lap times were getting shorter and shorter with each lap,” she says.

Vanessa firmly believes her background in motorcycle rally racing helped her seamlessly transition to car rally racing, as she has developed a keen ability to read terrain well and adapt to the differences between the two types of vehicles.

She is excited to see where her car rally journey takes her and hopes her inspiring story encourages others, particularly women, to try rally racing.

As Vanessa prepares for the challenging Morocco Desert Challenge race in the African desert, she also shares her experiences, adventures, and behind-the-scenes insights on her social media channels @thegirlonabike and her website www.thegirlonabike.com. Her partnership with Bowler Motors and foray into car racing is a remarkable story for motorsports enthusiasts, serving as a testament to the opportunities available for passionate and determined individuals looking to make their mark in the world of racing.

While Vanessa has earned a well-deserved reputation as a skilled motorcycle racer, her venture into car rally racing with Bowler Motors demonstrates the transferability of her talents and the potential for growth in new arenas.

Vanessa’s origin story

Known as “The Girl on a Bike,” Vanessa’s journey to this triumphant moment has been far from easy. Nine years ago, she survived a devastating car accident that left her with a reconstructed hip and shoulder, and a long road to recovery filled with extensive physiotherapy.

On the 25th of March 2014, Vanessa’s life took a harrowing turn. After finishing a busy day at work, she embarked on an 8-mile bike ride to a wakeboarding lake. Anticipating an enjoyable evening of wakeboarding and a BBQ by the lake, she could not have foreseen the chain of events about to unfold.

Just a mile into her journey, while cycling along with the flow of traffic, Vanessa approached a green traffic light. Pedalling hard to maintain her momentum, she was suddenly confronted by an oncoming car that pulled out in front of her.

In a split second, time seemed to slow down. With no chance of avoiding the collision, Vanessa’s body crumpled against the car’s rear passenger panel. Her right shoulder bore the brunt of the 15 mph impact, and she collapsed onto the ground. In the aftermath, her pulse throbbed, and her surroundings blurred.

The incident marked the beginning of a challenging journey for Vanessa. Through resilience and determination, she would confront adversity and eventually find solace and strength in the world of motorsports.

For the rest of the Forest Review article see here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.

As seen in the Rally Nuts Stages: Newby takes the win at Rallynuts Stages Rally in Mid Wales. Read on for the latest results and highlights from the event.

Arron Newby claimed his second victory of 2023 on Saturday (15 April) as he took his Skoda Fabia R5 to a convincing Rallynuts Stages Rally win.

The 28-year-old driver from Carnforth in Cumbria took control of a hotly contested event on the fifth test when early leader Matt Hirst picked up a puncture, and from then on Newby and co-driver Jamie Edwards threaded their way through the tricky world-class stages with precision, to take the win by an impressive 30 seconds.

It would be 2021 winner Elliot Payne and co-driver Tom Woodburn who were their nearest challenger by the finish, taking their Ford Fiesta Rally2 to second spot, but only by one second over the wounded Hirst who salvaged third after an afternoon to forget.

Sponsored by established racewear and accessory firm Rallynuts Motorsport, the Builth Wells-based event would take place for the 49th time. Organised by Midland Manor Motor Club, around 120 crews would tackle seven world-class stages in mid-Wales in the Myherin, Sweet Lamb, Hafren and Sarnau forests.

It would be last year’s winners Matt Hirst and Declan Dear that set the pace from the outset, setting the fastest time on all four of the morning’s stages to head back into the mid-day service with a mighty 20-second lead. However, the hard work would be undone in the afternoon, losing over 30 seconds with a puncture on the fifth test, before suffering another on the final stage of the rally.

This allowed Newby to take advantage of the ailing Fiesta, setting the pace on the Myherin Main test and again in Cwmysgawen to storm to the win, adding to his Malcolm Wilson Rally Interclub victory last month, taking maximum MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally Series points in the process.

“That was totally unexpected,” said a shocked Newby at the finish.

“It’s been a phenomenal day and there isn’t a mark on the car. The pacenotes were brilliant and the stages are just fantastic down here, it’s absolutely mega. You know of course we have a little bit in the back of our minds with Craig [Breen] obviously, our thoughts are still going towards him, but in terms of the pace today, I absolutely loved it, I couldn’t be any happier”.

Last week, World Rally Championship driver Craig Breen lost his life in a testing accident for the forthcoming Croatia Rally and the Rallynuts Stages Rally held a one-minute silence ahead of the start as a mark of respect. The winners also didn’t take part in the traditional champagne spray in his honour.

Payne was thankful for his second place after a difficult day behind the wheel. Issues with the setup of the Fiesta hampered progress in the morning loop and despite changes in service, couldn’t make inroads on Newby’s lead. The runner-up spot would offer some consolidation in his second BTRDA title quest which remains firmly alive.

Hirst limped back to the finish with little left of the transmission, to round out the podium but would do enough to secure maximum Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship points.

Russ Thompson and Steve Link hurled their Mitsubishi Evo IX to an impressive fourth spot on the opening stage and remained there for the remainder of the event. Whilst they would always struggle to match the pace of the R5 machinery in front, the pairing produced a faultless run.

The Fiesta Rally2 of Alistair Ginley rounded out the top five with Craig Thorley on the notes, whilst Robert Wilson and Richard Crozier took sixth in their Mitsubishi Evo VII.

The Rallynuts Stages Rally also attracted a healthy two-wheel-drive battle and it was the stunning FIAT 131 Abarth of Nick Elliott and Dave Price who took the honours. But they snatched that marker from the grasp of Robert Gough and Paul Morris on the final stage, who had control in the afternoon in their Ford Escort MKII, losing out by just one second.

Builth Wells driver Jason Pritchard had the honour of first local driver home in 13th overall in his Ford Escort MKII and was only a handful of seconds behind the leading historic crews.

The Bowler Defender Challenge was won by the Finnish crew of Jorma and Janne Jokela, enjoying over a minute gap to the second place Vanessa Ruck and Chris Cumming.

For the rest of the Rally Nuts Stages article see here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.

As seen in the Monmouthshire Beacon: Follow Vanessa’s journey as she prepares to compete on four wheels with her Defender 110. Monmouthshire Beacon has the latest updates.

Local motorsports champion, Vanessa Ruck, also known as The Girl on a Bike, recently embarked on an exciting journey with the Bowler Customer Experience Program at Walters Arena. The program aims to transform complete novices into skilled rally drivers and navigators through a comprehensive training process.

The first part of the program involved familiarising Ruck with the Defender 110, followed by getting her hands on the Bowler rally car. The training began with a focus on navigation, as being a competent co-pilot is as important as driving the car itself. Ruck, who has previously participated in rallies, found the UK rally system’s use of miles and English abbreviations to be a learning curve.

The program continued with a detailed, step-by-step guide to help participants understand the car’s technology and engineering. This included learning how to switch between road mode, rally mode, and emergency mode to adapt to various situations that might arise during a race.

In addition to learning how to operate the vehicle, participants were also taught how to change a rally tire and respond to emergency scenarios. Ruck appreciated the hands-on approach, which allowed her to gain confidence in her abilities to handle any situation that may occur during a rally race.

Before getting behind the wheel, Vanessa teamed up with an experienced partner, Chris, who helped her understand how to read the terrain and navigate the course. Once familiar with the layout, Ruck moved into the driver’s seat and took on the challenge of completing 20 laps around the track.

Though the experience was intense, Vanessa found it incredibly rewarding, saying, “I know I’m normally into motorbikes, but is that not an absolutely sexy beast?” The Bowler Customer Experience Program has equipped Ruck with some of the skills she needs to take on future rallies.

For the rest of the Monmouthshire Beacon article see here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.