But the youngest home driver in this week’s Guernsey Rally, at 25 years old, is loving it.
The former lap record-holder of Victoria Avenue competed in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 rallies as a co-driver before taking the wheel last year and winning an award for biggest improvement on seeding – he finished 12th while running at No 32.
‘Rallying is definitely the peak out of everything I’ve done so far,’ he said.
‘I’ve really enjoyed it. You get so much seat time and you’re going so fast down tight lanes.
‘It’s definitely the favourite thing I’ve done, but karting has definitely taught me all the skills to get there.
‘A lot of people have started in karting.’
Le Ray started his own motorsport career on the kart track some 13 years ago.
But it was not long before he started doubling up on occasion, as back then one only needed to be 13 to drive a kart up the hill climbs.
In early 2019, Le Ray set a kart track record of 22.33sec. that lasted for just over a year before being taken down by up-and-coming challenger Sam Heathcote.
And to this day he pops up a few times in the Le Val des Terres record-books, most notably his still-unbeaten 125 Gearbox karts mark of 30.73 from July 2022.
By then he was also racing cars up the hill and partaking in Guernsey’s own rally, here as a co-driver for fellow youngster Fraser Torode.
They finished third in Class B and 20th overall with their Peugeot 205 GTI in 2020’s pre-Covid rally, then in the next edition two years on improved their outright position to 13th.
But their retirements in the 2022 Jersey and 2023 Guernsey events underlined that rallying is not an easy ride.
The uninitiated might assume that the co-driver just sits there and fires off instructions during stages – but it is much more complex than that.
‘The co-driver’s role is very difficult,’ Le Ray added.
‘It’s not just telling the driver where to go.
‘It’s a lot about the timings, getting to the stage at the right time.’
Last year’s Guernsey Rally marked Le Ray’s long-awaited debut as a driver.
Alongside smashing their seeding, he and navigator Dave Harvey powered their Honda Civic EG6 to a top-three finish in the FWD2 (front-wheel drive up to two litres) class. Not a bad start at all.
‘For my first ever rally driving, I was well over the moon with it. I was really, really chuffed.’
Driving his first Jersey Rally last October, Le Ray was challenged by the unfamiliar roads but managed to avoid the high attrition rate, finishing unscathed and 33rd overall.
‘Particularly when I did Jersey last year, where I didn’t know the roads, you are purely relying on the co-driver to know where you’re going and you’ve got to have that good relationship of trust to tell you where you’re going.’
Thankfully, he has great trust in co-driver Harvey.
Harvey has a few seasons behind him driving a Ford Fiesta in the hill climbs and, it seems, is a navigating natural.
‘His first time navigating was with me as a driver, so it was our first rally in new roles together, but he adapted very quickly to it.
‘To be honest, he hasn’t messed up at all. He’s been cracking on the notes and all this time, we haven’t yet had a penalty.
‘Hopefully it stays like that, because it’s very easy to get a penalty for getting the timings wrong getting to a stage.’
Over the last month, Le Ray has been busy in the garage getting the car ready – and for good reason.
‘Preparation is the number one thing to success in a rally.
‘The rally is very tough on the car.
‘For Guernsey that’s going be 50 stage miles. Yeah, it’s tough work for the cars when you’re giving them stick for that whole time.’
When it comes to setting targets at this year’s rally, Le Ray does not want to get ahead of himself.
Their class has now widened to include non front-wheel drive cars, meaning there will be significantly more crews to contend with.
And rallying is a tough game, often catching out even the more experienced campaigners.
‘Every rally I’ve gone into, my main aim has been to finish, because that is such an achievement in itself.
‘Top 15 again overall would be my highlight with what I’ll be aiming for.
‘I don’t expect to get as high a position in my class, but we can only try.’
Along the way, he will be embracing the pockets of home support that assemble at safe viewing points along the stages.
The Petit Bot double hairpins may be absent from this year’s stage plan, but spectators will still have plenty to look forward to.
‘Especially at The Manor last year, at the hairpins, there was massive support there.
‘That’s definitely a highlight of most people.
‘And a few people have asked, “You doing the Manor again this year?”
‘We’re not doing it this year. But there are definitely going to be some other spots which will be good to watch out for.
‘The amount of support from the locals is good to see.’
