Richard "Dicky" Sloan

Richard "Dicky" Sloan (Born 8th August 1980) is a Scottish Racing Driver. They are the 2004 World Rally Champion and switched to open-wheel racing in 2005. Sloan joined Formula One in 2008 with Margheriti Racing and remained with them until the end of the 2011 season.
== Early Life and Career ==
Richard grew up in the Scottish Countryside with their Mum and Grandma who were both florists. Richard was fascinated with F1 and Group B rally as a kid, idolising Jack Wilson and Ferrari, but assumed F1 was a dream they could not reach. It took until a fellow Scot, when Andrew McDougall won the World Rally Championship in 1990, to give Richard the courage to finally pursue racing.
Richard started their racing career doing karting as their 10th birthday present, and continued to kart on and off up until they were able to get into a car.
== Rally Racing Career ==
===Scottish Rally Championship ===
====Toyota (1998-1999)====
=====1998=====
With help from family friends, Richard started Rallying in 1998 with Toyota in the Scottish Rally Championship. With a great start
for a rookie, they finished 4th in the championship.
=====1999=====
They continued rallying with Toyota in 1999, building on the year prior, winning the championship by just 5 points.
===British Rally Championship===
====Mitsubishi (2000)====
After Toyota left the rally scene, Richard moved on to the British Rally Championship in 2000 with a helping hand from Mitsubishi. Unfortunately they could not mesh with the car or the team, finishing in a disappointing yet still respectable 6th place.
===FIA Super 1600 Championship===
====Peugeot (2001)====
With the opportunity of the newly created Super 1600 Championship in 2001,Sloan was scouted by Peugeot and took the inaugural championship by a landslide.
===World Rally Championship===
====Peugeot (2002)====
Winning in the Super 1600 championship solidified Dicky in Peugeot's mind and moved them up to WRC with the main team for the 2002 season, finishing 6th place and helping Peugeot get their final constructors' championship in the series.
====Citroën (2003-2004) ====
=====2003=====
As Peugeot departed from the sport, Richard came back to WRC with a vengeance in 2003 with Citroen.
This partnership unfortunately started with a big crash during testing, leaving Richard out for the first four rounds. After finally recovering, Sloan proved how capable of a driver they were by finishing 5th.
=====2004=====
Now with the opportunity to complete a full season for Citroen in 2004,
they had an explosive 3 way battle that ultimately led to Richard winning their first Drivers World Championship Title.
==Open-Wheel Racing Career==
===Formula 3 Euro Championship===
====Manor Motorsport (2005)====
Feeling fulfilled as a World Rally Champion and looking for a new challenge, Sloan looked to their roots and moved back to Single-Seaters in 2005 in the Formula 3 Euro championship, driving for Manor Motorsport. Considering how big of a shift of discipline this was for the Rally Driver, they showed their speed, finishing in the points in their second race and went on to complete the championship in 6th place.
====ASM Formule 3 (2006)====
Seeing the potential in Dicky, ASM Formule 3 snatched them up for 2006 with the intention to get them all the way up to F1. This season proved tough, with another career collision half way through the season,
but they managed to come back fighting harder than ever, finishing 3rd place; even after missing rounds due to their injuries.
===GP2 Championship===
====ART GP (2007)====
Richard moved up to GP2 in 2007 with ART GP and they had consistent growth throughout the championship with a very impressive 3rd place season finish. Peeking the interest of many F1 teams, Sloan had test drives from Margheriti Alfa Romeo and previous team manufacturer Toyota, eventually earning them a seat in the 2008 F1 season with Margheriti Alfa Romeo.
Category:Drivers
Category:Active Drivers
Category:Scottish
Category:Rally