| SKI
STAR SWOPS SLALOMS FOR STAGES
Britain’s Olympic
ski star Alain Baxter will be swopping the snowy Alpine slopes
of the equally slippery stages in Kielder Forest when he lines
up with over 100 other hopefuls for the Pirelli International
Rally which blasts off from Gateshead’s Baltic Centre on
April 25th. Alain, winner of two Europa Cup events this season
will be piloting a Peugeot 206 in the two day event which features
some 30 similar cars as the event is a round of the Peugeot 206
Super Cup series as well as the opening round of the Pirelli British
Rally Championship.
Although a newcomer
to rallying, the Gateshead based event will be his introduction
to the sport, Alain is no stranger to speed and he sailed through
his Motor Sports Association rally driving test earlier this month
with flying colours. He will certainly have ample opportunity
to test his slalom ability on four wheels on the many sweeping
corners and blind bends that abound in the notorious Kielder Forest
complex and, just to spice things up a little, the Friday evening
stages will be run in darkness.
As part of the build up to the Pirelli International
Rally, the local Peugeot dealer, Springfield, will be hosting
a Rally Night at their premises on Thursday April 24th. when Peugeot’s
team driver Gary Jennings is expected to attend along with Super
Cup series leader Shaun Gallagher and Spanish sensation Joan Rocca.
There will also be a display of Peugeot cars at the Pirelli Rally
Show which opens at Gateshead’s Baltic Park. From 4:00pm
on Friday April 25th.
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