The up and coming generation of rally drivers, all intent on making the grade to the full British Championship will be out in force on the Pirelli BRC Challenge Rally, a support event which follows the main Pirelli International Rally on the Saturday stages through Kielder Forest.

 

The event, designed to give younger drivers a taste of top line rallying is a counting round of the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy and the winners of the opening round of that series, Matt Edwards, originally from Llandudno but now based in Cockermouth, and Andy Murphy, will lead the field away from Carlisle Racecourse.

 

The Fiesta Sporting Trophy is a very hotly contested championship, with the cars evenly matched and they will face tough competition from Stevie Brown/ Andrew Roughead, John Boyd/ Fred Bell, Harry Hunt/ Steve McPhee and Robert Barrable/ Seamus O’Grady.

 

Hoping to get back to winning ways will be Julian Wilkes/ Will Rutherford whose Nova suffered from fuel pump problems on the last round. Likewise, Dick Archer/ Tom Ward will be hoping they have overcome the gearbox problems that beset their Corsa in Wales.

 

Giving away a lot of power but always trying hard, Callum Black/ Paul Wakely will be trying hard in their MG ZR while Eddie and David Meek ( Ford Puma ) will be looking for a finish after retiring on the last round. There is plenty of variety in the field with Andy Gwynne / Holly Robinson in a Citroen Saxo, James and Helen Alexander and Brett Griffin / Sam Fordham in Peugeot 106’s and   Callum Bendall/ James Haugh and Amanda and Derek Cornforth in Ford KA’s.

 

The Pirelli BRC Challenge Rally starts from Carlisle Racecourse and covers 8 stages in Kielder Forest before finishing at the Racecourse with the first car expected to cross the finishing line at 1:45pm.