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Junior Rallying back in action with yet another new driver |
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Monday, 23 June 2008 |
Junior
Rallying, the scheme to develop the next generation of British rallying
talent by training drivers from 14 years of age, returns to Latvia next
weekend, for the next round of the RallySprint championship. Two
familiar faces will form part of the three-car line-up, with another
new addition to the scheme, Jamie Brown, joining Tom Cave and Tom Clark
as they compete on the Kekava 2008 Rally.
Based
in the same town as the similarly-named event earlier this year, next
weekend’s rally features completely different stages from May. This
time, the roads are more technical and while the experience of
returning to a familiar host town will be useful to the drivers, the
new roads will make the event just as challenging as the first time
round.
The
rally sees the crews complete the recce on Saturday 28 June with six
stages run on Sunday 29, totalling 60 stage kilometres, with a total
distance covered of 170Km.
As
the drivers are all too young to hold a road license, once each car
reaches the end of the stage, driver and co-driver must swap seats, as
well as roles. The driver picks up the road book and time cards and is
responsible for navigating the co-driver to the next time control on
time.
While
this is the only way that minors are able to compete in Latvia,
according to Junior Rallying Manager and co-driver for Tom Cave Gemma
Price, this helps the drivers to build an understanding of the
co-driver’s role and importance. “Assuming the role of the co-driver on
the road sections is good experience for the drivers. While they may
not need that experience in actual competition, it does give them an
implicit understanding of the intricacies involved in ensuring that the
car is in exactly the right place at the right time. It’s all part of
the development model which we have created with Junior Rallying.”
Three
Junior Rallying drivers will be competing next weekend. Tom Cave, the
inspiration for the scheme itself, is returning to competition after
missing the recent Cesis Rally to concentrate on his GCSE exams. He
will be keen to maximise his experience and build confidence after his
last event, where he rolled his Ford Fiesta ST and subsequently
retired. He will use the event as a warm-up for the Rally Kurzene the
following weekend, the next round of the National championship.
Tom
Clark will make a welcome return to Latvia. The 14 year-old from Essex
has put in a string of exceptional results so far this year and will
use the event to continue to develop the settings on his new Suzuki
Swift Cup car, a process he began on the last round. He and co-driver
Aggie Foster have set themselves a goal of achieving a top-five class
finish in the car, which should be well within their reach, if their
previous performances are anything to go by.
Joining
his two experienced colleagues next weekend is Junior Rallying’s latest
recruit, 16 year-old Jamie Brown from Norfolk. While this will be
Jamie’s first rally, he’s no stranger to motorsport, having been
karting for several years and currently competing in the 750 Motor Club
SaxMax championship, where he is currently sixth.
While
he undoubtedly has skills on the circuit, he and his family are looking
at rallying as his father comes from a rally background. For the event,
he will be using a two-litre Honda Civic and will be partnered by
experienced co-driver Craig Burgess. Jamie underwent a Junior Rallying
training course at the Sweet Lamb Rally Complex in the run-up to the
event and impressed both Price and the instructors with his approach
and potential.
“We
concentrated on shaking the car down ready for the trip to Latvia, as
well as working on Jamie’s skills,” said Price. “I was very pleased
with how he did. He came on leaps and bounds on the day, as we worked
on car control skills as well as pace notes and various other aspects
of rallying, which will be new to him. Jamie has been brought up on
rallying, but until Junior Rallying launched in January, was unaware
that he would be able to get started in the sport before he was 17. We
welcome him to the team and look forward to a good first event."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 23 June 2008 )
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