Wales Rally GB newsletter 2008-11-25

Youngest ever Rally GB Driver gets green light

Welshman Tom Cave passed his practical driving test today (Tuesday 25th) and when he goes over the Wales Rally GB start ramp in Cardiff on Thursday 4th December will - at 17 years and 18 days - be the youngest ever driver on Britain's round of the FIA World Rally Championship event.

His examiner noted only seven minor faults (up to a maximum of 15 are acceptable to gain a pass) and attributed some to Tom being "over confident".

The teenager from Aberdyfi has been competing on special stage rallies in Latvia for the past two years where local laws allowed him to drive the competitive timed sections but not on the public road! His co-driver, Wolverhampton-born Gemma Price, took the wheel on the non-competitive road sections.

"Our objective for Wales Rally GB is simple; to bring our Group N Ford Fiesta ST to the finish, ideally without using SupeRally [regulations which allow cars retiring on days one and two to return on the following day with additional time penalties]. To complete the event on my first attempt, on the same stages as the best drivers on the world, would be an incredible feat for me and a perfect culmination of two years of competition in Latvia."

The Latvian Automobile Federation (LAF) has granted Tom his international rally license allowing him to participate on Wales Rally GB.

36,000 batteries will be saved from landfill thanks to an innovative new sponsorship deal between leading European battery manufacturer, Varta and Wales Rally GB. All 4,500 of the volunteer marshals and rally officials will be provided with Varta's new wind-up Dynamo Light which was launched in September alongside Varta's rechargeable and wind-up product range. This further endorses the credentials of Wales Rally GB as the first World Rally Championship round to achieve CarbonNeutral(R) status. Varta are also backing Worksop's Rob Gill, starting his eighth Rally GB. (Rally number 72)

Finally, surprisingly none of the 86 entries that were published on 7th November have withdrawn, despite the worsening "credit crunch" The only question hangs over the two entries by Mitsubishi Motors UK for County Durham's Guy Wilks and Gwyndaf Evans from Dolgellau, pending a technical appeal arising from Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, the previous round of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship, in October. Wales Rally GB is the final two rounds of the British Championship. Wilks, the defending Champion and Evans, the 1996 Champion, are entered in Mitsubishi Lancer's prepared by Chesterfield's ADR Motorsport.

-credit: walesrallygb.com