ULSTER RALLY FOR LOUDON

Uddingston co-driver Stuart Loudon has high hopes for the Ulster Rally this month, as he and Alex Laffey continue a successful British Rally Championship link-up.

The duo finished ninth overall in Rally Ypres, and although that was the last event they took part in, Laffey is comfortable on tarmac.

The Today’s Uister Rally takes place on Friday and Saturday, August 16 and 17, with action mainly on the Saturday, which has been relocated to a new base in the city, with special stages in County Down, and covering 94 miles.

Action on the Saturday features a shakedown stage running on the Friday, allowing crews to make any last-minute adjustments to their cars, and give the thousands of spectators an early glimpse of their favourite drivers.

The Northern Ireland Motor Club event will be a counting round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the British Rally Championship and the European Rally Trophy – Celtic Cup.

Entry numbers will be strengthened further as crews from both the FUCHS Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship and the FUCHS Lubricants Historic Asphalt Rally Championship will be eligible to score points.

Stuart said: “Preparations are going well.

“We don’t have a test before this rally, which isn’t great since Ypres was over a month ago, but Alex prefers tarmac over gravel, so we should get into the groove pretty quickly.

“They are always great rallies over there, so we’re looking forward to it.”