Jennings to Sweden for Mirage R5 test

Garry Jennings will travel to Sweden this week where he will test the Mitsubishi Mirage R5 on snow.

The 2013 Irish Tarmac champion will meet up with engineers from Spencer Sport, the team that prepares the car, and representatives from Mpart AB, the company spearheading its development.

The group intend to run the Mirage from Thursday to Monday and Jennings remains confident there are some big gains to be had from the supermini in terms of its handling and performance.

“If we return from Sweden with the car sorted then there’s the chance the car can be brought back to Ireland later in the year,” explained Jennings, who drove it competitively for the first time on last August’s Ulster National Rally before turbo boost issues forced his retirement at the end of leg one.

“The team has said ‘all the problems you told us about were there and they have all been fixed’. That is really why I’m heading to Sweden – to drive the car and find out for myself if that’s the case.

“Everything is up in the air at the moment as far as what our plans are with the car. Hopefully once we get everything sorted we can move forward. We hoped to do a rally in Sweden this year but it clashes with another event they [Spencer Sport] have planned. We will have to see.” ● The Galway International Rally, the first round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, had attracted 91 entrants as of last week. Last year’s winner Jennings is among them in his Subaru WRC.