DARRIAN TO MAKE STAGE RALLY DEBUT
Ashley Field will give his Darrian T90+ a stage rally debut as he heads for the Manx National this weekend.
Field has campaigned the car in the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship this year, currently sitting third in the standings after a shaft broke while he was leading the last round of the championship at Cadwell Park.
“This is why we’ve built the car, for the narrow and bumpy lanes,” said Field, who will be joined by Janice Moore on the notes. “The Circuit championship has been perfect for bedding the car in. Ideally we would have done more on bumpy lanes but I’m looking forward to it.”
The car has been designed for the Manx and Ireland and the former 205 Cup driver is hoping to be the cat among the pigeons on the car’s first proper stage rally.
Jason Pritchard will lead the cars away, hoping to become the first driver to win the event three years in a row.
Arron Newby was expected to challenge in his B13-spec Subaru Impreza but a supply issue meant he had to pull the entry. Instead, Pritchard’s challenge is likely to come from Damian Cole and Paul Morris in their 2015 Ford Fiesta WRC.
John Stone could provide a challenge as fourth seed in his Ford Fiesta S2000 with a 2.5-litre Millington engine, giving scope to Field’s likely frontrunning pace as he beat Stone on the Lee Holland Memorial Rally in March.