The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perthshire pair battle with Welsh mountains
Rallying: Brown and Simmonds sixth in ‘milestone’ race
Perthshire rally team BBR Rallying kicked off their 2016 campaign with a steady drive under tricky weather conditions in Newtown, Wales, last weekend.
Driver Blair Brown and co-driver Richard Simmonds successfully finished the first round of the DMACK British Junior Rally Championship in their Ford Fiesta R 2 Tina respect able sixth position following a 68-mile battle through the snowy Welsh mountains.
Blair, 20, said: “We’ve reached a big milestone in our rallying career.
“I personally haven’t competed much in Wales and the stages are very different from Scotland, so there was a lot of learning in this event, especially as this was our first time competing on gravel in the Fiesta. Higher middle pack was our aim and we’ve achieved this.
“We certainly expect to be in the top mix by midway through the season.”
Co-driver Richard, 45, said: “Rally Mid-Wales gave us our toughest test so far with making notes for a gravel rally for the first time, not helped with a covering of snow, making it difficult to find the edges of the road.
“Blair did a tremendous job keeping the car on the track and calling out corners.
“We are delighted to finish with championship points and the car in one piece. We both know where we can make improvements to improve our pace and hopefully get closer to the front-runners.
“We’re now looking forward to taking on the challenge of the next round – hopefully with no snow.”
The next event is in four weeks’ time – the 85th Circuit of Ireland Rally which takes place from April 7-9.
Highlights from the opening round of the MSA British Rally Championship (BRC) can be seen this Saturday on Channel 4 and BT Sport.