for gravel rally debut

High speed rally action is on the agenda this weekend (March 1) for the Welsh-based GEMsport team as rising stars Elfyn Evans and Meilyr Evans head to Cumbria for the Malcolm Wilson Stages.

The one day event which takes in 45 stage miles in the classic forests of the Lake District is the first round of the UK’s Fiesta SportingTrophy.

The GEMsport team has already secured victory on the first round of the Irish series and is looking to repeat this success on the Malcolm Wilson stages on Saturday March 1.

GEMsport manager Gwyndaf Evans said the hustings.com team had been on a real high since the win in Galway when Elfyn Evans guided his Fiesta to overall honours and team mate Meilyr finished an impressive fourth.

“The Irish rounds are all asphalt and the UK rounds gravel so the crew has been busy swapping the settings and suspension on the cars ready for the first visit this year to the forests,’’ he said.

“Testing went extremely well with both drivers happy with their cars and we are now looking forward to seeing the stunning hustings.com Fiestas out in action in the forests.’’

Elfyn is no stranger to the Malcolm Wilson stages having competed last year on his way to third overall in the championship but this is a new event for 18 year old Meilyr who is competing in the series for the first time.

“These are going to be tough stages for both Elfyn and for Meilyr,’’ said Gwyndaf. “We are keeping a close eye on the weather conditions to ensure that the cars are set up to cope with a variety of conditions and the drivers have been working hard on their mental and physical fitness to ensure that they are in the right frame of mind to attack the stages from start to finish.’’

Action gets underway early on Saturday morning with the crews set to tackle seven high speed stages – including two in the Grizedale complex – before the finish in Cockermouth.