Tom Cave will have a double outing to Belgium this month, as the youngster enters the Rallye de la Haute Senne one week before beginning his Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign on the famous Ypres Rally. He will run alongside the official Proton team as they tackle the national event as a test and shakedown ahead of the sixth round of this year's IRC.
Tom already has two gravel outings under his belt in his Proton Satria Neo Super2000, finishing sixth and fifth respectively on the Plains Rally and the Severn Valley Stages in the UK. However, while he will undoubtedly be buoyed by his and the Proton's pace on gravel, running on tarmac is a complete unknown.
Both the Tom Cave Racing and the Proton teams have a UK shakedown this week before heading to Braine-le-Comte, just south of Brussels, for the Rallye de la Haute Senne. This event will be a perfect test for the following weekend, as it features four loops of three stages, allowing the team to make changes to the car between each loop and immediately assess the changes, as they develop the best Ypres set-up.
In addition, it will give Tom more than 100 kilometres at the wheel of the Proton in a competitive situation, to develop his tarmac driving style and learn the intricacies of Belgian tarmac.
Commenting, Tom said; "This is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks for me. We haven't turned a wheel on tarmac in the Proton yet, so it's all about learning and gaining as much experience as possible.
"We're starting in the UK with a basic shakedown and while this will be nothing like the conditions we'll find in Belgium, it will be my first taste of the Proton in tarmac trim. As soon as the shakedown is finished, we head for Brussels and the Rallye de la Haute Senne.
"I think this will be a perfect opportunity for us. Four loops of three stages means that we will be able to tweak the car's settings and my pace notes and compare the results virtually in real time. The fact that it's on a genuine rally means that we will gain far more than if we were simply testing.
Craig [Parry] is back in the car with me for these two events and while both Sean [O'Gorman, Plains] and Ieuan [Thomas, Severn Valley] did a fantastic job, it will be good to have a familiar voice next to me."
In addition to the mileage and set-up options, this will be Tom's first event alongside the official Proton team and his first opportunity to pick up tips from the works drivers, Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson.
"I'm really looking forward to working alongside Alister and Chris and learning what I can from them and the team. They've been at the top of their game for years, so I'll be looking closely at what they're doing and hopefully, get a much clearer idea of how it all works at the top level of the sport.
"I've been working towards this for the last three years, so I'm going to make the most of it."
The Rallye de la Haute Senne runs on Sunday 20 June, with the first cars beginning at 08.00. They face twelve stages before the first car is expected at the finish ramp at 18.30.
