September will be a particularly busy month for teenage rally driver Tom Cave. The youngster from Aberdovey will contest two rallies and appear at RallyDay, the UK's premier rally event, at the wheel of three very different rally cars, including his S2000 Proton Satria Neo and two Group N cars.
His first foray will be this weekend, when he tackles the Woodpecker Stages rally in the Group N Subaru N10 which he used to clinch his first ever outright rally win on the Coracle Stages. Tom and co-driver Craig Parry are seeded ninth overall and second car in N4, based on their performance on the Coracle Stages. The one-day event is based at the Ludlow racetrack and sees the crews compete over seven stages, including the classic Radnor test.
Two weeks later on 18 September, Tom will again be in action, this time without the pressure of actual competition, as he takes his Proton Satria Neo Super2000 to RallyDay, arguably the UK's premier rally event. He will be running the Satria around the feature stage of the event, using part of the Castle Combe Circuit and putting on a show for the crowds with the normally aspirated rally car.
The following week, 24/25 September, he returns to competition, though this time in Latvia, where he spent three years competing and earning his international rally license. He will be tackling the Baltic nation's flagship event, Rally Latvia for the fourth time although on this occasion, in the most technically advanced car he has driven to date.
He will be at the wheel of the MML Sports Group N Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX, the latest iteration of the famous Lancer brand and developed by the company formed from the works Mitsubishi rally team.
Since it debuted in Latvia last year, the car has shed 60Kg of weight and gained 65Nm of torque and Mark Higgins recently described it as the best Group N car he has driven, so Tom is understandably excited by the prospect.
Commenting, Tom said; "It's going to be a busy month, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to getting back in the Subaru for the Woodpecker stages, as the last event, the Neath Valley stages, was very frustrating. We lost the rear diff early on and that cost us a result. However, we got a stage win and two second fastest times, so hopefully, the car will run without any problems and we'll have a good event. It'll be tough, as there are a lot of world cars on the event but we'll enjoy it nonetheless.
"I'm also looking forward to RallyDay. It will be good to be out in the Proton again after the disaster on Ypres. It will be a good opportunity to see if the engine is back together OK after its rebuild and see whether the additional power we have been told it has is noticeable. I went to RallyDay last year and really enjoyed it - everyone who's anyone in rallying is there and it's always a great day out.
"And then Rally Latvia in the MML Sports Group N EvoX - that's going to be very interesting. The Latvians seem very pleased that we will be competing on the event again and I have to say, it's a fantastic rally with amazing atmosphere. I'm very excited to be driving the MML Sports Lancer and am looking forward to seeing how it compares with the Subaru and the Proton.
"I think that after these three events, we'll be able to make a decision about what we'll be doing next year, as I will have driven all the potential cars within four weeks!"
