Tom Cave's 2011 rally campaign will begin next week, when he tackles the Red Kite Rally in his Subaru Impreza N10. The 19 year-old will use the event, as well as next month's Wyedean Rally, as warm-up events for his assault on the 2011 British Rally Championship.

Tom initially had an entry for this year's Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo but decided that the resources necessary to contest the event would be better served to compete on several events to ensure that he was in the best shape for the beginning of the BRC on the Sunseeker Rally in February.

The Subaru, the same car which Tom and co-driver Craig Parry used to win the 2010 Coracle Stages Rally outright, has had an extensive rebuild at the hands of Davies Motorsport Services, including a new engine and gearbox and Tom is looking forward to gauging the improvements since his maiden rally win last year.

He carried out a brief test before Christmas but the snowy conditions meant that he was unable to assess the improvements. However, another test scheduled days before the start of the Red Kite should give him the opportunity to find out how far the car has progressed over the winter.

And while the Subaru isn't the car that he will use in the BRC, he is buoyed by the last time he drove it; "The objective for the Red Kite is to get some seat time and start preparing for the first round of the BRC, Rally Sunseeker.

"I'm looking forward to being back in the Subaru - we had a great result last time out in it and of course, I'd be lying if I wasn't secretly hoping for a similar result next week.

"I've been working quite hard over the winter, both on my physical fitness and with Craig on the pace note system and I'm raring to go. The plan is to go for it on the Red Kite and see what the pace is like. I can't wait."

The one-day event takes place on Sunday 23 January and covers 45 stage miles from the rally base in Llandovery. The leading crew is expected to finish the event at 14.30Hrs.