JRM will take part in its first rally of the year next Saturday (12th February), when 19-year old Tom Cave drives one of the company's Group N Mitsubishi Evolution Xs in the opening round of the BTRDA Series, the Wyedean Forest Rally. This will be Cave's first outing in a JRM car, the talented Aberdovey youngster hiring it for this event.

After a highly successful season in 2010, when JRM achieved its goal of winning the British Rally Championship Teams' title, the company has decided to look at other areas where it can increase its profile and develop its business of hiring and selling rally cars and competition parts. It is therefore delighted to be running Cave in the Forest of Dean-based event and, if all goes well, hopes the association will continue for the Rallye Sunseeker - the first round of the MSA British Rally Championship - which takes place at the end of February.

"We are extremely pleased to see Tom in one of our cars this weekend", said JRM Team Manager John Barnes. "It is also good for us to have a profile in the BTRDA series and, if this leads into the first round of the British Championship as well, it will be an excellent start to the season for us."

Although working with the JRM team will be a new experience for Cave, he does have former knowledge of driving a Mitsubishi to call on, as he previously competed in an Evo X in Latvia last year. And, if his performance two weeks ago on the Red Kite Stages in South Wales is anything to go by - when he finished an excellent second overall - he could well be on the pace of the front-runners this weekend.

"I'm looking forward to the event, even though pretty much everything is new', said Cave. "The only constant is Craig [Parry, his co-driver]. We're in a new car, with a new team, on a new event with route notes, which are also new to me. No pressure then..."

"I think that because of the level of competition and, with many of the other drivers in the event having previous experience of the rally, the only way is flat out from the start. I think a top-five finish and possibly a class win would be an excellent result and that's what I'll be aiming for."

The Wyedean Rally starts and finishes from Chepstow Racecourse. It features a route of 45 competitive miles split into six stages in the surrounding forests, plus a 1.5-mile spectator stage through the racecourse itself. The full entry of 180 cars will see Cave's JRM Mitsubishi up against a variety of other machinery, some of them WRC cars, as well as B13 (open class) and other Group N (production class) cars.