Jim Clark Rally· Round 4, Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship·
Tarmac debut in JRM Mitsubishi EvoX· 16 stages, 140 stage miles, 1.5 days
Teenage rally driver Tom Cave will make his 2011 4WD tarmac debut next weekend, when he and co-driver Craig Parry tackle the Jim Clark Rally, the fourth round of the 2011 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship.
After non-finishes on the last two rounds, the 19 year-old is keen to get his championship campaign back on track, despite not having driven the JRM Group N Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX on tarmac before. The action will begin as Tom sets the car up for the weekend on the official event shakedown, running on the morning of Friday 27th May, following the completion of the one-day recce.
As this will be his first taste of the JRM car on asphalt, he will be keen to not only get a feeling for the car on sealed surfaces but also set it up to his liking. Luckily, Tom already has some idea of what to expect on the event itself, having competed on it two years ago, at the wheel of the Group N Ford Fiesta ST. He also has experience of tarmac events in his own Subaru Impreza so the shakedown and early stages will be a case of tying everything together to find the right rhythm to give Tom back his confidence.
The event itself will be the toughest challenge the BRC crews have faced so far this year, with six stages run on Friday evening and a full 10 timed tests on Saturday. The total competitive distance for the event is almost 140 stage miles, more than double some of the previous rounds, so while this will place huge demands on crews, it also means that the opportunity to regain lost time or stretch an advantages also exists.
Commenting, Tom said; "I'm definitely looking forward to getting back in the JRM EvoX and back into action. I'm sure the last two rallies, where we finished neither, will play on my mind to start with but if we can find a good rhythm and get my confidence back, then there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to have a good rally. "I haven't driven the JRM car on tarmac before and while it's physically a big car, other drivers who have driven it say it's very good on asphalt. But I think that this event will be where we start to see the S2000 cars come into their own. We already know that the Skoda is the front-running S2000 car and I think this event will be better suited to their lower weight.
"I think they will push the Group N cars quite a lot and I feel we'll also see the pace of the whole championship take a step forward, as a result. "But it's a very long rally and with six stages on Friday in the evening and a full day on Saturday, there's plenty of opportunities; rain could change the whole game and in this case, it could well be a case of sitting back and waiting to see what happens."
The event begins with the ceremonial start in the centre of Duns, the home town of namesake Jim Clark, from 17.30 on the evening of Friday 27th May. The event begins with the first of two runs around the Duns superspecial at 19.00, followed by five more stages before the crews reach the overnight parc ferme from midnight. The action begins again at 08.00 on Saturday, with the crews facing a further 10 stages and almost 100 stage miles, before arriving at the ceremonial finish, again in Duns, from 18.00
