The Vauxhall Junior Rally Team head north to Cumbria this weekend for the third round of the 2016 MSA Junior British Rally Championship, the Pirelli Carlisle Rally. The team are aiming to capitalise on a season start which sees all three of their drivers in the top 10 after two rounds.
Thanks to Vauxhall’s sister company in Europe, Opel, the Adam R2 already has a big name as a tarmac rally car. This claim is supported by the results of round two of the MSA British Rally Championship at the Circuit of Ireland where Adams claimed the top two steps of the JBRC podium. With strong results on the Mid Wales Stages Rally, the team are looking to give the little Vauxhall a big name on gravel surfaces too, when the cars return to the loose for the third round of the championship.
After a great result on his home rally Robert Duggan and co-driver Gerard Conway lead the championship by 1 point from the Renault Twingo of Sindre Furuseth. Matthias Adielsson sits fourth in the standings while Arron Windus holds eighth place.
Duggan is targeting his second podium of the season after winning in Ireland. So far the Irishman has taken points on both rallies, finishing fifth on the Mid Wales Stages to start the year. A short break between the Circuit of Ireland and the Pirelli Carlisle Rally restricts testing time but the crew have found time for a forestry rally close to home, sharpening skills on loose surfaces.
The team’s gravel specialist is Adielsson. The Swede heads to Cumbria on the back of two podium finishes. Third in Wales and second in Ireland put the #53 Adam on a trajectory to the top of the podium. “It was a great battle with Rob,” Adielsson said on twitter, “We came third in Wales, second in Ireland so we will be fighting for the win on the Pirelli!”
Aussie racer Arron Windus is also on an improving path, placing seventh in Powys and fifth in the Republic of Ireland. The antipodean is also more comfortable on loose surfaces so is targeting a further improvement. “Really looking forward to this weekend’s Pirelli Rally. Now back on gravel where I have more experience, I’ll be concentrating a lot on my notes and looking to improve on our 5th place from Circuit Of Ireland”
The Pirelli Carlisle Rally gets under way this Saturday with a ceremonial start at the Pirelli factory. Then the JBRC will take in seven stages in the Kieler Forest before the podium and ceremonial finish less than 24 hours later at H & H Carlisle.
