F1 analyst and rally enthusiast Tony Jardine is taking on his 24th FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) event on home soil, a record for any British amateur rally driver. Jardine also features in the top ten all-time achievers regarding the number of finishes at the UK round of the WRC.
Sitting alongside Jardine in the co-driving seat, at Wales Rally GB on 4-7 October, will be sports correspondent from The Telegraph, Tom Cary. This year’s event marks Cary’s return to the WRC following his first ever world-class turn as Jardine’s navigator eight years ago in Sweden.
The GT Sport Telegraph Team has been preparing for their Wales Rally GB adventure by taking expert advice and tutoring from last year’s winners, British pairing Elfyn Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt.
Evans made motorsport history at Wales Rally GB in 2017, as the first British driver to win Rally GB for nearly 20 years and the first Welsh driver ever to win a round of the WRC.
Cary said, “I’ve been part of a rally campaign with Tony before, culminating in WRC Sweden 2010, and it has taken me this long to get over it! But seriously, I’m looking forward to Wales Rally GB. When Tony asked if I wanted to team up again this year I didn’t think twice.
“The chance to co-drive in a WRC event is a privilege, there aren’t many sports in which you can compete against the stars in the same event at the same time – and the stages look incredible.”
Jardine commented, “It’s hard to believe 1992 was my first Rally GB entry competing with the first of many media co-drivers which we’ve trained over the years to help promote rallying to a broad non-specialist audience. The BBC, ITV, Radio 5 Live and the majority of the national newspapers have all had a correspondent covering the WRC, co-driving and reading pace notes for me. It’s not an easy task and gives the media a real insight and newfound appreciation for what is such a unique, demanding and thrilling form of motorsport.”
Jardine and Cary will be competing in a Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9 GT, running in national class 4 of the Wales Rally GB WRC event. This car was previously successfully campaigned by the current leader of the MSA British Rally Championship (BRC), Matt Edwards. Edwards looks set to secure the BRC title in Wales in an R5 car, as the WRC event features this year’s BRC finale.
Wales Rally GB benefits this October from the new laws facilitating closed-road motorsport events, meaning many new stages in North Wales for the three-way championship fight between Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), Ott Tanak (Toyota) and Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford).
