Eddie Lewis admitted that Wales Rally GB was “very tough, both mentally and physically” after competing on the event for the first time last weekend.
Lewis, who finished Rally GB in only his second rally in his new-for-2019 Ford Fiesta R2, completed the event in 14th in the RC4 class and 44th overall and he was more than happy to see the end of the final stage on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking after Rally GB, 17-year-old Lewis said: “It’s an amazing feeling to reach the end of Rally GB and my first WRC event, especially as at one point I thought it was all over. Every day was so very tough, both mentally and physically but then you look at the conditions of the stages and the problems the top guys were having and you realise just what a battle we had to keep the car on the road and in the rally.”
Although he did finish the WRC event, he and co-driver Dom Adams were forced to retire from Friday’s action on stage four and Lewis added on what happened: “We just came around a difficult set of corners with a little too much speed which pitched us off the road,” said Lewis. “We tried to get it out of the ditch it landed in, but I think we broke the steering, so we have had to retire for the day.”
The Welsh event was more of a challenge for the young driver to see what he could do compared to some of the drivers in similar R2 Fiesta’s who regularly compete in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship and he commented on his weekend: “It wasn’t really about coming here to get a result; it was more about the experience for the future and building up slowly.”
“So, it was really encouraging to see that we were setting some good times against the Junior WRC contenders and that’s despite being only my second event in the new car. Progression is key for my career so to be at this point already is positive for the future.”
Throughout the 2019 season Lewis has competed in several events in the UK in a range of cars including an Opel Adam Cup and older-generation Fiesta R2T.
