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Kielder next for Orr and Fagg
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Manx
rally co-driver Rob Fagg heads back into MSA British Rally
Championship and UK Fiesta SportTrophy action this weekend,
on the Pirelli International Rally.
The Kirk Michael based co-driver had looked destined for a
quiet year until just three weeks ago when a last minute
call-up saw him contest the Bulldog International Rally of
North Wales with young Northern Irish rally talent Kyle Orr.
Despite having never even met prior to the event, the pair
scooped fifth place on the second round of the UK Fiesta
SportTrophy and took away points in the main British
Championship’s opening round.
As a result of the promising start, highly touted Orr has
asked Fagg to join him for the remainder of the Fiesta
series.
“I am delighted to be asked to complete the UK Fiesta series
with Kyle” commented Fagg, “He is certainly one to watch in
the series and a rising talent. From what looked like a
bleak year for myself I now have a program of quality events
to contest.”
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Orr, from
Dromore in County Tyrone, is currently in fourth place in the Fiesta
title hunt, the biggest single-make championship in UK rallying, but
all the events are new to him so adding Rob’s experience to the team
could be invaluable.
That will hopefully begin to yield benefits even before the
reconnaissance starts on Friday, when the pair attends a workshop
organised by the prestigious MSA Elite on Thursday evening, to
increase pace note understanding. |
Orr and Fagg on
their way to 5th in the Fiesta SportTrophy on the Bulldog
International -
Photo courtesy of Jakob
Ebrey (www.jakobebrey.com) |
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“Having seen first hand how the MSA
Elite helped James Wozencroft develop, I think the
opportunity to get advice from them is too good to miss”
explained Fagg, “Kyle is still relatively new to writing his
own notes and he can benefit enormously from the advice they
have to offer.”
Kyle
switches from asphalt to gravel for the event, having last
weekend contested the Easter Stages category of the Circuit
of Ireland. The event was a round of the Irish Fiesta
SportTrophy which runs separately to the UK version, and he
was sidelined after 5 stages with a broken driveshaft,
having struggled earlier with the handling of the car.
This weekend though the Pirelli International Rally is based
in Carlisle, at the city’s racecourse, and after the recce
the action is due to get underway from there at 6pm.
The stages themselves take place in the daunting Kielder
forest complex, and night time stages will be something else
new for Orr, if not for Fagg. (insert quote about night
stages and past experience)
A further eight tests follow on Saturday, again centred on
the fast flowing tracks of Kielder. One of the stages is new
to the event, while the Cumbrian stages will be centred on
the Kershope side of the forest, and are longer stages than
in previous years, so it will be quite a challenge.
The Fiesta round will be decided over the opening six stages
of the rally, covering 51 competition miles. Although that
is the main aim, the pair will then press on looking for
British Championship points on the remaining miles…
…and there are plenty of them; in total the rally covers 103
stage miles!
Rob is supported by Manx Telecom,
Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors,
www.Mexperience.com,
Nicky Grist Motorsport (www.nickygrist.com),
Fastime Stopwatchs (www.astopwatch.com)
and G8 Products (www.g8products.co.uk) |
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Media
14/04/2009
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