Rally driver Becky Kirvan made a successful return to rallying last weekend when she took fourth place in the Rally First 1.4 class on the Somerset Stages event.Kirvan, from Burton Pidsea, and new co-driver Sherryn Roberts were competing in a Rally4Real Nissan Micra backed by Peart Auto Services. The rally started with four stages in the forests near Minehead. After a steady start with eighth place on the opening Timberscombe stage Kirvan increased the pace to take fifth in class as the rally reached the first service halt.
"We were cautious on the first stage, it was my first time competing with Sherryn and also my first time competing in the Micra so we didn’t want to risk an early retirement," said Kirvan.
"We pushed a bit more on the other stages though as I gained confidence and I was pleased to be in fifth place at service."
The rally then moved onto tarmac for two runs of the Porlock Hill toll road from which Kirvan emerged in sixth place.
"I really wasn’t looking forward to Porlock, the road is very steep and it’s not ideal for our little Micra but we didn’t struggle as much as I thought we would. The car handled really nicely through the bends and we only dropped one place."
After another service halt the rally returned to the forests for the remainder of the competitive mileage. Kirvan had a troublefree run and, after pushing hard on the last two stages, she moved up to fourth in class at the rally finish.
"I’m delighted with the result, especially with not competing for 18 months and having to get used to a new car and co-driver. I enjoyed the stages and the Rally4Real car was as good as gold, we had no problems at all."
Kirvan will next be in action in three weeks time on the Plains rally which takes place in the forests of Wales.
