Burton Pidsea’s Chris Peart enjoyed a successful start to his 2010 BRC Challenge rally championship campaign when he took fourth place overall and second in class on the Bulldog Challenge Rally in his Peart Auto Services Vauxhall Astra.Peart and co-driver Jamie Forrest made a cautious start to the opening 17 mile stage at the Sweet Lamb rally complex, completing the course in sixth place and fourth in class.
“It was the first time I have driven the car on gravel since last November so it took a few miles to get back into it,” said Peart.
“The opening stage was a long one with plenty of testing slippery sections, we were pleased to get to the finish in sixth.”
After a break for servicing at Welshpool the crews headed to the forests of Dyfi, Pantperthog and Gartheiniog for the remainder of the event’s 50 competitive stage miles.
Peart and Forrest took fifth place on the Big Ray stage before stepping up the pace on the last three stages of the event, claiming fourth place on each of the tests to end up in fourth place overall and second in class as the crews headed back to Welshpool for the rally finish.
“I’m pleased with the result, our aim for the rally was to get a decent haul of points to give us a good start in the BRC Challenge championship and we’ve achieved that with the fourth placed finish.”
“The car performed well and I enjoyed the stages although they were a bit different to the ones in Yorkshire that I usually compete on. It's an excellent start to the season and I'm looking forward to the next round.”
Peart and Forrest will continue their BRC Challenge campaign on the Pirelli rally which takes place at the end of April.
Please visit www.pasmotorsport.co.uk to keep up to date with the team’s championship progress.
