Burton Pidsea rally driver Becky Kirvan made a dramatic exit from last weekend's Woodpecker Stages rally when her Nissan Micra rolled after leaving the track at high speed. The accident destroyed the car and left Kirvan badly bruised and co-driver Rob Walters with a dislocated shoulder.Kirvan made a good start to the event, taking the Rally4Real.com hire car to seventh in class on the opening Bringewood stage but a spin on stage two was followed by a time consuming off in stage three which dropped her to the back of the field.
"The Bringewood stage went well although the steep uphill sections were a struggle in our car," said Kirvan. "The stage two spin cost a few seconds and then we lost a lot more time in stage three. Fortunately some spectators were able to get us out of the hole that the car landed in, I'm grateful to them for their help."
Kirvan continued to push hard in the fourth stage in Radnor forest but disaster struck on a very quick section of the course when a compression in the track unsettled the car and threw it off the road. The Peart Auto Services-backed machine collided with several tree stumps as it rolled down a hillside and by the time it came to rest the bodyshell was wrecked.
"We were flat out going down a hill and then as the track bottomed out there was a compression which made the back of the car step out of line. There was no time to correct it and we were immediately off the track and rolling down the hillside. The car took a very big impact on the tree stumps and it rolled three or four times."
"I'm very grateful to the rescue and recovery crews for helping Rob and myself and also extracting what was left of the car. Although we've both got injuries it could've been a lot worse, I am lucky that the Rally4Real car was very well built."
"I am hoping to be out again on the Cambrian rally in October although I am not sure what car I will use. We're going to strip the Micra and see if anything can be salvaged."
Despite the accident Kirvan still leads the BTRDA ladies championship with one round to go.
For more information please visit www.beckykirvan.co.uk.
Image courtesy Simon Clarke
