Post Wales Rally GB & 2015 Plans
After an impressive result in her first WRC event, V-Ex Virtual Exhibitions caught up with Sara Williams at Team Brecon Motors HQ in Wales for the lowdown on her experience and the future for Britain’s #1 female rally driver. Sara battled against wet and rutted conditions, punctures and mechanical failure to finish 43rd overall in Wales Rally GB 2014. Despite three 15+ hour days of incredibly taxing driving in typically unfavourable Welsh weather – Sara described the event as ‘a different experience from start to finish, the highlight of my career’.
After the heights of competing at international level, Sara’s Group N Subaru Impreza is now ineligible for competition in WRC events next year. However, Sara will be jumping back into the iconic rally machine for the Red Kite Stages 2015 – a rally in which she triumphed by twenty three seconds in 2013. The scene of Sara’s competitive debut on gravel back in 2009 – it is a special event full of fond memories for the Welsh star. The rally, organised by Amman and District Motor Club, takes place on the Sunday 1st February 2015 near Llandovery, South Wales.
Team Brecon Motors is also planning to contest in the 2015 BTRDA Rally Challenge, a multi surface series constituting seven separate events. Combining asphalt and gravel, the championship aims to recognise the best drivers on varied stages throughout the UK. At the end of the competition, a driver’s top 5 scores (including at least two results from each surface) are collated to find an overall winner. The event is run by the British Trial & Rally Drivers Association, an organisation with over 75 years of experience in organising motorsport meetings.
Asphalt surfaces include the Manx Rally, the Tyneside Stages and the Mewla Rally; while the Somerset Stages, the Nicky Grist Stages, the Trackrod Forest Stages and the Cambrian Rally are all run on gravel. Each is a one day event, together combining some of the best rally stages that can be found in the country. The event runs seven individual classes, from minimally modified road cars right up to full WRC spec machines.
With flexibility and new found experience, Sara will no doubt be pushing for success again throughout the new year. V-Ex looks forward to supporting her all through 2015