Dawn of an new era for FST UK

For Immediate Release: 26 February 2010

 Dawn of a new era for FST UK

  The Kick Energy Fiesta
SportTrophy UK (FST UK) enters a new era next
weekend with the start of the 2010 championship on the traditional
season opener, the Malcolm Wilson Rally.  The fifth
consecutive FST UK championship sees two exciting new
introductions, a new car in the shape of the Fiesta R2, and a new
championship, the Fiesta SportChallenge (FSC),
providing competitors with more choice than ever before.

 The Cumbrian countryside provides a picturesque backdrop
to the start of another exciting FST UK championship.  Based
at the Dovenby headquarters of M-Sport, the team behind both the
Fiesta SportTrophy and the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World
Rally Team, the Malcolm Wilson Rally takes place over seven gravel
stages covering 41 competitive miles around some of the most famous
forests in UK rallying including Greystoke and Grizedale.

 The Fiesta R2 was introduced to the FST International
series in 2009 and will make its debut in the FST UK in 2010. 
The car, based on the latest Ford Fiesta Zetec S road car, features
a 1600cc naturally aspirated engine uprated to produce 170
PS.  Combine that with a five-speed Sadev sequential gearbox
and four piston AP brakes and you have the recipe for Ford’s first
global rally car. 

 The R2 will compete alongside the well-proven Group N
Fiesta ST over the seven round mixed surface Fiesta
SportTrophy UK championship.  Both cars will
be eligible for championship points and a share of the £1,850 prize
fund, guaranteed to the top five FST UK finishers.  The FST UK
championship supports the British Rally Championship on all six
international rallies that make up the BRC.  Registered
competitors will also score points towards the British Rally
Championship.

 The Fiesta SportChallenge is a new
championship for 2010 offering Fiesta ST competitors a more
cost-effective alternative to the Fiesta SportTrophy.  Running
alongside the BRC Challenge, the championship is aimed at young
drivers starting out in rallying, as well as those more experienced
competitors who want tackle some of the UK’s finest stages without
incurring the cost of the BRC two day format.  The top three
FSC finishers are guaranteed a share of the £850 prize fund.

 Chesterfield based businessman Steve Perez once again
provides title sponsorship to the series through Global Brands Ltd
(GBL) and their Kick Energy brand.  Steve will also be
competing on the Malcolm Wilson Rally in his Kick Energy backed
Ford Focus RS WRC. 

 Pirelli Tyres return for a third season as technical
sponsor and supplier of control tyres to the series ensuring all
competitors have equal rubber for each event.  ATL Events will
be on hand at all FST UK events to offer technical advice and first
class fitting service.

Castrol will continue with the ‘Hard Charger’ award for the
highest number of fastest stage times and Competition Car Insurance
will continue to support the series for the 2010 season.

With the top six finishers from 2009 all moving on from the FST
series, the 2010 championship couldn’t be more open. 
19-year-old Welshman Tom Watson is the highest placed returning
driver from 2009. Tom finished a creditable seventh in his first
season in rallying and will look to challenge for the championship
in 2010 alongside new co-driver Paul Morris.  Morris already
has plenty of FST experience having previously co-driven for 2007
FST Ireland champion, Alistair Fisher.

 John Boyd, 22 from West Linton, also enjoyed a good debut
season in the Fiesta SportTrophy in 2009, steadily
building his pace over the year to finish eighth overall.  A
former karting frontrunner, Boyd won the final round of the FST UK
championship in 2009 and will hope to carry that momentum in 2010
when he teams up with new co-driver, fellow Scotsman, Craig
Wallace.

 FST UK newcomer Peter Taylor will drive the R2 entry for
the Malcolm Wilson Rally.  The Carlisle based 18-year-old made
his rallying debut on the Border Counties Rally in 2009 and will
team up with experienced co-driver Andy Richardson for his
graduation to the FST UK championship.

 2008 double FST UK and Ireland champion Elfyn Evans and
his team-mate Richard Parry-Jones both make a welcome return to the
series having sat out the 2009 season.   Evans will hope
to pick up where he left off and starts the season among the
favourites to take the Fiesta SportTrophy
crown.  He will be co-driven by Andrew Edwards, who also has
previous experience in the FST, having been runner up to Gareth
Roberts in the 2008 co-drivers standings.  Former Ford of
Europe Vice President Richard Parry-Jones makes his competitive
return in the 2010 Fiesta SportChallenge and will,
again, be co-driven by Sara Price.

 Jamie Brown made his FST debut in 2009, but has much more
experience than his 18years would suggest.  Brown spent five
years competing in karts before moving on to compete in the Saxmax
circuit racing championship for 14-17 year olds, as well as in
junior rallies in Latvia.  Brown will be co-driven by Craig
Burgess, who has been co-driving since before Jamie was born; the
pairing will be hoping that the mixture of youth and experience
will produce the results in 2010.

 The car used by 2009 FST UK runner up Matt Edwards makes a
return to the championship in 2010, this time in the hands of the
experienced John Pritchard. Pritchard competed on his first rally
in 1978 and has decided to return to competition during his
50^th year.  The 1995 Skoda Trophy championship
winner, Pritchard will be looking to show the youngsters a thing or
two!

 Former FST UK championship co-ordinator Richard Millener
will experience the championship from the other side of the fence
in 2010, having signed up to co-drive for Jonny Cunningham. 
The 2009 Irish Junior Championship runner-up and Billy Coleman
Award nominee, 26-year-old Cunningham only started competing late
in 2008, but was quickly up to speed and will be looking to give
some of the more experienced competition a run for their
money.  He was runner up in the Billy Coleman Award to 2009
multiple FST champion Craig Breen.  Cunningham will be out to
emulate his fellow countryman’s success in the Fiesta
SportChallenge.

 28-year-old Damien Smith from Silsden, West Yorkshire,
joins the Fiesta SportChallenge having finished as
runner-up in the 205 Challenge in 2009.  A former motocross
rider, Smith finished second in class on his rallying debut on the
Twyford Wood Rally in 2007 and made the permanent switch to four
wheels last year.

 Alex Laffey (21) from Market Harborough steps up to the
Fiesta SportChallenge having competed on several
national rallies in 2008 and 2009.  Co-driven by Daniel
Swainbank the pairing will be out to gain experience in their first
full year of competition.

Dan O’Brien is the youngest competitor to tackle the FSC this
year, having only turned 17 in November 2009.  The 2008
British and Irish and 2009 Irish Junior rallycross champion
competed on his first rally in a Fiesta ST just twelve days after
his 17^th birthday, having passed his driving test in the
week leading up to the event.  O’Brien follows in the
footsteps of his father Mick, who regularly competes in a Ford
Focus WRC.

 As in 2009, all registered competitors will have the
opportunity to attend a pre-event test and training day.  The
test day will take place in Greystoke Forest on Thursday 4
March.  Competitors will then move into M-Sport’s Dovenby HQ
on Friday 5 March, where they will be offered media and competitor
skills training from experienced members of the sport.  The
day should give competitors an insight into what is involved in a
career in rallying aside from simply driving and also provide a
useful insight into what may be involved in the end of year FST
Shootout.

 As well as a guaranteed prize fund for both the FST and
FSC at each event, M-Sport is offering the championship winners the
chance to join the M-Sport team in a Fiesta R2.  The winner of
the Fiesta SportTrophy will have the chance to compete on MSA Rally
Scotland; the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge,
in a M-Sport prepared and maintained Fiesta R2.  The winner of
the Fiesta SportChallenge will have the chance to compete on the
final round of the British Rally Championship and FST UK; the
International Rally Yorkshire, also in a M-Sport prepared and
maintained Fiesta R2.  The winner of each championship plus
one wildcard will be entered into the end of year FST Shootout for
the chance to win a years work placement with M-Sport.

 Following the Malcolm Wilson Rally, both the FST and FSC
move on to North Wales for the first round of the British Rally
Championship and British Rally Challenge, the Bulldog International
Rally of North Wales and the Bulldog Challenge Rally, on 27 March
2010.

 Fiesta SportTrophy UK Calendar 2010

 Fiesta SportChallenge Calendar 2010

**Competitors must nominate either the Manx or Ulster Challenge
Rally as a points scoring round.

For further information on the Fiesta SportTrophy UK
please contact series co-ordinator Callum Craw on ccraw@m-sport.co.uk
or visit www.fiestasporttrophy.co.uk

Ends

 Callum Craw

Fiesta SportTrophy UK and Ireland
Co-Ordinator
M-Sport Ltd, Dovenby Hall, Dovenby,
Cockermouth, Cumbria.  CA13 0PN.
England.
Tel:  +44 (0)1900 898796 
Mob: +44 (0)7738 340887 
eMail: ccraw@m-sport.co.uk