A bit about us...
THE DRIVER: Brian McGuinness
Brian is already a very successful short circuit driver and has also won many titles in stock car racing.
He made the change to rallying in 2003 as a co-driver for a Subaru Impreza team, before making his driving debut later the same year. After a year 'learning the ropes' of the new sport, Brian started competing in the EuroRallye Cup, a national level championship for cars up to 1600 c.c. which ran alongside the prestigious ANCRO Clubmans Championship. It all came good for him in 2005, when he won the EuroRallye Cup title overall, beating all the 1600 class cars in the process. He rounded off a phenomenally successful season by also winning the ANCRO Clubmans 1400 class championship. Since then, Brian has formed a successful partnership with experienced co-driver Ian Harden, the pairing scoring several class wins on rounds of the BTRDA 1400 Championship.
The Co-driver: Ian Harden
Ian took up co-driving 11 years ago, after more than a decade on the marshalling and organising side of rallying. He has navigated for a wide variety of drivers and scored several class successes at local level, before moving up to Internationals and spending two years in the British Rally Championship. Ian teamed up with Brian at the beginning of 2006, where they scored their first national class win together at the Bulldog Rally. Ian is a sports journalist by profession.
The Car:
The car was built from a 1991 Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SRi, which was firstly stripped back to a bare shell before being seam welded and strengthened.
It has been fitted with top-notch safety equipment including a Safety Devices roll cage, Regard bucket seats, 6 point safety harnesses, and a plumbed in fire extinguisher system.
The 8-valve engine has been fully rally prepared and now breathes through twin 40 Weber carburettors. Currently, it produces a very healthy 140bhp, which is nearly twice the power of a standard road car engine at 72bhp.
Also fitted is a Quaife 5 speed straight cut close ratio gear box with a Tranex limited slip diferential.
The suspension has been uprated to cope with the tough terrain of the forests, with Bilstein shock absorbers and springs on adjustable coilovers.
Sponsors:
The car and expenses are mainly funded by Brian and Ian with some help from local businesses.
Many businesses may be unaware that this is tax deductable.
Anyone wishing to help with sponsorship will receive advertising space on the car and on our website.
Coverage of the events is seen on Sky Sports.
Sponsors and their families are welcome to come along to the rallies and witness the excitement of 180 rally cars competing on forest tracks and join the crew in the service areas where the cars are worked on.
Next seasons expected budget is broken up into four main areas:-
Entry fees (including maps) £5000
Fuel (rally car, chase car, service van) £3000
Accommodation (driver, co-driver, service crew x2) £1000
Car running costs (tyres, service items) £3000
Any help with this cost either by donation or sponsorship would be gratefully received.
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