Tough tarmac test awaits Brendan in Germany

Just three weeks after his last outing at Rally Finland, Brendan Reeves will once again come up against the world's best young rally drivers when he competes in Rally Germany.

Twenty-three year old Reeves and his co-driver, older sister Rhianon Smyth, both from Wedderburn in Victoria, will contest the fourth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Academy at this weekend's Rally Deutschland based in Trier.  With three of the Series' six rounds completed, Reeves sits equal second in the championship standings and is aiming for another good points haul this weekend.

All WRC Academy competitors compete in identical Ford Fiesta R2s built and maintained by UK-based M-Sport, and Rally Germany will be the first time the young drivers have tackled a tarmac rally in the cars.  The opening three rounds have all been run on gravel roads, and with Rally Germany promising a tough tarmac surface through the Mosel vineyards and the Baumholder Military Training area, this event will be a whole new challenge for Reeves. 

 Whilst Reeves has produced excellent results at Australia's premier tarmac rally, Targa Tasmania, in the past, the European roads bring a whole new scenario.  Reeves got a taste of what lies ahead when he competed in a tarmac rally in Belgium two weeks ago in a similar Fiesta R2, finishing fifth from a field of 130 cars, but he knows that Rally Germany will throw up plenty of challenges.

"From what we've seen of the route so far, the surface is always changing in Germany and there are so many times you need to cut the corner that lots of rocks and gravel will be dragged onto the road as well," Reeves said.

"The tarmac rally we did in Belgium was a great lead up as the roads are very narrow with bumpy and challenging sections, and it was very important to try out the roads before we got to Germany. The tarmac experience I already have is a great benefit but here it's still a new challenge driving the R2 on WRC tyres on roads that are nothing like we have in Australia."

Rally Germany starts in Germany's oldest city, Trier, on Thursday evening (German time) and Reeves, Smyth and their fellow Academy competitors will need to complete two full days of demanding stages before the winner is decided on Saturday evening.

Please check the website regularly during the event for news, results and photos from Rally Germany.