Final Academy round in wet Wales this weekend |
 |
Currently sitting in fifth place overall after five rounds of the series, the brother-sister duo are looking forward to a return to gravel after the previous two tarmac rounds. The conditions aren't likely to be easy, though, with heavy rain and freezing temperatures in recent days making the roads extremely slippery and muddy.
With two days of reconnaissance behind him, Brendan is expecting the event will produce a tough battle between the WRC Academy competitors as the slippery conditions will make the roads very unforgiving.
"The roads are very fast but very wet. There are sections that remind me of New Zealand and others that are very cresty and flowing over mountains. There is lots of rain forecast so it will be a challenge but a great finish to the year."
Wales Rally GB gets underway on Thursday (November 10) with three runs over the Great Orme road in Llandudno, in northern Wales. Academy competitors will complete a further eight stages on Friday and six on Saturday, before finishing the event in the Welsh capital of Cardiff.
Seventeen drivers will contest the Academy class in Wales Rally GB and all will drive identical Ford Fiesta R2s prepared by M-Sport, the team who prepare Ford's World Rally Cars. Despite mechanical problems on his last outing, Brendan is keen to get back behind the wheel of the Fiesta. He hasn't driven the car since Rallye France in early October and is looking forward to tackling the Welsh roads.
After Wales Rally GB wraps up, Brendan will head to Melk in Austria where he has been nominated to attend the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy. Thirty young rally and racing drivers from around the world will attend the three day camp, with 18 being awarded the opportunity to be part of the FIA's 2012 Young Driver Excellence program.
We'll be adding updates from Wales Rally GB throughout the event, so please check back regularly.