Ride with Brendan and Rhianon at Rally Spain

 Print

With their entry for round 12 of the 2015 World Rally Championship (WRC), RACC Rally Spain, secured, Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Gelsomino have undertaken an exciting fundraising campaign.

The pair will contest the mixed surface event in a Ford Fiesta R2, the same vehicle that Brendan drove to a class victory in the New England Forest Rally in America in July.  In the Spanish event, Brendan and Rhianon will compete in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy series and whilst not eligible for outright points, they are aiming to secure a nomination for an end-of-season shootout, known as the Vatanen Touch, at which the winner will land a one-off drive in a Fiesta R5 at a 2016 WRC round.

“It has been killing me not being a part of the WRC so I’ve worked hard to get back. I signed the deal when the WRC was in Australia and it would be awesome to qualify for the Vatanen Touch shootout,” Brendan said.

“Having already driven the new version of the R2 in America will really benefit me and I hope to use that to my advantage in Spain.”

The costs of competing in a WRC event are enormous and the pair have once again come up with some novel ways to secure sponsorship.   As well as auctioning WRC memorabilia on their Facebook page, the duo are also offering supporters the chance to ‘ride with them’ in Spain by having their name or business logo on the Fiesta.  Bonnet and roof names proved popular with supporters when the pair competed in the WRC Academy in 2011 and 2012 and Brendan is rapt with the support they have already received for their 2015 campaign. With a goal of $30,000 (to match his own investment), every dollar helps.

“That figure will get us to the event, cover our tyres and get us a pre-event test on gravel. The more support I receive, the more testing I can do, and that could possibly include an asphalt test as well. A gravel test alone isn’t the end of the world, but an asphalt test would be nice,” Brendan said.

To add your support to Brendan and Rhianon’s Rally Spain campaign, visit their Facebook page where you can bid on WRC memorabilia and find details of the roof and bonnet name offers which start from just $100.

RACC Rally Spain will be held from October 22 to 25.