Thorburn will be flat-out for Pirelli success

The Cumbria-based rally is the third round of the 2016 MSA British Rally Championship and crews will grapple with the gravel as they take on the challenging, high-speed and infamous Kielder Forest.

The opening two rounds have seen two different winners take the spoils, with World Championship star Elfyn Evans taking the laurels on the Mid Wales Stages and the highly talented Josh Moffett claiming the top spot on the legendary Circuit of Ireland last time out.

Euan Thorburn in the sole Peugeot 208 T16 will be hunting for a podium position. he will, once again, be co-driver by Paul Beaton from Inverness.

Also challenging for the top three places will be CA1 Sport driver David Bogie from Dumfries, co-driven by Hawick’s Kevin Rae. They will be boosted by their podium success last time in the Skoda Fabia R5.

Duns co-driver Richard Simmonds is once again on the notes for Kinross driver Blair Brown in their Fiesta R2T and they are hoping to secure further points in the DMACK Junior British Rally Championship. Richard said: “We are looking forward to putting the disappointment of the Circuit of Ireland behind us. With the return of the leading crews from the Mid Wales Stages we will have to be on the top of our game to get a much needed result.”