Award winner
plans to follow
ace Evans

Evans won the Star Driver prize in 2010, which came with a funded drive in the 2011 British Rally Championship. Now Donnelly will get the opportunity to compete in the BRC for free in 2013 on board a Citroen DS3 R3T and wants the Junior WRC Championship to be his next move after that.

“Elfyn Evans is a fantastic example of what can be achieved with this fantastic prize,” said the 21-year-old from Northern Ireland. “I’m very grateful for this amazing opportunity and I hope that the experience I build up in the Citroen on the British championship next year will help me graduate to the world championship.”

In the past, the British championship has provided an excellent training ground for the WRC, the most famous example being Stig Blomqvist who won the British title in 1983 before claiming the world title one year later. Colin McRae and Richard Burns are also former British champions, while Jari-Matti Latvala won a round of the series in 2003.

Donnelly was selected after a series of tests and assessments at the Sweet Lamb testing venue in Wales, which hosted a stage of Britain’s world championship round this year. Petter Solberg’s former co-driver Chris Patterson formed part of the judging panel.