Short tips
trio for
Academy
glory

Reeves, currently third in the FIA WRC Academy Cup standings, has never competed on the flat-out gravel roads in the centre of the country but Short is confident the Australian Pirelli Star Driver has what it takes to impress.

The former co-driver also singled out Christian Riedemann and Timo van der Marel as being potential frontrunners in the category, which pitches 18 young stars against one another in identical Ford Fiesta R2s using Pirelli control tyres.

“For many crews, Finland will be a new experience,” said Short. “It’s one of the world’s greatest rallies with its high speeds and jumps and if I were to pick a few ‘dark horses’, I’d say Brendan Reeves, who’s quietly got on with doing a very impressive job, Christian Riedemann who got his pace just right on the first two rounds but was desperately unlucky in Sardinia and Timo van der Marel, who has found good speed already despite never having done a gravel rally before.”

Reeves was in action on the gravel-based International Rally of Whangarei in New Zealand, a round of the Asia Pacific championship, last weekend, where he finished sixth overall in a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer. Riedemann has been boosted with the news that he will drive a Skoda Fabia Super 2000 for Volkswagen Motorsport on ADAC Rallye Deutschland, while van der Marel heads to Finland on the back of winning his class on the Exotic Green Rally in his native Netherlands recently.

“With the experience we gained on the first two WRC Academy rounds our times were improving quickly and despite a disappointing result in Sardinia, we’re very excited about Finland and ready to fight for the Cup win,” said van der Marel.