New award for
WRC Academy
crews

From now until the end of the season, the most sporting crew, driver or co-driver on each WRC Academy event will be handed the prestigious accolade.

Following the rain-hit season-opening Vodafone Rally de Portugal in late March, brother and sister pairing Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth have been confirmed as the inaugural award winners.

They were acknowledged for coming to the aid of Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Michael Orr when the Super 2000 World Rally Championship crew became stranded in a swollen river crossing on a road section.

“The conditions in Portugal were pretty treacherous and it could have been any one of us who became stranded,” said Reeves. “We all aided as much as we could but, unfortunately, we were still unable to move the beached Fiesta. The attention the photo of our Fiesta pulling Yazeed’s car out of the river received was incredible. This was something that I never expected to be doing in a WRC event, but I guess that is why it is one of the toughest championships in the world.”

Smyth added: “Helping out others is something Brendo and I both find important and we hope that if we ever needed help, the same would be done for us.”

Ford Racing in Europe and control tyre supplier Pirelli support the WRC Academy, which resumes on the Acropolis Rally in Greece later this month.

Photo: McKlein