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Reeves returns to WRC in Spain
Former WRC Academy frontrunner Brendan Reeves will return to the FIA World Rally Championship at Spain’s Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada (22 - 25 October).
The 27-year-old Australian will tackle the mixed surface event in a Ford Fiesta R2 in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. He last competed in the WRC in 2012 when he finished fourth in the Academy.
Reeves will not be eligible for points but aims to secure the Trophy’s Vatanen Touch nomination for an end-of-season shootout, 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,” said Reeves, who will be co-driven by sister Rhianon Gelsomino.
Although M-Sport’s upgraded 1.0-litre turbocharged Fiesta R2 is new to the WRC this season, Reeves drove it in Rally America series’ New England Forest Rally in July.
“That will really benefit me because I really do know the car. Having driven the older-generation car a lot in previous years, I know the benefits of the new version and I hope I can use that to my advantage,” he added.
Reeves aims to raise 30,000 Australian dollars to match his own investment and is offering to put names and business logos of those who donate on the car.
“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,” he added.
Reeves is also auctioning WRC memorabilia and more information is available on his website here or his Facebook page here.
