Neil Weaver and Nick Thornton will swap their regular 1400cc Proton Satria for a more powerful Subaru Impreza on Saturday's Plains Rally.
Weaver and co-driver Thornton will have their first outing together in a four-wheel drive car and it will be Weaver's first time driving a four-wheel drive machine, on an event, when he gets behind the wheel of the class B13 Subaru, supplied by S.A.M. Engineering, for the Welshpool-based forest gravel rally.
The reigning BTRDA (British Trial and Rally Drivers' Association) 1400 Champions are expected to be seeded in the top 15 and will once again be backed by regular sponsors Telford-based ACCREDIS UK and Hankook Tyres following the late change of plan.
It's a fantastic opportunity for us to compete in a higher-spec, more powerful car and I'm looking forward to driving the Subaru on the Plains, Weaver said.
It will be a totally new experience for me and the first time Nick and I have been out together in such a car.
It will be interesting to see how we do and we will be up against some new competition. I'd like to thank S.A.M. Engineering in Cockermouth and our sponsors: ACCREDIS UK and Hankook Tyres.
The Plains Rally holds special importance to the pair as it was on the event three years ago that Weaver and Thornton first sat together in their then Vauxhall Nova when they went on to finish second in the 1400s, beaten by only five seconds by Ian Evans.
They also won the 1400 section in 2005 in their Vauxhall Corsa, finishing an impressive 12th overall and took the first two-wheel drive car award, as well.
![Neil Weaver / Nick Thornton [Pic credits: Rally Action Photography - www.rallyaction.co.uk]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/315663.jpg)
