This month sees the competition phases of Junior Rallying '08 line up on the start line, as three of the scheme's drivers begin their actual rally competition in Latvia.
Tom Cave, Conor Flyn and Tom Clark will all take part in their first events in April, as the scheme, designed to develop and promote the next generation of British rally drivers, shifts up a gear.
The first event will be the Rally Kekava, based in the town of the same name, just outside the capital of Riga.
The event forms part of the Latvian RallySprint championship and was originally scheduled to run in February as a snow rally. However, the weather was unseasonably fine and the required low temperatures and snow cover were not present, so the event was postponed.
Featuring seven gravel stages and covering a total competitive distance of 50Km, the event will be the first chance for two of the three British drivers to test their mettle on the Latvian stages.
For Conor and Clark, their first taste of Latvian stages will be when they tackle the event recce, to make their pace notes. However, Cave, who is competing on the Latvian National Rally Championship this season, will be using the event as a shakedown in preparation for his first national event, having missed the season opener due to a sporting injury.
The event will see the three British crews compete on two stages during the evening of Saturday 19 April before the remainder of the event, starting at 10.30 on Sunday 20 April. Each will use their own pace note system, with support and guidance from the Junior Rallying team in attendance, including Cave's co-driver and Junior Rallying Manager, former WRC co-driver Gemma Price.
The three cars will be run under the watchful eye of Junior Rallying's technical manager Peter Gladstone, who like Cave and Price, already has considerable experience of running rally cars on the Latvian stages.
Flyn, aged 15 years, will be using a home-prepared Volkswagen Mk2 Golf GTi on his first event and will be co-driven by Tim Young.
