by Geoff Mayes
Melis Charalambous is feeling excited ahead of the second round of the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, this weekend's
Jim Clark International Rally.
The 18-year-old, who along with co-driver Andrew Roughead, make up the youngest crew in the BRC with a combined age of just 40 years between them, will be contesting his second ever tarmac rally this weekend.
12 months ago Melis did not even have a driving licence but following a recent successful test on the Manx National Rally the young North London student is really looking forward to his second outing on closed public roads.
"After the Manx National I am really excited about this weekends rally. I still prefer gravel but I enjoyed driving on tarmac more than I expected," he stated.
"Andrew and I worked quite a lot recently with Pentti Airikkala and my confidence is building day by day. We've also been working hard on our notes but as usual my main priority is completing the route and gaining as much experience of the stages as possible."
The recent Manx National Rally was Melis first ever tarmac rally and once he had adjusted to the massive levels of grip available his times were more than respectable for some one with so little experience. A transmission problem on Saturday afternoon cut short his test but even so the experience gained should stand him in good stead this weekend.
