The
Silverstone Tyres BRC Challenge moves to the heart of the country for the third round of the British Rally Championship's support series on the Rally of the Midlands on June 20-21.
Six BRCC registered crews will take part in the sealed surface event, which comprises nearly 100 miles of stages in and around Hinckley and Nuneaton to the north of Coventry.
Local man Richard Sykes leads the Championship in his Fiesta, heading the field after two storming results on the opening two events. He almost won the
Jim Clark Challenge Rally outright back in May, but pushed just a little too hard on the final loop, dropping time with a minor off. He still took overall BRCC points though and has a maximum haul from both events, with James Watts holding second place, six points adrift.
Watts also leads both the Junior category and the smallest engine capacity class, RC1, in his 1400cc Volkswagen Polo. He will have competition on the multi-venue event as Tony Simpson returns in his MGZR, having retired on round one and missed round two.
David Harrison will journey from the Isle of Man to compete in his locally prepared Peugeot 106; runner up in April, his good run on the Jim Clark ended at the very last moment when he retired near the end of the final stage.
Five of last year's Silverstone backed series crews have moved to the main British Rally Championship for 2008, including the winner Luke Pinder. But the 2007 winning car will return at the hands of Scot Callum Bendall, hoping to get his Ford Ka to the finish after retiring from the opening two events.
Running amongst the BRC Challenge, which runs ahead of the main event, is the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA prize winner Darren Pinchin. His prize of a fully paid entry on the Rally of the Midlands is part of a scheme masterminded by Silverstone Tyres, his Proton Satria running on the same control tyres as the rest of the BRCC field.
![Richard Sykes [Pic credit: Geoff Mayes]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/431219.jpg)
