by Geoff Mayes
Melis Charalambous will swap both co-driver and car ahead of his next outing, the Mid Wales based Quinton Stages in early July, as Marc Crisps takes over the role of calling notes for the rising star.
The 18-year-old, who has only been rallying for less than a year, will be joined by Cross Hands based Crips for the rest of the season. The pair contested Wales Rally GB together at the end of 2007, an event which marked Melis' debut on the World Rallying scene. Crips has plenty of experience to call upon, having been a road rallying and stage event navigator since 1989 and having recently forged a reputation as one of the top historic rallying navigators, calling the notes for the likes of Mark Solloway and Andrew Haddon.
The pair will contest the Quinton Stages next, an event which uses some of the stages used on the Wales Rally GB in early December. Whilst this will be Melis' first event back in Wales since the 2007 WRC finale the young rally driver is understandably excited about the up coming event.
“I am really looking forward to the Quinton Stages. I've been told they use some of the stages we used on the Wales Rally GB last year and I really enjoyed that rally,” said the North London-based student.
“I've been doing a lot of work with Pentti recently and now its time to put some of that into practice.”
Not only will Melis have a new co-driver but he also has a new car. M-Tec Developments, the team which runs the youngster, are currently brokering a deal to swap their right hand drive N12 for a left hand drive car. Whilst the deal is unlikely to be completed before the event, Melis will still have the use of his N8 test car for the weekend.
The Quinton Stages is the sixth round of the 2008 BTRDA Rally Series and starts from Llandovery on Saturday morning. Featuring some of the classic Wales Rally GB stages such as Crychan, Route 60 and Halfway it offers some of the best stage rallying in Mid Wales.
