Solberg Aims for Junior BRC Success

Petersfield based preparation experts MH Motorsport will be aiming to take their second Prestone MSA Junior British Rally Championship (BRC) win in a row, as they head to the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle this weekend. MH Motorsport were delighted to come out on top at the series opener in March, with Norwegian Oscar Solberg taking the win of the hotly contested Prestone MSA Junior BRC series in his Fiesta R2T. Northern Ireland’s Callum Devine also made his mark on the leader board on the first round, taking a solid fifth spot in his similar model Fiesta. After a confident boosting opening round on the Border Counties in March, the Hampshire outfit will be once again be powering a brace of Ford Fiesta’s in the championship and will be looking to further build on their successes in the early part of the year. The MH Motorsport team of Solberg and Devine have already been dubbed as ones to watch for the title, with the winner bagging a substantial £30,000 prize fund in the process. The Pirelli International Rally takes place in the notorious Kielder forest complex and the two-day event will see crews tackle a 100 mile competitive route in the Scottish Borders. Leading the Junior rankings after round one, Norwegian pilot Oscar Solberg will head to Carlisle firmly in the driving seat after an impressive performance in the Scottish Borders in March. With Patrick Barth alongside the son of World Rally Championship ace Henning, Solberg will contest only his second event in the UK but is hoping for a strong run in his MH Motorsport Fiesta R2T. “I am really looking forward to contesting the Pirelli Rally” says Solberg. “I was a little surprised to be leading the championship after round one as the event was very challenging but we will of course try hard to get more points to help our lead in the Junior BRC”. Fellow Fiesta R2T pilot Callum Devine and co-driver Keith Moriarty opened their British Championship assault with a solid fifth spot. Having previously campaigned the 1600cc variant of the Fiesta back in 2014, the Northern Irishman would make the switch to an R2T for the very first time on the Border Counties. An unlucky turbo pipe issue on the closing stages of the event halted progress up the rankings, but was confidently setting some impressive stage times during the event. “It was a really steep learning curve to jump straight into the R2T on the event after just a brief test beforehand” says Devine. “It was tough having everything thrown at us such as writing our own notes, driving in the dark and actually driving on the gravel again. But at the mid-point of the second day we had really settled in a started to set some decent times. We were unlucky with the turbo issue but I’m really looking forward to the Pirelli now and the goal is certainly a podium this time out.”