The 2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s Swift Sport Cup can be wrapped up in Ulster by series leaders Mikko Pajunen and co-driver Janne Perälä who have dominated throughout the season.

International Rally NI, part of the Toddsleap.com Ulster Rally, forms the penultimate round in the series and the last chance for crews to show their mettle on asphalt.

With a Pirelli Star Driver nomination on the second round of the series under their belts, Pajunen and Perälä have continued to look like seasoned campaigners in the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, although like so many others, the infamous Rally Isle of Man weather caught the pair out last time out.

Every round of the championship has been new to the Finnish crew and at the start of the season they confessed that their Achilles heel was asphalt, having little experience on sealed surface events. As a result the Antrim lanes will be yet another challenge, further complicated by the memory of their crash on Manx “tar”.

However all they need is a finish in Ulster as their opposition this year has steadily dropped by the wayside, unable to stay on the Finns’ pace. The exception is that of seventeen year old Tom Clark who joined the championship on round three, the Jim Clark International Rally as soon as he was old enough to hold a UK driving licence.

While never expected to immediately match the more experienced Finn’s pace, he settled in well in the Scottish Borders. But like Pajunen he was caught out on the Isle of Man, leaving a void where there should have been a Swift Sport Cup podium.

There is still a mathematical chance that Clark could steal the title, as the final round in Yorkshire counts for points and a half. But his rival would need to retire from both events and the youngster surely wouldn’t wish that on his fellow Suzuki driver.

Catch TV coverage of the Swift Sport Cup crews from International Rally Isle of Man, along with other classes and a preview of this weekend’s rally on Sky Sports’ Rallyzone programme tonight.
For more information on the SWift Sport Cup visit www.swiftsportcup.com

The 2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s Swift Sport Cup is looking like a one horse race as Finnish hotshot Mikko Pajunen and co-driver Janne Perälä have dominated the series since the start of the season.

Their first year in the BRC was always going to a be a learning one, but with experience on the gravel roads of Finland the opening Bulldog Rally North Wales perfectly suited the pair, even catching Manxman David Harrison and reigning BRC Challenge co-driver John Connor on one of the longer Welsh stages.

Any chance of a fight on the Pirelli was ended when Harrison was caught out on a tricky left hander, rolling the little Suzuki down a step bank. Although there wasn’t substantial damage, it put paid to his event and severely dented an already tight budget.

Pajunen went on to finish just outside the top ten overall, impressing the Pirelli Star Driver judges and winning him the Pirelli “yellow jersey”, his nomination to the end of season shootout for 2011 BRC funding.

The Jim Clark Rally saw a return for Richard Boot, having missed a year since contesting the inaugural Swift Sport Cup in 2008. He was joined by Connor in the co-driver’s seat, but the pair retired with a broken driveshaft before getting to grips with the stages.

Another newcomer to the Swift Sport Cup and indeed the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship was youngster Tom Clark. He and Aggie Foster might be new to the series, but despite the youngest competitor in the BRC only turning seventeen a week before the rally, they have competed in Latvia for some time now, where drivers can compete from fourteen years old. A mature drive for one so young netted second behind Pajunen, the Fin quickly coming to terms with asphalt.

Both crews will have much to learn on the Isle of Man and although local lad Harrison is likely to be in a different car, he will no doubt be keeping an eye on the crews in the Swift Sport Cup.

Of the four Suzukis that will compete on the Jim Clark International Rally, the third round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s Swift Sport Cup, three are either new to the series or returning after a break.
Runaway winners of the opening two rounds of the one-make series for these Rally 1 class cars are Mikko Pajunen and Janne Perälä and it is the Finnish duo that leads the field away from Duns on Friday night. Their dominance is likely to be put to the test though, as the championship moves onto asphalt for the first time, an unfamiliar surface for the twenty-five year old who only began rallying two seasons ago.
Rival driver on the opening two events David Harrison will miss the first foray onto sealed surface. But the Manxman’s co-driver John Connor will take his place alongside Chesterfield’s Richard Boot, returning after more than twelve months away from the Swift Sport Cup. More used to having his wife alongside, it will be a plunge into the unknown for Boot, although he did contest the Jim Clark Rally in 2008 and Connor took fifth overall on his way to the BRC Challenge co-driver’s title in 2009.
Brand new to the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship and the Swift Sport Cup is seventeen year-old Tom Clark. Despite having only just reached the UK’s minimum driving age, the Essex youngster has already been rallying for two full seasons in Latvia. He began aged just fourteen with Autocross experience already under his belt and with Aggie Foster alongside contested eleven events, so should be one to watch straight out of the box.
Although not registered for the championship, local driver and last year’s Suzuki winner on his home event, Gordon Nichol will be out in his Swift for a one-off appearance and will no doubt be keen to prove his pace against the flying Finns.
Whatever the outcome on the Borders lanes, the Swift Sport Cup still offers great value rallying to its competitors and great entertainment for the spectators, as these are the smallest engined cars in the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship and the crews have to push hard to eke out every ounce of performance.
Despite giving away around 160 horsepower to the front-running turbocharged cars, the Swifts still face 130 miles over Friday and Saturday, all hoping to complete the route without mishaps in what is forecast to be showery conditions.

Friday 28th May
17:30 – 18:00 Autograph session, Duns Market Square (top 20 cars)
19:00 International Rally start, Duns Market Square
23:45 Final Friday service, Kelso Racecourse
Saturday 29th May
08:30 Rally restarts, Kelso Racecourse
17:09 Finish podium, Duns Market Square

A dominant display of driving on the opening round of the 2010 Swift Sport Cup means that the favourite for victory on the second round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, the Pirelli International Rally, must be Finnish duo Mikko Pajunen and Janne Perälä.

However David Harrison and John Connor, the only other crew contesting the Suzuki based one-make championship, had a serious wake-up call in Wales in March and will certainly not want to be caught out again on the Cumbrian event.

There are still some difficulties for the Fins to overcome before the start in Carlisle on Friday though, the dust cloud from the erupting Icelandic volcano meaning a long drive and ferry crossing, as flights into UK air space remain disrupted.

However Manxman Harrison should have no such problems crossing the Irish Sea, so he and his Midlands-based co-driver will take advantage of a relaxed recce of the stages, both having contested the event in previous years. Like Harrison, Connor has made the step up from the BRC’s support series, the BRC Challenge combined youth and experience making a successful new partnership for 2010.

Pajunen and Perälä are contesting their first season in the UK, so each event is a new experience, but judging by their pace on Bulldog Rally North Wales, the Swifts will be worth watching in the forests of Kershope and Kielder on Friday and Saturday.

PIRELLI INTERNATIONAL RALLY

The Pirelli International Rally is based entirely at the Carlisle Racecourse from where it starts at 18.30, heading out for three stages in Kershope Forest. The event re-starts at 07.00 on Saturday with three loops of three stages, before returning to Carlisle for the ceremonial finish just before 19.00.

For more information on the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s Swift Sport Cup visit www.swiftsportcup.com