The number of participants has doubledThe second season of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy will be launched this coming week-end.
Several new items will be discovered from the very start of the competition which is scheduled for the TAC Rally of Tielt, 2nd event of the
Belgian Rally Championship, as was done in 2006.
Last year Ford launched the Fiesta Sproting Trophy, a new competition which had gathered a half-dozen participants. The formula, whose first priority is to offer a car at the best quality/price ratio for young drivers wishing to begin a rally career, has evolved after its full first breaking-in season.
Firstly, the tyres will now be furnished by Pirelli who proposes three different tyre choices : two slicks and one intermediary. Secondly, the number of participants has doubled, which required a revision of the points-distribution system (20 for 1st, 18 for 2nd, 16 for 3rd, then one point less per position for the remainder).
In total, fifteen cars will participate in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy this year, of which 14 will line up in Tielt. Along with a good number of drivers who were present last year, several new faces have now joined the group of drivers.
In the first group, Berte Coene will put his crown at stake while Hein Derynck, Marc Debliek, Cédric Clément, Frederik Verstraete or Nikias Priem will try to make a difference by taking advantage of the experience they acquired in 2006.
Among the newcomers, we find several names already anchored in the rally milieu such as Anthony Martin (winner of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium Rally Contest), Ferdi Perneel (who sported Ford colors back in the Focus Tour days), Bernard Servais and Kurt Olivier (who both previously participated in the RACB Rally Cup).
Lesser known drivers are Marco Christen, Yves Olivier, Frédérique Briclet and Charles Antoine Hastir, who will complete the blue oval's crews. Kristof Verloos will be there, also a veteran of the Focus Tour, as will a still-undesignated driver who will work for the Ford-Peerlings Garage.
Last Saturday, the majority of the participating cars were controlled for all required evolutions by Floral Racing before passing by the Bosch Center in Pittem for workbench verifications. All was accomplished under the surveillance of Eddy Peeters of the RACB.
Source Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy
