DUGGAN HOPING TO MAKE IMPRESSION ON THE WORLD STAGE

duggan-hoping-to-make-impression-on-the-world-stage-photo-by-jakob-ebrey

Outgoing Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year, Rob Duggan, will round out his 2016 campaign this weekend on Wales Rally GB (October 27th-30th), round 13 of the World Rally Championship. The one off drive comes on the back of a stunning season which saw the 23 year old Killarney driver dominate the British Junior Rally Championship in his Vauxhall Adam with co-driver, Ger Conway.

With the support of used Vauxhall specialists Network Q, Duggan will join British driver Chris Ingram in a 2 car Vauxhall team where both will fight it out to be the highest placed R2 car in the Welsh forests. 12 months ago Duggan made an eye-catching World Rally Championship debut in a Citroen DS3 on the Welsh event belying his lack of gravel experience and Duggan feels that his subsequent year in the British Championship will serve him well ahead of the weekend.

Speaking before the event Rob said; “It’s been a fantastic season to date and I’m very grateful to Vauxhall Motorsport UK and Network Q for this opportunity. One of my goals this season was to improve my performances on gravel, especially with regards to making pacenotes. Wales Rally GB last year was the first time I had made notes on a loose surface so almost 12 months later I’m looking forward to putting into practice all I’ve learned this season. It’s great to be joined by Chris Ingram in the team this weekend; Chris performed well in the European Rally Championship this year and will be on home soil in Wales so it will be a good benchmark for my pace to have him as a teammate. As ever, I’m sure there’ll be plenty Irish fans over to spectate so hopefully we can give them something to cheer about! It’s a very proud feeling to tackle a World Rally Championship event with the flag of your country on the car and Ger and myself can’t wait to start. It’s been an honour to represent Ireland this year as the Billy Coleman Award winner and it would be fantastic to end the year on a positive note.”

After a brief shakedown stage on Thursday, the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB gets underway early on Friday morning with the famous 30km Myherin stage before the crews tackle Sweet Lamb, Hafren and Dyfnant with each stage then repeated in the afternoon. Saturday will see 8 further tests with the final 6 stages taking place on Sunday. The event will be based out of Deeside near the English border.

To keep up to date with Rob’s future plans for 2017 and beyond be sure and visit www.robduggan.com or follow Rob on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Rob’s season with Vauxhall Motorsport UK is supported by Rentokil Initial, Motorsport Ireland, Sport Ireland and the Team Ireland Foundation.

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