John MacCrone and Peter Taylor ready for Wales …. Ahead of next week’s British Rally Championship opener, the Rally North Wales on the weekend of 6/7 April, John MacCrone and Peter Taylor had their first run-out in the new Culina Palletforce Racing Team Citroen DS3s.
John has teamed up with Welsh co-driver Phil Pugh for this opening round while Peter has regular co-driver Andrew Roughead.
In addition to the main BRC series, both crews will also contest the one-make Citroen Racing Trophy UK which uses identical cars and control Pirelli tyres for ultimate levels of competition.
John said: “I’ve only completed a few miles but the car already feels extremely positive, deceptively fast and very driveable. But I’m under no illusions that this will be a tough rally for me and we just need to take it step by step. I’ve a new car to learn and a new co-driver to work with so I’m not expecting to be right on the pace from the very start. The plan is to aim for a finish, get the experience and build the speed up stage by stage.”
Peter added: “I’m really looking forward to getting started in the BRC next weekend. I’ve got some experience of the stages but we will definitely be playing catch up with the local drivers. The car feels very good but I’ve never driven it competitively on gravel stages yet so the event will be a big learning curve. But we are up for the challenge and ready to get started next weekend.”
Culina Palletforce Racing team principal Thomas Van Mourik, commented: “The excitement has been building over the last few weeks and I’m really looking forward to the first event in Wales. Everyone has worked hard over the last few weeks to launch the team and conclude our final preparations and now it’s time for the crews to do their stuff. This event really does mark the birth of the Culina Palletforce Racing team and we’re looking forward to the branding and promotional benefits the championship will offer us.”
This new rally team was announced early in March with the Culina Palletforce Racing team cars being prepared by Carlisle-based CA1 Sport to contest both the BRC series and the competitive one-make Citroen Racing Trophy UK. In addition, Culina Palletforce Racing will challenge for overall honours in the BRC Teams Cup.
Culina Palletforce Racing is a partnership between two major road transport and distribution companies: Culina Logistics and Palletforce. While the BRC team may be new, Palletforce has been a supporter of MacCrone for the last few years.
At the time, John said: “I’m really privileged to have been given this opportunity. The title of British Rally Champion is one that every young driver wants on their CV so I’m really focused on doing the best I can this season. I’m working hard to prepare for the first event on everything from my fitness to pacenote training with Phil so we can hit the ground running.”
Peter added: “Competing as part of a high-level, two-car team is a great opportunity for me this season. Last year my car wasn’t really up to the challenge and I struggled to be on the pace of the other drivers. But this year things should be different – having the support of an experienced team and team-mates will make a big difference.”