Alan Kirkaldy is lying fourth in the overall Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship Drivers’ standings after a magnificent run on the Rallynuts National Tour of Epynt – which is a magnificent achievement, given that the opening round of the 2019 series was only his second rally in his Ford Fiesta R5 and his first using pace notes for 18 months!
And now the talented Scottish driver is taking the R5 class-leading car to the Masterpixel Media Manx National (10/11 May) – which will be his first attempt at the event and only his second rally on the Isle of Man.
Co-driven by Cameron Fair, Kirkaldy drove sensationally well on Epynt, finishing fourth Asphalt Rally Championship contender behind the World Rally Cars of Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Ford Focus WRC05), Damian Cole/Shelley Rogerson (Ford Focus WRC05) and John Stone/Jack Morton (Ford Fiesta WRC).
After such a good run on Epynt, Kirkaldy is keen to master the Manx and gain more experience of his Pirelli-shod Fiesta R5 on the doubler header Rounds 2 and 3 of the Asphalt Rally Championship.
“I have never done the Manx before, and my only previous rally on the Isle of Man was the PokerStars in 2017 where I finished fifth overall in an Escort Mk2,” said Kirkaldy.
“I don’t have a lot of pace note event experience, in fact the PokerStars Rally and Otterburn are the largest I’d done until the weekend where I did the Legend Fire North West Stages. Most of the other events have been single venues and with maps, no notes. Epynt was the first time back on notes since 2017, the first time on a proper event in the Fiesta R5 and only the second time in the car on an event, so it went pretty well!
“My aim in the Asphalt Championship is to do as many rounds as I can afford and make date wise, and see where we end up. I have no expectations – I just want to get as much experience as I can on notes and on different events.”
Kirkaldy is sponsored by Cairnsmill Caravan Park St. Andrews, A & L Properties, Beatsons Building Supplies, Motorhome Services Scotland and the Retreat Hair salon.
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