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Back to November 2011 Motorsports News Archive
| 24-11-2011 at 09:00: Successful Debut in WRC | |
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Competing in the inaugural FIA WRC Academy, Reeves and Smyth contested six events in Europe in a Ford Fiesta R2 after Reeves won a fully-funded drive in the 2011 Academy when he won the Pirelli Star Driver shootout in Spain last October against rally drivers from around the world. Reeves and five other Pirelli Star Drivers, and thirteen other self-funded competitors, contested the Academy in 2011. All driving identical Fiesta R2s built and maintained by M-Sport, the team that operates the Ford World Rally Team. Pirelli were the major sponsor of the series, supplying tyres for all crews, and providing prize money for the Series. Whilst Reeves and Smyth had competed internationally before, the World Rally Championship was a giant step up for the young Victorians. Not only did they have the furthest to travel to each event, as they are based in Australia, they had very limited time for testing on the European roads. The season opener was Rally Portugal and it didn’t get off to the start the duo was hoping for. A puncture on day 1 cost them over four minutes, putting them back to last place amongst the Academy competitors. It was a disappointing start to the Championship, however with typical Aussie fighting spirit, Reeves and Smyth fought their way back on day 2, finishing in a remarkable fourth place, setting numerous top-four stage times in the process. Next up was another gravel event, Rally Sardinia. Once again the first day of competition wasn’t kind to the Australians. Whilst many of the Academy competitors hit the same rock and damaged the sump guards on their Fiestas, causing them to retire from the event, Reeves’ Fiesta split an oil cooler on a non-competitive road section and he was forced out of the opening day’s competition. As Reeves’ car could be repaired overnight, he was able to re-start the event on day 2 under SupeRally rules. This meant that he would take a five minute penalty into day 2. Over the course of the day’s six stages, Reeves set the third fastest stage time on one stage, recorded three second-fastest stage times, and was fastest on two stages, including the final stage of the day. Another hard fought result had the pair sitting in third outright in the Championship. For the third round of the WRC Academy, Reeves and Smyth had a small contingent of supporters from Australia to watch them compete. The venue was Rally Finland, one of the world’s most iconic rallies. A consistent drive over the fast Finnish roads had Reeves placed third outright early on the final day but a flat tyre cost over three minutes and two places. Fighting on, Reeves set a blistering pace over the final two stages of the rally to finish in fourth place, with the Championship points gained boosting him to equal second on the points table. Only three weeks separated Finland and the next round, Rally Germany. The first tarmac event of the Championship was run in Germany’s Mosel region, amongst vineyards and on a military base. Reeves started day one of the rally on the pace, recording split times that catapulted him into the top two fastest drivers in the WRC Academy Cup. He then lost time after slipping off the road on each of the opening two stages, costing him valuable minutes to the rally leaders. Reeves recovered on the following stages on day one with top 10 times on all of the afternoon stages. On day 2, Reeves showed good speed in the first loop of four stages. The afternoon was also going well until a puncture on the final stage of the rally which cost him more time. Reeves and Smyth were disappointed to finish Rally Germany 13th in the Academy but they still maintained third overall in the Championship standings after four rounds. Taking the lessons he learnt from Germany to the following round, Rally France, Reeves’s aim was to drive a smooth and consistent rally. After a consistent drive over Day 1′s eight tarmac stages on Friday, Reeves was sitting comfortably in fourth place. With a further nine stages to contest on Saturday, Reeves set good stage times and was maintaining his position, knowing that he could benefit from a mistake by one of the three crews ahead of him. With two stages to run, Reeves was in the perfect position to gain valuable championship points. He went into Rally France third in the overall standings but the two drivers ahead of him in the championship, Egon Kaur an margin. It wasn’t to be, however. As the pair prepared to start the second-last stage of the rally, the cable of their Fiesta’s clutch broke, forcing their retirement from the rally. The season finale was back on gravel in Wales. The rally got off to a great start for Reeves when he set the fastest time on the opening stage and second-fastest time on the second stage of the Welsh event. On the day’s third stage, in slippery, muddy conditions, Reeves’s Ford Fiesta R2 slid wide on a corner and the Aussie pair were stuck in a ditch at the side of the road for about a minute. This put them back down the field at the end of the first day but they were confident of a good showing on day 2. As it did in the previous round, a mechanical issue was the cause of Reeves’s demise. On the very first stage of the day, the Fiesta’s driveshaft broke; meaning Reeves and Smyth were unable to continue. Despite being hugely disappointed with another forced withdrawal, Reeves remained positive, vowing to go into Saturday’s stages and “try hard and see what happens”. He did just that and despite atrocious road conditions (he was the second last car on the road), he set consistent stage times and nursed the car home in 15th place. After a great start to the WRC Academy series, Reeves finished in a brilliant fifth place in the WRC Academy Cup, despite being dogged by mechanical issues in the second half of the season. In his first year in the World Rally Championship, Reeves recorded three stage wins, eight second-fastest times and ten third-fastest stage times. He netted 46 top five stage times in the six events – an impressive result from someone who had never driven on the European roads before and who travelled over 150,000 kilometres getting to and from events. Confirming their talent on both gravel and tarmac surfaces, Reeves and Smyth’s only non-finish of the season was due to mechanical failure. Had they not suffered punctures and mechanical problems, their overall season result could have been a lot different. Reeves and Smyth are now trying to secure funding to compete in the 2012 WRC Academy. Next season they are required to find their own funds to contest the series and will need in excess of $250,000 to do so. “With the experience we have gained from competing in the WRC Academy this year, I believe we can go out there again next year and really give the Championship title a crack,” Reeves said. To top off his year, Reeves was recently selected to be part of the 2012 FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, after being nominated by CAMS, the governing body of Australian motorsport. He will attend numerous training camps in Europe later this year and throughout 2012 being coached by former Formula 1 driver, Alex Wurz, and former WRC co-driver, Robert Reid. |
Australian brother-sister rally team, Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth, have completed their first year in the gruelling World Rally Championship (WRC) in fifth place in their Category.
d Craig Breen, both crashed out of the rally, giving Reeves the opportunity to claw back the leaders’^ Back to top ^
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