Duggan To Start World Championship Dream In Corsica
Former Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year and reigning British Junior Rally Champion, Rob Duggan starts his Junior World Rally Championship campaign this weekend on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
Corsica will be Duggan’s 3rd attempt at a World Rally Championship event as the Kerry man has previously tackled Wales Rally GB in 2015 and 2016. While his appearances in Wales were both one off drives, Corsica will be slightly different in that it’s the first rally in a full season at world level which will also see Rob tackle events in Italy, Poland, Finland, Germany and Spain.
Speaking ahead of the event Duggan said; “I’m unbelievably excited to be finally starting my Junior World Rally Championship season. It’s taken a lot of hard work over the past few months to get to this point so I’m going to try and enjoy every second of this experience and learn as much as I can. It’s nice to start with a tarmac event as it’s the surface I’m most comfortable on but this is going to be an incredibly demanding rally. The nature of the roads here is very unique. With little to no distance between corners, good pacenotes will be vital. We were happy to get some competitive miles in West Cork last month and I’m familiar with the DMACK tyres we’ll be using having driven on them on my way to the British Junior title last year. Our goal this weekend is to try and get our season off to a steady start and continue to learn the Ford Fiesta R2T. If we’re in contention for a podium come Sunday we would be delighted.”
Open to drivers born after 1 January 1988, the 2017 Junior World Rally Championship will follow an arrive-and-drive format and competitors will drive identical Ford Fiesta R2Ts. The Junior WRC will be contested over six WRC rounds, – starting in Corsica, then Italy, Poland, Finland and Germany before finishing in Spain. Points will be awarded to the top-ten finishers according to the usual WRC points system and an additional point will be awarded for each fastest stage time.
Rob will be partnered as usual by co-driver Ger Conway and their season is supported by Rentokil Initial, CB Tool Hire and the Team Ireland Foundation. You can keep up to date with Rob’s exploits over the weekend on social media by following him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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