A leading Welsh company has added its support to the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship.
Pembroke Dock based Genpower are multi-brand distributors of generators, pressure washers, water pumps, air compressors and garden machinery.
In a sponsorship package valued at £3000 Genpower will give vouchers against the purchase of any of the Hyundai equipment for which they are distributors to the top 3 in a different class on each of the first seven rounds of the championship while on the final round of the championship, every class winner will receive a voucher.
Company Managing Director Roland Llewellin is a regular championship contender himself and took the Group N runner up spot and a class win in the 2015 championship driving a Mitsubishi Evo IX. Confirming his company’s support for the 2016 championship, Roland said, “We are very pleased to be involved with the Pirelli Welsh National Forest Championship again. This series is made up of some of the best events in the UK and this year we have a prize voucher scheme that covers all classes.”
Welcoming the sponsorship, championship co-ordinator Dave Evison commented, “It’s great to have this support, especially coming as it does from a leading Welsh company. As the country’s premier rally championship we are keen to establish links with as many Welsh companies as we can to promote not only Wales but also its businesses.”
The opening round of the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship is the Cambrian Rally. The Llandudno based event takes place on 13 February.
Another Star to Appear for Phil Morris Racing
Oswestry-based Phil Morris Racing has added another top name to its roster of riders with the news that Peter Hickman has signed to ride the team’s bikes, including their MotoGP machines, during 2016.
28 year old Hickman from Burton-on-Trent had a stellar 2015 season that included a 131.6mph lap of the Mountain Course on only his second appearance at the Isle of Man TT races riding what was in essence a stock bike. That and Superbike wins in Ulster and Macau helped him secure the Bike Sport News Roads Rider of the Year award. This season will see Peter riding the factory backed JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R of the GBMoto Racing Team both in the British Superbike Championship and the major road races.In between, he, along with other high profile team-mates including John McGuinness and Ian Hutchinson, will be appearing at a programme of events demonstrating the Phil Morris Racing stable of historic race bikes that includes the stunning ex-PBR MotoGP bikes.
Peter’s race bikes will also carry the Phil Morris Racing logo as well as that of Ammo, the range of high tech cleaning products for which Phil Morris Racing are distributors.
Confirming the signing, team principal Phil Morris said, “We are delighted to have Peter on board. He has already established himself as a leading contender both in the BSB and on the roads and there is no doubt he has many more successes ahead of him. He is more than capable of doing justice to our machinery as we continue to make it available for the widest possible audience to see.”
Team Sponsorship Director Derek Smith added, “We must never forget, of course, that it is only through the support of all our sponsors that we are able to do any of this and we have, as always, to give them a huge thank you.”
Among the appearances Peter Hickman will be making for the team, he is scheduled to be guest of honour, alongside John McGuinness, at the Aberdare Park Road Races.
The unique event located in a Victorian era municipal park in South Wales takes place on 30 and 31 July.
New “Bentley Boy” bows in 2016 season
Seb Morris, one of the UK’s premier aspiring professional racing drivers, will make the transition from international single-seater racing to GT action this year after today, Wednesday, 3rd February, confirming a headline deal with Team Parker Racing to drive a Bentley Continental in the prestigious British GT Championship.
Marking a key turning point in the 20-year-old Welshman’s hugely successful motorsport career, the two-time McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist will mount a front-running challenge in the blue riband GT3 class with the popular Leicestershire-based squad.
Racing on the FIA Formula One World Championship support package last year in the GP3 Series, the ever escalating cost of a planned career path in single-seaters led Seb and his management team to pursue other options for 2016 – the deal to race a Bentley proving a truly golden opportunity.
“I really am so excited to be making the move into GT racing this year, it is an absolutely fantastic development for my career to be joining Team Parker Racing in the team’s first year working with Bentley”, said the Marford ace, “Hopefully this will prove to be the start of a very fruitful GT career, I’m elated to be associated with the famous ‘Bentley Boys’.
Bloodhound is on the scent of more money
The British-led bid to break the world land speed record has been put back again, to 2017.
The Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car was supposed to go racing later this year, to try to raise the current mark of 763mph (1,228km/h) to over 800mph.
The plan was announced in 2008 but it needs £17M to achieve their goal of 1,000mph in 2018 and there have been technical issues, which have been resolved, and now it’s a question of the financial barrier.
