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Cape Town - Teenager Ashley Haigh-Smith has become the first African to be recruited into the WRC’s training programme for young drivers.
Haigh-Smith, from Cape Town, won the 2010 South African A5 class while still a schoolboy (dabbling with a budding rallying career and finishing his matric), and currently races a Ford Fiesta R2 in the A6 class nationally.
You can take a drive with him in the video below.
With Europe, South America and Australasia already represented, Haigh-Smith brings to four the number of continents represented in the WRC’s programme.
Haigh-Smith will contest the final two WRC Academy events in France and Great Britain. Although he will be ineligible to score points because of his late addition to the line-up, the exposure to international rallying should prove hugely beneficial.
TARMAC CHALLENGE
Haigh-Smith is focused on the opportunity despite having never competing in an asphalt-only rally. He said: "My main reason to be competing in the next two rounds of the WRC is to gain valuable experience in preparation for my future WRC goals and then use the knowledge I have gained to see where my weaknesses are and improve them in preparing myself for next year in the WRC Academy.
"I also need to gain experience on tar - I 've never done an asphalt rally so I think it will be very interesting and a challenge."
Haigh-Smith joins German Sepp Wiegand in committing to the one-make category for the Ford Fiesta R2.
The WRC Academy Cup will resume on Rallye de France Alsace from September 29 to October 2, 2011. After four rounds, Egon Kaur from Estonia leads Irishman Craig Breen in the standings having won the first three events of the season. Australian Brendan Reeves is third overall.
Haigh-Smith’s local ride, the only right-hand drive Fiesta R2 specification rally car in the world (specially built to best-suit South Africa’s left-lane driving regulations), is similar to the cars being used by his rivals at the young driver-training series.
Powered by a 1.6-litre Zetec engine (good for 125kW/170Nm) and driving the front-wheels via a five-speed sequential shift Sadev transmission (with traction buoyed by a trick limited-slip differential), these M-Sport built Fords are the class of the field globally where 1.6-litre, front-wheel drive rallying is concerned.
Haigh-Smith, from Cape Town, won the 2010 South African A5 class while still a schoolboy (dabbling with a budding rallying career and finishing his matric), and currently races a Ford Fiesta R2 in the A6 class nationally.
You can take a drive with him in the video below.
With Europe, South America and Australasia already represented, Haigh-Smith brings to four the number of continents represented in the WRC’s programme.
Haigh-Smith will contest the final two WRC Academy events in France and Great Britain. Although he will be ineligible to score points because of his late addition to the line-up, the exposure to international rallying should prove hugely beneficial.
TARMAC CHALLENGE
Haigh-Smith is focused on the opportunity despite having never competing in an asphalt-only rally. He said: "My main reason to be competing in the next two rounds of the WRC is to gain valuable experience in preparation for my future WRC goals and then use the knowledge I have gained to see where my weaknesses are and improve them in preparing myself for next year in the WRC Academy.
"I also need to gain experience on tar - I 've never done an asphalt rally so I think it will be very interesting and a challenge."
Haigh-Smith joins German Sepp Wiegand in committing to the one-make category for the Ford Fiesta R2.
The WRC Academy Cup will resume on Rallye de France Alsace from September 29 to October 2, 2011. After four rounds, Egon Kaur from Estonia leads Irishman Craig Breen in the standings having won the first three events of the season. Australian Brendan Reeves is third overall.
Haigh-Smith’s local ride, the only right-hand drive Fiesta R2 specification rally car in the world (specially built to best-suit South Africa’s left-lane driving regulations), is similar to the cars being used by his rivals at the young driver-training series.
Powered by a 1.6-litre Zetec engine (good for 125kW/170Nm) and driving the front-wheels via a five-speed sequential shift Sadev transmission (with traction buoyed by a trick limited-slip differential), these M-Sport built Fords are the class of the field globally where 1.6-litre, front-wheel drive rallying is concerned.
