Campana wins Richard Burns Memorial Rally

Pierre Campana has taken a confident victory in this weekend’s Richard Burns Memorial Rally, his first full rally event as a Drive-Pro driver behind the wheel of a MINI John Cooper Works WRC rally car, with which he will contest next week’s ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

The Richard Burns rally, which takes place annually as a tribute to the former world rally champion, attracted an impressive entry list with well over 100 participants. Held on asphalt-only stages, the event has given Pierre valuable and relevant practice in the run up to next week’s event, which will be Pierre’s WRC debut.

Working with the support of Prodrive team staff, who run the works MINI programme, Pierre and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli were up against a wealth of experienced local rally drivers, well acquainted with the layout of the RAF Marham course. Pierre and Sabrina enjoyed a successful two day event, winning six out of the eight stages and finishing a close second in SS1 and SS3 on Saturday, while paying tribute to Burns.

It was announced last week that Campana would be contesting two rounds of the 2011 World Rally Championship with Team Drive-Pro in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC, thanks in no small part to the support he is receiving from Drive-Pro and the French Automotive Sport Federation (FFSA) who have nominated Pierre to be head of the Rally Team France effort for 2011.

This weekend’s Richard Burns rally follows one full day of testing and promotional running that Pierre undertook at Alès-Cevennes in the south of France last week, all contributing to his learning curve ahead of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland next week. Victory in this weekend’s memorial event will undoubtedly help Pierre’s confidence heading into his first rally in a full specification WRC car.

Pierre Campana said: “The Richard Burns Memorial Rally has been a remarkable event and it has been an absolute honour to join so many people in paying tribute to such a rally legend. I would like to thank the organisers of the event for their hospitality and their fantastic organisation. We wanted to use the event as a way of getting more mileage in the MINI before we compete in Rallye Deutschland next week, so it is very pleasing to have won the rally, particularly against such knowledgeable and passionate competitors. Stage wins and times were not part of our plan, but it has been a very valuable event in terms of understanding the car on asphalt and in changing weather conditions. The car felt good, the Michelin tyres worked well and it’s been good for Sabrina and I to make our debut as Drive-Pro drivers, working with Prodrive staff, who gave us a great support, all of which adds to our preparations for Germany, which I am really looking forward to.”