This weekends Wales Rally GB plays host to the final round of the World Rally Championship, and the battle between defending champ Sebastien Loeb and retiring WRC veteran Marcus Gronholm. And while they may garner much of the rally worlds attention, APRC fans will also be looking a little further down the running order, with Brian Green and Fleur Pedersen competing in their second WRC event in as many weeks.

At Rally Ireland, Brian and Fleur endured three days of rain and fog to complete the event in 39th overall, an outstanding result considering the stages were run over narrow, bumpy, tarmac roads.

Along with the rain, mud dragged out onto the corners presented an extra challenge for all the crews. “The grip level on these roads was totally unpredictable. One corner the grip would be fantastic, and the next there would be zero grip”, Brian commented after the event.

With Wales Rally GB in mind, Brian and Fleur took their time to adjust to the conditions. But even running at a cautious pace, the wet tarmac caught them out a couple of times. After a high-speed spin over a crest on stage 13, the penultimate stage almost proved their downfall, the Lancer Evo 8 snapping sideways on a fast but bumpy straight. “I thought for a moment we weren’t going to be doing Rally GB!”, said co-driver Fleur Pedersen at the end of the stage.

At the time of writing, Brian and Fleur are completing their recce of Rally Wales’ 360km of competitive stages. Back on gravel, it will be another tricky weekend for the pair; “It’s damp and foggy, the roads are fast, but often quite slippery”.

Photos courtesy of David Hardingham.