Carlisle co-driver Jemma Bellingham, made an impressive debut on the Bulldog International Rally of Wales this weekend.

Co-driving from 20 year old Australian driver Molly Taylor, the pair piloted the Monster Sport Europe and MIS Motorsport-backed Suzuki Swift Sport to the finish, winning the first round of the 2009 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup.

The only all female crew in the British Rally Championship beat off stiff competition from five other Suzuki crews, to pick up maximum points.

The girls got the rally off to a good start on SS1 Dyfnant, where she was lying in 2nd place, just half a second off Richard Sykes. Not to be beaten, they continued to claw back time from the other crews, setting four fastest times out of only six stages.

‘Molly only arrived in the country three weeks ago and the shakedown stage on Thursday was the first time she’d actually driven the car, so we were in at the deep-end. We had no idea about how our pace would match that of the other crews so we were really pleased to be setting some quick times throughout the day.’  

The girls went into SS6 Big Ray with a 37s lead over their closest rival, Luke Pinder, focused on doing enough to keep the gap, but without taking any risks which would cost them the event.

Dropping 11s to Luke in the stage, meant that Molly and Jemma completed the rally with a 25s advantage.

‘We had an amazing weekend; to win the Suzuki’s has been a real confidence boost for us. The car was faultless all weekend, surviving the long and tricky stages. We’d like to thank MSE, the Australian Motorsport Foundation and MIS for all of their help and support in getting this season off the ground. We’re now looking forward to the Pirelli International Rally, where we’ll be pushing again for a win.’

Molly, who is backed by the Australian Motorsport Foundation, has recently won their International Rising Star Award for 2009 and is the first female driver to be given the title.

Molly and Jemma are currently seeking sponsorship to support the winning team, to ensure they can complete all six rounds of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, in their battle for the title.

‘With the current financial climate, it’s been quite difficult finding sponsors to help us, so we’d love to talk to anyone who’d like to get involved. We’re the only all-female crew in the British Rally Championship and we’ve proved what we can do this weekend’.

The girls will contest the 2nd round of the British Rally Championship, the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle on the 17th/18th April. Jemma is no stranger to the Kielder Forest complex, with this being her 4th time of contesting the rally.

If you’d like more information on sponsoring Molly Taylor and Jemma Bellingham, email admin@jemmarally.co.uk

Jemma, who turned 26 on Saturday, celebrated her birthday by competing in the Malcolm Wilson Rally based in Cockermouth. Co-driving for Windermere-based Gary Tomlinson in a Team Kankku Subaru Impreza, the pair tackled stages in Greystoke, Grizedale and Whinlatter Forests.

“The stages on this rally are some of the best and also some of the trickiest in the country. From the fast stages in Whinlatter to the rough and technical stages in Grizedale. But we kept it together and got to the finish of the rally without any car troubles.” said Jemma.

Jemma navigated Gary Tomlinson to 15th overall on the rally and 3rd in class B13.

From the forest stages to tarmac, Jemma moved south to Wigan on Sunday, to compete in the Roskirk Stages at Three Sisters Circuit, navigating for 16 year old Ashley Slights from York.

The rally was the first round of the Junior F1000 Rally Championship, a brand new championship for 14-16 year olds to rally cars with an engine capacity of 1litre, before they turn 17. The move by the Motorsports Association (MSA), allows competitors aged 14 to 16 to compete in ‘grassroots’ rallying.

The pair rallied a Slights Rallysport-backed Toyota Yaris, which 16 year old motorsport-student, Ashley, built in his fathers workshop.

Ashley dominated the rally from the beginning, setting the fastest time on the first stage, which he kept up throughout eleven of the twelve stages.

The pair went on to win the rally by 10 seconds from fellow junior, Cameron Davies.

Speaking after the event, Jemma said “It really couldn’t have gone any better for us. It was the first time all of the Juniors had driven competitively and they were setting times comparable to some of the veteran competitors. The Junior F1000 championship is an excellent way for young people to get into rallying and these young drivers proved they have all the talent needed to go all the way. Ashley drove brilliantly all day. He was left-foot braking and taking lines through corners that you’d expect of a rally driver with much more experience. To win the rally was a brilliant confidence boost for him and it just topped off an excellent weekend of rallying.”

Ashley has made history as the youngest person ever to win a stage rally in the UK.

Jemma will co-drive for Ashley Slights on the next round of the championship, the Lee Holland Memorial Stages in Anglesey in April.

Jemma is also contesting the full British Rally Championship in a Suzuki Swift with up and coming Australian driver Molly Taylor. The Bulldog Rally is the first round which takes place on 28th March in Mid-Wales.