STOURBRIDGE rally driver Richard Sykes will be heading to Yorkshire this weekend for the penultimate round of the British Rally Championship Challenge in a hope he can keep his championship dreams alive.

The previous three rounds have had a damaging effect on his championship aspirations leaving his nearest rival David Harrison with a chance of claiming the title this weekend by just getting the car to the finish. But as Sykes explains, it’s not all over yet.

He said: “There are 80 competitive miles between start and finish and there are a multitude of things that can happen over that distance.

“I wish David the best of luck as we have had some good tussles over the past few months and would have liked it to continue all the way to the last round but after our recent disappointments it has put him in a very strong position.

“All we can do is go out to win the event and hope that David encounters some problems along the way.”

Sykes will return to the seat of his GI Sykes backed Ford Fiesta ST for the Yorkshire International event which will also see a return to action for regular co-driver Simon Taylor after he missed the recent Woodpecker stages when attending to bestman duties at a friend’s wedding.

He added: “Simon has some good knowledge of the stages this weekend as it is his home turf so hopefully we can use that to our benefit and claim maximum points.

“We won this event last year helping us to take the championship to the last round and we will be looking to repeat that performance.”