Fraser Anderson ready for the toughest rally test of his career as the BRC Academy driver makes his Mull Rally debut

Fraser Anderson is aiming to get his British Rally Championship Academy Trophy title challenge back on track when he contests the longest and toughest event of his motorsport career when he tackles the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally for the first time in his Baxter and Gillespie-backed Ford Fiesta R2T.

The event will also be the 18-year old Helensburgh driver’s first closed road asphalt rally.

He and co-driver Jack Bowen have been super-fast this year and won the BRC Academy section on the Nicky Grist Stages and led the category by a country mile on both the following Grampian and Trackrod rallies.

However, the ME Rallysport team driver has been incredibly unlucky on the last two rounds of the BRC with retirement in both the Scottish and North Yorkshire forests ending a comfortable 26 and 48.7 second Academy lead respectively.

Super-fast Fraser Anderson denied British Rally Championship Academy victory after rolling out of the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire

Fraser Anderson once again demonstrated his incredible speed behind the wheel of his Baxter and Gillespie-backed Ford Fiesta R2T when he opened up an impressive 48.7 second lead in the British Rally Championship Academy Trophy, but the Helensburgh teenager was denied a superb class victory on the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (24-25 September) after he rolled out of the event on the penultimate stage.

New engine ready to power Fraser Anderson to British Rally Championship Academy Trophy success in North Yorkshire

Fraser Anderson is hoping that a new engine in his Baxter and Gillespie-backed Ford Fiesta R2T will power him to British Rally Championship Academy Trophy success on this weekend’s Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (24-25 September).

The 18-year old Helensburgh-based ME Rallysport team driver enjoyed a great start to the season as he finished second in class on the opening Neil Howard Stages at Oulton Park and then won the BRC Academy on the Nicky Grist stages to take the lead in the category.

Fraser Anderson denied home British Rally Championship Academy Trophy victory after sensational start on the Grampian Rally

Fraser Anderson was denied what looked certain to be a dominant victory in the British Rally Championship Academy Trophy after suffering bad luck on the Grampian Rally (Saturday 14 August).

The 18-year old Helensburgh-based ME Rallysport team driver had started the event, his first senior rally in Scotland, tied for the lead of the Academy Trophy with Johnnie Mulholland, having won last time out on the Nicky Grist Stages.

Over the opening six mile Durris forest stage, Fraser and co-driver Jack Bowen set a remarkable pace in their Baxter and Gillespie-backed Ford Fiesta R2T, stopping the clocks an impressive 26 seconds quicker than their nearest Academy competitor, arch-rival Mulholland.

Unfortunately, a hydraulics system issue caused all of the hydraulic fluid to drain from the reservoir and without fluid in the system Fraser completed the opening stage unable to change gear properly or get into neutral. Fearing that he’d get stranded in the middle of the next stage, Fraser made the wise decision to return to service – where his mechanics were able to repair the car and send him out for stage three.

BRC Academy Trophy joint leader Fraser Anderson set to make senior Scottish rally debut on his ‘home’ Grampian Rally

Eighteen-year old Fraser Anderson is set to make his maiden senior rally start in Scotland when he contests the Grampian Rally (Saturday 14 August) in his Baxter and Gillespie-backed Ford Fiesta R2T – although any home advantage is limited to the fact that he once went to spectate on the event, and his rivals from Scotland, England and Ireland have more experience of the fast Aberdeenshire forest stages than he has!