ME Rallysport Swift Junior + Kit
Three Time British Rally Champion and renowned mentor Matt Edwards has teemed up with Harry Hockly Motorsport to launch a 1-make “Junior +” Rally Championship, aimed at bridging the gap for Junior 1000 Drivers into the world of Senior events.
With a history in producing high quality parts for works and clubman level rally cars, Harry Hockly Motortsport already produces a number of the parts that will be available as a “Build Your Own” kit, but with the help of Edwards, has determined a specification for a 1.6 Suzuki Swift Sport that will see the car behave like a more advanced machine, but retain a largely standard drive train suitable for younger or less experienced drivers.
The kit of parts will include everything required to reach the start line of a MSUK or MSI event, but will include specialist items such as a bias pedal box, limited slip differential, hydraulic handbrake kit, and Hockly Motorsport Bilstein Dampers that will not only give drivers enhanced feedback and performance, but also reliability.
There will be an option to have a shell with a welded in roll cage, seat rails and painted, collected from the Newtown Factory in exchange for a bare donor shell, as well as an option to have a car built from the ground up to completion.
“There is clearly a big void in UK and Irish rallying between the excellent opportunities for Junior Rallying in 1000cc cars, and the step after that into senior events which for most, is in a 230bhp Rally4 car at £80,000 plus running costs” Explains Edwards.
“I spend a lot of my professional time teaching Junior drivers progressing through the ranks, and a good portion of that is helping
them tame a Rally4 car that is such a huge step up from a Junior car in terms of power, and although they are very safe in terms of build
quality, its often a long and costly process before many get to the limit. The ME-HHMS end product is seemingly cheaper than even many of the Junior 1000 cars on the market these days, but does offer the build and parts quality, and availability, that will help more Juniors progress at a sustainable rate in terms of skills and budget, but without compromising on safety.”
Although the final Calendar of events is still to be finalised, the proposal is for a 3 Gravel, 3 Tarmac Mixed surface Club level Championship to be offered in Both the UK in and Ireland; where there current Junior Series is particularly strong, in 2025, allowing time for interested parties to build their own cars from a donor vehicle with help from the supplied “Build Book”.
Edwards also aims to offer a number of test days and online review sessions throughout the season to help competitors gain experience, with further incentives also to be announced in the coming weeks.
“I think it will be a good grounding for many to be part of building their own car; its certainly how I had to go about it for many years, but I think having a championship for sensibly priced cars and an incentivised but well controlled structure is a good basis for up and coming drivers to show their potential, as well as older but inexperienced drivers to get involved.
We intend to support the Championship on events with availability of control and standard parts which takes away a lot of the stress often encountered when running much older or varied specification cars, but it will also allow us to ensure fair and close competition. The series will also run on Pirelli tyres which I have had a great working relationship with for many years now; the benefits of which I will be able to pass on to our competitors.”
The Build Kit price comes in at a very respectable £11995 +Vat, with interest and enquiries to be registered through Matt Edwards at merallysport@btinternet.com or sales@hh-ms.com with kits ready to be despatched from October 2024.
