By Paul Evans

British Junior Rally Championship frontrunner James Williams showed impressive pace and skill when he was invited to test a Hyundai i20 R5 rally car for the first time.

Having previously rallied front-wheel drive Opel Adam and Ford Fiesta R2s, the Newcastle Emlyn youngster was invited by the Hyundai Customer Racing team to test the much more powerful four-wheel drive machine in Kielder forest.

The car was in fact the same one in which fellow Welsh driver Tom Cave had won last weekend’s Pirelli International Rally.

In recognition of finishing runner-up in the Junior BRC series last year, Williams enjoyed a good 30 mile test in the car – with engineers from both Hyundai Motorsport and PCRS Rallysport in attendance to make sure everything ran smoothly and Williams was able to maximize the opportunity.

“I am really, really impressed with the car,” said Williams. “I have never driven a four-wheel drive car on gravel before, so it was day of learning for me today. We did six runs and what a car the i20 is, and I am lucky that Tom [Cave] set the car up so well, which meant I could just get in, drive and get up to speed quite quickly.

“It’s such a step-up from an R2 car, the braking is incredible, you have so much more grip. I can’t speak highly enough of the team, making us feel welcome and working with the Hyundai engineer has been really beneficial and I would like to thank Hyundai, PCRS and the BRC for giving me the chance to sample the next step.”

Although he missed the Pirelli International Rally, Williams hopes to return to the British Rally Championship on the Renties Ypres Rally at the end of June – an event which saw him score his first Junior BRC triumph one year ago.