RESURGENT rally ace Arron McClure rolls to the West Country this weekend to resume his BTRDA title fight.

The Flookburgh flier contests the Somerset Stages – the third round of the BTRDA Series – looking to build on a second-placed finish in class at last month’s Malcolm Wilson Rally.

McClure and co-driver Alex Kiruhani head to Minehead in their All Floors Express/Yokohama-backed Mitsubishi E9.

The duo recovered from a season-opening roll on the Cambrian Rally in February, to secure a confidence-boosting second in the BTRDA Rally Series Production Cup and top-10 overall position on his home event.

The result leaves him third in the closely-fought NR4 category and just outside the podium in the Production Cup.

But after finishing the 2015 season without a win, McClure’s hopes this year have firmly rested on a victory and he sees the Somerset Stages as the best chance so far.

“Our Malcolm Wilson Rally result was certainly encouraging and I spent most of the event finding my feet in the car, after all we only managed three stages on the Cambrian,” said McClure.

“We have made a few set up tweaks to the car in between events which should help on the shorter stages and there are plenty of them in Somerset.

“We had a good rally here last year and the Yokohama tyres work really well on the dry, crumbly forest tracks.

“I know the stage quite well too, so I think it’s going to be my best chance of victory so far this year and I certainly need either that or a runner-up spot to keep our title hopes alive.”

The Somerset Stages is unique in that it contains a traditional 3.7-mile blast up the all-asphalt Porlock Toll Road midway through the event.

With 37 stage miles to contend with across 13 stages, each special test will be critical to McClure’s winning hopes.

“There are twice as many stages as usual on this event and not one stage is over six miles long,” added the South Cumbrian, who is backed by Fuchs Lubricants, IPD Motorsport Services, Camp Road Garage, Carcraft Body Repairs, Darce Tech Racing, Questmead, Arnside Motor Sport and MCR Motorsport Media.

“It’s going to be important to be on the pace from the word go, so a good start will be key to the result at the end of the day. I have to say I’m really looking forward to it.”