British Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams will be jumping into the co-driver’s seat of a Mitsubishi Lancer when she makes her World Rally Championship debut this week.

Amy Williams will co-drive for British television presenter Tony Jardine on Wales Rally GB this weekend after months of training.

Williams took part in her first rally in September. She has now completed four national rallies in the space of just ten weeks, and has received expert coaching from Daniel Barrit, co-driver to WRC 2 front-runner Elfyn Evans.

With Thursday’s start in Conwy Quay getting closer, Williams admitted she was feeling the pressure. “I can’t pretend I’m not nervous,” she said. “I was comfortable until I sat down with Daniel in front of a mountain of paperwork, maps and rules, and then I started to panic! This is a whole new game on an entirely different level.”

“Right now I am feeling a lot of pressure, although, it’s a very different kind from the skeleton – there I was in my comfort zone and people were expecting results! Here, even though the other rallies have gone well so far, the World Rally Championship will be a totally different and much tougher challenge.”

Jardine, a rally GB veteran, has been impressed by the rapid progress of his new navigator. “Amy has done spectacularly well to get this far,” he said. “With the four rallies completed in a variety of conditions, we have developed a partnership through good chemistry.

“However, we know it is still going to be pretty tough – with 10 hours without any team support on Friday alone, our aim is simply to finish!”

A stomach bug meant Williams didn’t take part in the second day of the recce, so experienced co-driver Craig Parry stepped in to complete the notes, but the team is optimistic that she will be well enough to start the rally as planned.

Source: WRC.com