TEENAGE rally driver Tom Delaney has signed up to the Suzuki Swift Shining Stars one make series for 2017.
The 17-year-old Droitwich Spa racing sensation has joined the series which is aimed at driver talent with strict controls in place to ensure a level playing field to prevent teams with big budgets from shining through.
A series of eight rallies, five gravel and three tarmac, will take place during the season travelling the length and breadth of the country including the Isle of Man with the season finale taking place in the Lake District in December.
The Shining Stars event kicks off with the North Wales Rally in April but Tom will debut the rebuilt Suzuki on the Malcolm Wilson Rally in the Lake District in March.
Tom said: “It’s great to be part of such a well organised and strictly scrutinised series against equal cars so I can measure my performance against the other drivers during the season.
“Our aim is to win the series though, we are not here just to make up the numbers.
“We was the fastest Swift at the Grizedale Rally in December until we were cruelly taken out when we caught a slower car so we have unfinished business here.”
The Droitwich Spa High School student is also looking forward to a busy year helping his family’s motor sport team out out on events as far afield as Barbados and Kenya alongside his Shining Stars duties.
Tom added: “It’s great to be out on some of these other events even though I won’t be competing.
“I learn so much from just being there as part of the team and it’s all good experience for the future.”
