William Mavitty will take to the special stages of Portugal this weekend as he bids to win the European Rally Trophy 2 in his Mitsubishi. The Enniskillen driver qualified for the event after a successful season on home soil where he won the Celtic Trophy, and he is now hoping to triumph over his European based rivals and claim the crown.
The event marks the end of a memorable season that also included the Group N title in the Irish Tarmac Championship, and William admits it is a year that has exceeded all his expectations. “It’s kind of like a dream,” he said. “When we started in Galway at the beginning of the season I never thought we would be out here in Portugal. To be able to put together the money to get here was hard work as well but a lot of people have been very good to be and I have had a lot of support from home. We have been lucky.”
The rally will pit him against the winners of the Celtic Trophy in other regions of the continent, but he admits he has very little knowledge of the competition that he is up against. “There is a guy from Bulgaria who is supposed to be very quick, and another guy from Turkey, but we really don’t know much about them,” he admitted. “It’s all tarmac but it is a different sort of tarmac to what we would be used to at home. It’s a different sort of surface for everyone so I don’t think it will be familiar to any of us. You could be a mile quicker or a mile slower.”
While there is uncertainty about the speed of the opposition, William has no doubt about his approach to the rally. “We will have to go flat out,” he said. “As hard as we can for as long as we can. There is nothing else for it out here. It’s not like a championship where you have to think about points. It’s a winner takes all situation. I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a good experience if nothing else.”
The rally consists of 150 competitive stage miles and starts with a shakedown on Friday before the timed action starts. Friday evening consists of several stages in the dark as well as a short super special stage, with most of the mileage coming on Saturday, before the winner is crowned on Saturday evening.