17 year-old Co-driver from Talgarth, Lucie Gutteridge will be accompanying experienced local rally driver Paul Jenkins at Rali Ceredigion on Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 of September, and the pair are looking for sponsors.

Lucie is currently leading the WAMC Tarmac championship in the Overall Co-drivers standings.

After six rounds she has 116 points, with her closest competitor on 99.

Part of the WAMC Tarmac championship, Rali Ceredigion is known as the highest-profile international motorsport event in Wales.

Discussing the upcoming Rali Ceredigion and the WAMC Tarmac championship, Lucie said: "It feels amazing to be leading the WAMC tarmac championship especially since this is my first season and I have been leading it from the first round.

"I really hope to win the championship this autumn. Rali Ceredigion will be my 10th rally start so I’m obviously very excited for it.

I will be sat alongside Paul Jenkins, who I recently sat with on the Tour of Epynt, where we got 2nd in class and 29th overall.

"It’s a very big and tough rally with 2 full days and 14 stages, I will be doing a lot of preparation for this event.

"Paul has driven a lot of the roads on night time events run around the area and he is also excited for this opportunity.

"A lot of people have told me I’m not ready to do such a big event, but I definitely believe I am, especially sat with such an experienced driver. I’m very much looking forward to it."

Paul Jenkins, who Lucie will be competing with started rallying in 1995 when he was 19 years old.

He's had a number of class results over the years and won class 4 in the Welsh Tarmac Championships in 2022 with number of class results on the event all year.

Paul is a member of Epynt Motor Club.

The pair taking on Rali Ceredigion are keen to attract new sponsors for the upcoming event.

Lucie said: "For me and many other members of the rallying community, sponsorship is so important due to the sheer cost of rallying.

"Rallying doesn’t often have a level playing field, and if you’re not sponsored it’s very difficult to get your name out there and continue to do the thing you love.

"I am looking for sponsors to help me reach my goals in rallying."

Lucie has had a long standing interest in motorsport, competing in karting championships and being part of Brecon Motor Club.

The club introduced her into rallying and navigation in September 2022, and Lucie competed in her first event in April this year at the Tour of Caerwent.

Lucie has big ambitions for the future and hopes to compete in the BRC (British Rally Champioship) and then go on to compete in the WRC (World Rally Championship) as a Co-driver.

She is currently studying level 3 motorsport engineering at a college in Ebbw Vale, which I am hoping to go to university to do a masters degree.

Discussing the role of a Co-driver, Lucie told The Brecon & Radnor Express: "The Co-Drivers role is to direct and push the driver through the stages, since the stages are all completely different and often blind the driver needs to know the corners to allow them to push on to their maximum ability.

"A lot of work done by the co-driver goes unseen, such as timing and 'time-cards' which prevent the crew from encountering any timing penalties.

"As well as this I also like to create a service pack which has all the info and itinerary for the weekend to keep everyone in the team organised. "

Despite her young age, Lucie has gained valuable experience already by working with some top rally drivers.

"I have been with some great drivers this year who have all helped me progress," said Lucie, "On my 3rd event I sat with David Ginn in his red Micra.

"We were one of the few cars to finish the event, and there were many retirements through the day but we made it to the finish.

"I have learnt a lot from Nicky Grist (rally legend, Colin McRae’s Co-Driver), he began helping me before I even did my first rally, he’s given me a lot of advice and wants to help me do well.  

"Nicky is obviously vastly experienced and to have someone like him help me is amazing.

"Damian Cole is another person who helped me massively in rallying, on my 4th rally I had the opportunity to sit with him at Bob Shaw Memorial Brawdy Stages.

"Having sat with Damian in his Citroen C3 Rally2 I learnt a lot about rallying, this also helped me learn how to Co-Drive at such a fast pace.

"A lot of people know me because I’ve sat with Damian, having that opportunity really put my name out there. 

"Another driver who has helped me greatly was Kelvin Evans, I did my first ever gravel event with Kelvin in his yellow Micra, this was also my first event on pacenotes, we were less than a second off 3rd in class.

"These are just a few examples, all of the drivers I have sat with this year have helped me greatly and taught me lots about the sport."

Anyone interested in sponsoring Paul and Lucie can contact Claire Gutteridge via email: [email protected] or call: 07866742616