Barry Clark called for help in Jordan by Munchi’s!

The young 25-year-old Scotsman, Barry Clark, will participate in his first event in the World Rally Championship this weekend. He will replace Luis Perez-Companc, who was declared unavailable by his team Munchi’s Ford a few hours before the shakedown.

Clark arrived after his entire team, only on Thursday morning, at the rally site but was originally supposed to participate as a mechanic on Frédérico Villagra’s car. After Companc’s withdrawal, he was finally promoted to the second driver for the team. He will be joined in the Ford Focus WRC 2007 by José Dias.

« When I’m not driving, I help the Ford team. This weekend, I was supposed to take care of the left rear of Villagra’s car. But on Tuesday night, Malcolm called me to explain the situation. He asked me to prepare my suit and license, just in case », explains Clark. « On Wednesday, while I was at the airport, he called me back to tell me I was participating in the rally. I couldn’t believe it! »

Clark arrived in Jordan on Thursday morning. He drove his car for the first time at the shakedown. With such limited preparation, he remains realistic: « I didn’t do the reconnaissance, I’m diving into the deep end. It’s the first time I’ll be driving with Jose and the first time he’ll be reading notes in English… another driver’s notes! It looks challenging. My goal is to finish and have fun. »

Clark had already driven a Ford Focus WRC during a promotional event in Great Britain. For his victory in the Fiesta SportingTrophy, the Brit had earned a place in a WRC event for this season, which he managed to expand with two other outings: Turkey, France, and Great Britain.

“I had the opportunity on Tuesday when Luis called me to say he couldn’t drive,” explains Malcolm Wilson [Ford WRC Team Principal]. “With the agreement of the commissioners, I looked at our options and called Barry. He was already ready to come and he will compete in three events for us this year. It’s a great opportunity for him. He will get to know the car with Turkey.”

« It’s a difficult situation because he wasn’t able to participate in the reconnaissance. He will have a mix of notes from Matthew [Wilson] and Federico [Villagra]. But the rally should resemble high-speed reconnaissance. It would be crazy to try to do more in such a challenging event. »

At the moment, we do not know the details about Perez-Companc’s withdrawal; however, it seems that a family issue is the cause.

According to quotes collected by the WRC