The seventh and final round of the Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy UK takes place next weekend at the International Rally Yorkshire, based in the picturesque town of Pickering.  The event organised by the Trackrod Motor Club will see some of the competing crews tackle up to 90 miles of competitive stages in the classic forest complexes of Cropton, Dalby, Gale Rigg and Langdale.  The FST event will be contested over the first four stages of the event covering 45 gruelling stage miles.

Seven registered FST crews will tackle the event with one crew entering the full BRC International event and the remaining five crews taking on the BRC Challenge event.  With the championship title already wrapped up on the previous round by Craig Breen (18) from Waterford, and navigator Gareth Roberts - who will not be competing at the event, means the door is wide open for a different name to grab the last top podium spot of the year.

The first of the crews in the full International event is that of Kris Hall (19) from Appleby.  Hall has had an up and down season, with victory on the first and fourth rounds of the season he looked liked a favourite for championship honours but two DNF's took the top spot dream away from him but he still has the chance to claim second overall in the series this weekend. 

Away from the main event, the remaining five FST crews are all competing in the BRC Challenge event that runs for the first four stages of the event.  The first of these crews is current second placed man in the overall series Matt Edwards (24) from Cockermouth and navigator Rob Fagg.  Edwards has had an impressive season for his first year in the car.  After winning the Bulldog Rally and scoring highly on nearly all the other events he has been at the top end of the table all year.  However an off on the previous round saw him DNF and with it his chances of the overall title. Edwards just needs to finish ahead of Hall for second in the FST series and can also wrap first overall in the BRC Challenge series at the event.

Ross Forde (25) from Galway and navigator Gary McElhinney compete on their final event of the year as part of their Billy Coleman award prize drive.  Forde has had a successful season completing every FST event of the year and scored second overall on the Manx round of the series.  Forde will look to finish the year off in style and reward Motorsport Ireland with a great result to thank them for showing faith in him throughout the year.  Mathematically Forde still has a chance of finishing second in the series if Hall and Edwards hit problems.

Thomas Watson (18) from Glanamman and navigator Ken Bowman were also new competitors to the series at the start of the year.  Watson has been competing as much as possible throughout the year and has improved steadily as the year has gone on.  His best FST finish to date is fifth overall; the Welsh newcomer will be looking to finish the year off in style by climbing onto one of the podium spots - an achievable aim.  Watson can also still mathematically finish as high as third in the BRC Challenge.

Neil Coalter (26) from Aberdeen and navigator Hannah Cessford had a tough start to the year failing to score on the first three rounds despite setting some competitive times and showing excellent potential.  After deciding to sit out the previous two rounds they managed to score their first points of the year in Ulster with an excellent eighth overall.  Coalter will want to repeat his finish on this event and score more points whilst showing the other crews he has the speed required to challenge for the top positions.

John Boyd (22) from Edinburgh and navigator Fred Bell were also newcomers to the series at the beginning of the year.  Boyd has showed increased pace as the year has progressed and although missing out the previous two rounds of the series he has been competing on other events and scored class wins.  Boyd will hope this extra practice on other gravel events will put him in a favourable position for a good result on the last round of the year.

The final competing crew is that of Robbie Barrable (21) from Dublin.  Barrable only made the switch to rallying at the beginning of the year after moving away from his circuit racing background.  Barrable has proved his pace on the Tarmac rounds of the series culminating with a second overall on the previous round of the series - The Ulster International Rally.  Barrable can still finish well in the BRC Challenge standings and will be hoping for a drama free and successful run on the event.

Watson, Barrable and Boyd all also still have the chance to take the junior title of the BRC Challenge series at the event. 

The Kick Energy FST UK has a prize fund in excess of £18,000, with £750 for the winner of each round down to £75 for eighth place.

Second placed competitor in the series, Matt Edwards, said:

"Just getting to this event is going to be a big challenge, as with a week to go we still don't have the car back after the Ulster incident, but I'm looking forward to getting back onto gravel and hopefully ending the year on a high.  Well done to Craig for the championship this year; its now down to myself and Kris [Hall] to fight for second, but we also have BRC Challenge to think about so it will be an interesting weekend to say the least"