Stobart’s Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin face awesome Alpine challenge

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson and co-driver Scott Martin will swap the four wheels of their Ford Focus RS WRC for two wheels next week as they tackle an epic 700 kilometre bike trek across some of the highest peaks in the French Alps.

The Cumbrian duo, along with trainer Barry Johnson, will be starting the Route des Grandes Alpes on the shores of Lake Geneva on Monday with the aim of finishing, less than a week later, in Antibes on the Mediterranean coast.
On the way to the finish they will be cycling over some of the same mountains that the Tour de France competitors will climb less than a fortnight later, regularly reaching altitudes of over 2000 metres as they cross famous Alpine passes like Col de l’Iseran, the highest paved mountain pass in the range, and Col de la Bonnette which reaches 2715 metres.

Last summer Wilson and Martin conquered the 1000 kilometre Land’s End to John o’Groats ride and recently completed the 112-mile Fred Whitton Challenge, which covers some of the toughest climbs in the Lake District. With cycling forming a big part of their training when getting ready for the rallies the pair will be well-prepared for the journey.

It has only been a week since the team mates finished in an impressive fifth place at Rally Poland, the eighth round of the World Rally Championship, and when they return from their adventure they will be straight back into preparations for Rally Finland which takes place at the end of July. The duo have received support from local business J. Edgar and Son. The new and used car company have provided the motor home which will be used by Wilson and Martin’s support crew.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson said:

We do a lot of cycling as part of our training, so it will be good to put all of that work to the test. There has been a lot of preparation put into the ride, especially with a hectic last few days of training and packing after we got back from Rally Poland. Barry (Johnson) keeps coming up with these great challenges for us and I am really looking forward to kicking off this one and experiencing some of the climbs that the riders will face in the Tour de France later this month.

You can follow Matthew and Scott’s progress on the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Twitter page at www.twitter.com/stobartwrc.

Photo: worldrallypics