HARTLEBURY-based co-driver Steve Link has teamed up with Wolverhampton's Mark Gamble and will be heading for Carlisle this weekend for the Pirelli International Rally.

This is the first round of the Tesco99 MSA British Rally Championship.

The team were invited to test the new Suzuki Swift by championship co-ordinator Ian Philipson in readiness for the inaugural running of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup and signed the deal there and then to compete in this year's championship.

The cup will run alongside the BRC, consisting of six events during the year, and will visit all parts of the UK including Ireland and Scotland.

This will be the second full season Gamble and Link have competed together after a string of successful results in 2007, including eight top-two results in their last 10 events.

The step-up to the top rung in the sport in the United Kingdom will start with nearly one hundred competitive miles through the notorious Cumbrian forest complex of Kielder.