Rally star's hope after car taken

A rally driver whose £75,000 car was stolen in Northern Ireland has been offered a replacement free of charge by a fellow competitor.

Wyn Humphreys, of Aberdyfi, Gwynedd, is now raising money to insure and prepare the Subaru Impreza for the next round of the British championship in a month.

The car has been donated by Jonathan Williams from Brecon, Powys, until the end of the season.

A trailer carrying Humphreys' Subaru Impreza was stolen last Friday.

It was taken from outside an inn near Coalisland in County Tyrone.

Mr Humphreys and co-driver Rob Fagg were in Northern Ireland for the Ulster leg of the British rally championship.

'Fantastic thing'

Since the theft, the rally driver said the pair had been offered support by people in the sport.

"It's a fantastic thing that Jonathan has done for us. It's so positive after the negativity of our car being stolen," said Mr Humphreys.

"Jonathan said we can have it free of charge as long as we fuel it and insure it and return it in the same condition.

"We haven't said we will take it yet because we're busy raising money to see if we can pay for it."

Mr Humphreys said he had been faced with hiring a rally car for the next round of the championship in Yorkshire, which would have cost about £5,000.

"We've also been offered a testing track free of charge by someone else, which we're also very pleased about. We'd just like to thank everyone for the kindness they've shown us," he added.

Mr Humphreys has not given up hope of police finding his car.

Police are trying to trace a blue van seen in the Coalisland area last Friday.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Rallying
Wyn Humphreys
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites