West Midlands duo in the driving seat

West Midlands rally duo Clive King and Bob Ward hope their 21st season together will bring them the key to success in their latest restored car.

Woodsetton's King and Oldbury's Ward gear up for the Sunseeker Rally in Bournemouth next weekend, the start of the British Rally championship.

They hope to add their success in the Historic Challenge category, for cars made in the 1960-70s era, having rebuilt a different version of the Mini.

King bought and brought the car, a Cooper S version, back to life with a restoration in the garage at his home, after their last Mini was written off.

This Mini had spent a huge chunk of its life in a delapidated state in a shed on part of the old Goodyear tyre factory in Wolverhampton.

But the crew believe their new vehicle will pass and surpass their previous transportation and, with Ward co-driving, King echoed those thoughts.

He said: "I heard about it on the grapevine some time ago, but it was only three months ago that I actually found the car.

"I bought it in a bit of a rush, as the previous Mini suffered an enormous amount of body damage on an event in North Wales.

"We slipped off a forest road and dropped 100 feet, end over end, down into a ravine."