RALLY star Scott Partridge says he is now able to fully focus on the BTRDA Rally Championship following a spell cooking up food for the rich and famous.

Partridge, from Ross-on-Wye, spent a lot of time on various super yachts, serving guests such as Prince Charles, George Lucas, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Michael Caine.

But now he is back with Hereford-based firm Quick Motorsport and will be competing in the Championship that gets underway this weekend.

His co-driver will be Mike Jode.

"I feel this year is the first time in the last few years I have an opportunity to compete in the BTRDA Rally Championship because in previous years I was always away working on various super yachts, which in turn meant I could only do the odd event," said Partridge.

"As of recently, I'm soon to be based back in the uk, meaning I'm available to do all eight rounds of the series and to test the car which is vital to being successful.

"I felt that the only way to move forward and be competitive was to return to a preparation company proven to be one of the best in the world, Quick Motorsport based in Hereford. They have recently build cars for such drivers as Ken Block and have run ex-World Rally Cars for years for various winning teams and drivers so to me they were the obvious choice to go back to.

"The car I'm competing in is an ex World Rally Engineering Development car previously driven by Alister McRae and Miko Hirvonen."

Partridge, who will be sponsored by Bullet Polish and Belfry Hotel Littledean, added that it will take a lot of hard work and commitment to do well in the series.

"There are many extremely talented drivers and very fast cars entered this year," he said.

"For the first rally, I'll be running around 450 brake horse power and an anti lag system, as well as a computer launch control which propels the car from 0-60 in three seconds."