Petch Clinches Junior Title On Bulldog Rally
Monday, October 22nd, 2007Young County Durham rally driver Stephen Petch Junior clinched the PIAA Junior title on last weekend’s final round, the Bulldog Rally. This despite failing to finish the event.
Stephen, co-driven as always by Michael Wilkinson in the SG Petch Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo 9, was an early retirement after ECU problems on the opening stage hampered his progress. Then, when the gearbox started to play up, as a result of the constant throttle surges caused by the faulty ECU, the pair decided to call it a day. Despite this non score the pair still clinched the title due to a string of strong runs earlier in the season.
A reflective Stephen said: “Last year I retired two corners from the start, so at least we got further this year. However it was a pretty poor end to the season. We are happy with our overall pace now but just need to try and balance pace with reliability for next season.”
Stephen currently has no further plans for 2007 but has not ruled out contesting his home event, the Grizedale Stages, in December.