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Stephen Petch Junior was left frustrated after his recent trip to Bournemouth when handling woes hampered his charge on the opening round of the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, the Rallye Sunseeker.
After using the recent Wyedean Forest Rally as a pre season test SGP Motorsport adjusted some of the settings on the car but with the forest of Dean having been covered in up to 8 inches of snow in places and the forests around Bournemouth bearing no resemblance the characteristics of the car were affected.
“On Saturday morning she was really scary to drive. The diffs weren’t locking up so we were flicking from under steer to over steer with almost no warning, which although I’m sure was entertaining for the spectators made for a pretty trying time in the car.” said Stephen.
Despite struggling with the handling Stephen once more impressed with his car control by not only keeping the Mitsubishi Evo 9 on the road but still managed to set a string of top 6 class times as well. A couple of spins cost Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson quite some time. But even with these problems the pair steadily improved all day, climbing from 20th overall at first service to an eventual final position of 12th overall. This also means that Stephen opens his 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge account with 6th place points.
The team now have almost a month to resolve the handling problems before Petch and Wilkinson tackle round 2, the Border Counties Rally which takes in the infamous Kielder Forest.
Before then Stephens father, Steve Petch Senior, will be out in action on the forthcoming Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria where he will drive one of the teams Hyundai Accent World Rally Cars.
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