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1 year on from winning the North Humberside Rally, County Durham resident Stephen Petch Junior returned to defend his crown, this time up against much stronger competition. And the young rally driver was right on the pace when a broken crank ended his strong run.
Stephen Petch Junior knew that he would have his work cut out if he had any intention of duplicating his 2006 victory but things did not get off to a good start when the SGP Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car suffered electrical problems during testing earlier in the week. With a faulty wiring loom replaced the Hyundai was restored to full health in time to take the start.
Stephen didn’t get off to a good start when he stalled on the start line of the first stage. He then suffered two spins during the 11 miles of Langdale as he re-adjusted to the speed of the Hyundai and was rather surprised when he stopped the clocks third quickest, with just local resident Ryan Champion and current ANCRO championship leader Steve Perez ahead of him.
Stephen said: “We were pretty ragged in there, so to set the third quickest time is really surprising as I felt I could have been a lot neater and tidier.”
Stage 2, Dalby, was a lot tighter, and so Stephen, driven as always by Michael Wilkinson, took it easy. And again he was third fastest, behind the same two drivers. This time young Petch was a mere 5 seconds off the pace of stage winner, local man Ryan Champion.
This meant that the SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai returned to the mid event service in a relatively comfortable third overall and within striking distance should either of the hard charging duo ahead slip up. And then, on stage 3, shortly after passing the early event leader, Ryan Champion, parked up, Stephens engine suddenly went silent and as the Hyundai coasted to a halt he knew his rally was over.
“The damn crank broke on us. It’s a bit annoying as we weren’t really pushing all that hard and yet were on the same pace as Perez in a much newer car. Oh well, at least Michael and I got to have a bit of fun in the car” said an upbeat Stephen.
Stephen will now switch back to his Mitsubishi Evo 9 as he rejoins the Mitsubishi Evo cup for round 3, the treacherous tarmac RBS Manx International Rally.
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