After making the trip over from the Isle of Man to contest The Willingham Recovery North Humberside Forest Rally, 19 year old Matthew Bettridge got the finish and the mileage under his belt he wanted. Partnered again by Robert Fagg they had set the goal of finishing the event after there short run on the Malcolm Wilson earlier in the month.

Prior to the event the team suffered with gearbox trouble which had also been the cause of the retirement on the fore mentioned event. On returning from the Malcolm Wilson the box was rebuilt but once back in the car they had further problems. With no time for the box to be fixed and the lads thinking they would not be competing, in a true show of sportsmanship fellow Ka competitor and Manx resident Andrew Leece offered the loan of his spare gearbox. Although not ideal for the event it enabled them to make the trip.

The run out to the opening stage was a 40 mile road section and provided them with plenty of time to get their minds on the job in hand. The opening stage was run on Oliver's Mount Motorcycle circuit and gave a much-welcomed boost when they crossed the line to record there first stage time of 2003. Also happy was the service crew to see them pull in with no problems and in good spirit. With the car all checked over and no problems they headed of to tackle stage 2, Langdale.

Langdale would provide the longest stage of the day and be a tough test on the unfamiliar surface. They soon got going though and although not the fastest time of the day, it was a good clean run and a valuable learning experience. This continued onto stage 3 and with another clean run and no problems with the car it was back to service for a full check over.

During service a bottom arm was changed but that was the only damage and the car was soon on route for the final three stages of the rally. With the lesson’s learnt on the previous two stages Matthew had grown in confidence with the car and this was obvious from Robert’s comments.

"Over the final three stages Matthew had certainly upped his pace from the early stages. I feel he had begun to get used to the car on the surface and was able to push on more" commented Rob; "I look forward to the next round where hopefully we will be on a good pace from the start of the event."

With all special stages complete and no problems with the car, they left final service for the run back to the finish at the Ramada Jarvis, Willerby where they were greeted by the service team and congratulated on making it through.   They had bought the Ka home in 18th position out of the 26 starters but they had achieved the main goal of finishing the event.   This also bringing there first points in the championship.

"Although we did not have the best gearbox for the event it saw us through and I am happy with the finish" explained Matthew; "We have to thank Andrew Leece for the loan of his spare gearbox without which we have not been able to compete this weekend."

Both members of the crew were happy with the away the event went and now hope to carry a lot of the knowledge they learnt throughout the event on to the next round of the championship the Pirelli International on the 26^th April.

Travelling with team at the weekend was John Tarrant a trustee of the Manx Motorsport Youth Trust whom are supporting Matthew this year. John was happy to see the team get a result after all the hard work put in for the event and following on from the previous round disappointment.

Again thanks go to the following for there support: - Manx Motorsport Youth Trust, Bettridge Motors, Manx Telecom, Manx Automobile Assistance, Integrated Capabilities, Magic Carpets, Aon (IOM) Ltd and of course the service crew. Also www.rallycodriver.co.uk