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Wozie kills off Kielder challenge!
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Top Shropshire rally driver James Wozencroft scored a convincing
win on the second round of the BRC Stars of the Future
Championship, the Pirelli Rally, as he and Manx co-driver Robert
Fagg won by well over two and a half minutes in their Suzuki
Ignis 1400. The Thompson's Garages backed duo duly recorded
their second successive win after dominating the opening round
on the Rally of Wales.
The 20 year old Ludlow ace was facing the
awesome challenges of the renowned 'Killer' Kielder forest for
the first time in the Dunlop shod Suzuki. Famous for its car
consuming ditches and long fast straights, Wozencroft knew that
the 1400cc Ignis would be pushed very hard on classic stages
like Rushy Knowe, Chirdonhead and Shepherdshield. With the
'P-Zero' Superspecial thrown in for good measure, seven special
stages would need James's utmost concentration on the Carlisle
based rally.
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Fastest on every stage
in Wales, 'Wozie' and Robert were keen to stamp their authority on
proceedings from the off, and they duly delivered, taking 10
seconds off their closest rival on SS1. The following 11 mile
Chirdonhead stage would see the highly talented young Salopian really
show his class, as he took a whopping 33 seconds of his closest
rival in a scintillating performance.
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With the Suzuki
working perfectly, Wozencroft continued to demonstrate his talent
as he increased his lead over the next batch of stages.
Consistently pulling away from his rivals, James had built a solid
two minute cushion over the second placed crew as he headed into
the final stage of the rally. Keen to notch up a clean sweep of
fastest stage times on the event, Wozie finished in style by
taking another 34 seconds from his closest rival to complete his
total dominance of the day.
The Border Cars backed duo comfortably recorded their
second straight win, and Wozencroft was delighted with his days
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"The stages were quite a
challenge - incredibly fast. In Wales it had been a combination of
flowing corners, but here it we often spent our time near to the rev
limiter in 5th gear. It was certainly an amazing experience for
both Rob and myself. We've now won two rounds of the BRC Stars
series and its looking very positive for the remainder of the season
I must say. Our sponsors have been very |
good to us so far and
we've got an excellent and highly professional team around us. As a
result I'm already looking forward to the next round, the Scottish
Rally. The stages are also fast up there so it will be another
stern test for the Suzuki, but its one I'm sure it can handle
without a problem. We'll certainly be looking to make it a
hat-trick of wins in Dumfries"
Wozencroft's next outing will be the BRC Stars of the Future round
following behind the Scottish International Rally. Using the
forests in the Dumfries and Galloway region, James and Rob will be
looking forward to classic stages like Black Loch and Glentrool.
With two wins under his belt and healthy points lead in the series
already, Wozencroft will surely be a tough man to beat on the
Dumfries based event.
Jamie Edwards
23/05/2005 |
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