The Manx pairing of Martin Rowe and Rob Fagg retired early on the first leg of the final round of the Chinese Rally Championship in Longyou while lying in 3rd place of registered competitors and battling for the Team Championship.

Rowe and Isle of Man Sports Aid Foundation supported Fagg travelled out to the event in good time to adjust to the time difference and test their car ahead of the event, and to give themselves the best possible opportunity of a good result for the KST Ralliart Team. But it was not long before the drama started.

During the first day of testing, after 20Km, the car stalled and failed to restart and it was soon identified that the engine had expired. This came as a blow to the team as the car was feeling strong and good improvements had been made with the suspension and differentials.

An overnight engine change saw them recommence testing and although the car was handling well the power was not the same as it had been the previous day.  Despite this, the Manx pairing remained confident and with the rain still falling they knew that power might not be the major factor in this rally, but neat flowing driving would be.

The event started with a 2km Super Special stage and with two cars going head to head, Martin and Rob would face newly crowned Finnish Champion Jari Ketomaa (Honghe Rally Team). Although only 10 cars had completed the stage ahead of them it was already beginning to become very rough and this was reflected in the fact that fastest man and first on the road Cody Crocker (2006 APRC Champion) was three seconds faster than the KST crew but they in turn were 1 second quicker than Ketomaa.

The crews were straight into the next stage and from the recce knew it was going to be very tricky and slippery after further rain. Early in the stage the front of the car dug into the mud and this blocked the turbo intercooler with mud causing a power loss for the majority of the 15km stage and saw the crew drop 28 seconds to the faster driver and 22 to main championship rival Juha Salo (Wan Yu Rally Team). With an overnight halt before the crews resumed battle the KST Team had time to reflect on the days events and plan for the following day.

As the first crew left Parc Ferme at 5:30am on Sunday, 9 stages of testing gravel rallying lay ahead of them and Rowe and Fagg were focused on the job they had to do. After a short service and a sump guard modification to prevent the intercooler becoming blocked as it did the previous day, the crew headed out for the shortest stage of the rally, 5km, and the first of a loop of three that would be repeated three times during the day.

Over the short opening test Salo would extend his lead by a further 2 seconds to 24 but the long tight technical 24km stage was next. Martin and Rob were into the rhythm early in the stage with the car working well and allowing Martin in dial into the notes Rob was reading to him. The stage was feeling really good in the car but 3km towards the end of the stage the car begin to feel down on power. As they worked there way along the final fast flowing section to the finish there was a smell of oil and smoke from the bonnet which got worse as they crossed the line, it looked all over and it was with another blown engine.

Despite there problem they had posted a very quick time taking 9 seconds back from Salo and had increased the gap back to fourth by a further 13 seconds on fellow Manxman David Higgins (Jimmy Racing). But sadly there rally was over as a bitterly disappointed Rob explained.

"Both Martin and I are very disappointed not just for ourselves but for the KST Team who are fighting for the Team Championship which means so much out here to them. We have made improvements on the car but have just not had the opportunity to demonstrate them. We really wanted to get a good result here to help the team to the title but unfortunately it has not been possible."

Despite their retirement, their 2nd place on the last round and 5th on round two have helped the KST Team to claim the 2006 Chinese Rally Championship Teams Championships. Rowe and Fagg's KST compatriots Caodong Liu and Hongjie Wei finished in 2nd and 5th places in Chinese Championship competitors respectively sealing the title. Caodong Liu also secured the Chinese Drivers Championship with his result.

The overall rally was won by the 2006 Asia Pacific Champion Cody Crocker and the round of the Chinese Championship was won by Richard Mason (GT Tyres) both driving Subaru Impreza's.

Rob's attentions now turn towards the final round of the British Rally Championship which is incorporated into the final round of the World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB. Competing alongside James Wozencroft in the Dealer Team Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 the pair will fight for the Super 1600 title. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Scholarship recipient leaves China in the early hours of Tuesday morning to travel back to the UK and then will arrive late evening in Cardiff to prepare for the rally and readjust to the local time.