Last weekend saw Isle of Man based co-driver Rob Fagg travel to Ireland to contest the Shell Donegal International Rally alongside MSA British Rally Elite member James Wozencroft in the Dealer Team Suzuki Ignis Super 1600. Isle of Man Steam Packet Scholarship recipient Fagg and Wozencroft were using the event as a test prior the upcoming tarmac rounds of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship which they are contesting this year.

After a successful recce and test prior the event the team were looking forward to the 22 stages that lay ahead over the three day event. It was not long though before they encountered their first problem, a half spin mid way through the first stage left them caught between two grass banks on a blind left hander with very little room to manoeuvre, and with cars running a 30 second intervals there was not much time until the next car would be on top of them. As Wozencroft reversed the exhaust of the car dug into the bank, filling it with mud and causing the car to stall. Unable to restart it they were left to manhandle it out the way of other cars now queued up behind them. With the exhaust cleared they continued on there way but with a time loss of around 2 minutes, not the start they were looking for.

"The day has gone well for us and James is already growing in confidence with the car on the tarmac", explained Rob. "We have played with set-up during the day and also tyres as we look ahead to the tarmac rounds of the BRC and I think we made the right choice coming here to do the event. The roads offer so many different challenges and are ideal for testing set-ups."

Saturday morning arrived and as with the previous day, the rain was falling but it was

James and Rob turning one of the tight junctions in front of the large crowd gathered there.

not for long and with a warm breeze it was looking that the roads may dry before they got ontothe stages. The opening test of the day saw the young Suzuki crew continue where they left off on Friday but towards the end of the stage the car seemed to loose power. This power loss became very apparent on the next stage when the car was struggling on the fast sections and they were left 40mph down on top speed. At the service halt the Dealer Team Suzuki mechanics set about tracing the fault which they believed to be in the exhaust system and on inspection they were correct. The catalytic converter had become blocked and needed to be replaced, once done the car returned to the stages with full power restored.

After starting the day in 56th position overall and 4th in class, a spirited performance and quick times over the days stages, including a great second run over the magnificent Knockalla stage, saw the Dunlop shod Ignis climb up the leaderboard to 31st overall and 2nd in there class. This would set-up an interesting finish to the event as they had reduced the deficit to the class leader, the experienced tarmac driver Andrew Bushe, by 43.1 seconds down to 1m 35.6.

Six stages remained ahead of the crews on Sunday as the third and final leg got underway, again in wet conditions. Mid way trough the first stage of the day, Glen Village, the stage totally changed. There was all of a sudden no grip on the tight corners and what is commonly know as shiny tar, which was to account for class leader Andrew Bushe when he was caught out and damaged the steering and broke a drive shaft, promoting Wozencroft and Isle of Man Sports Aid Foundation supported Fagg into the class lead by just under a minute.

The day’s stages were more technical than the previous with more tight and twisty sections with bumps that were looking to catch the crews out. But with a good set-up on the Ignis which allowed it to deal with the bumps the pair were able to push on and set some good times as the event drew to a close.

At the finish in Letterkenny Wozencroft and Fagg were greeted by a mass of spectators and were happy with there result, finishing 21st Overall and winning the class in the end by over 3 minutes.

"What an event, I have heard so much about it in the past since I started rallying and it has always been an event I wanted to do", commented Rob a the finish. "The stages are superb and we have been made to feel welcome not only by the organisers but the Irish public. The whole area seems to come together for the rally and help to make it run as smooth as possible. We have had a good run with a couple of problems but we came here to test ahead of the tarmac events coming up and we are more than happy with the way it has gone. It’s definitely an event I will be looking at for 2007."

Rob and James now turn there attentions back to the British Rally Championship and the Jim Clark Rally which takes place on the 8th / 9th July and add to the points they scored for 3rd place on the opening round, the Pirelli International back in May. They will also be hoping to add further points to those scored in the Irish Tarmac Championship which they entered prior to the Donegal event. The three tarmac events of the BRC also count for the Irish series so it made sense for them to enter.

Media
21/06/2006