Reigning British Stars of the Future Champion Rob Fagg moved into the lead of the Tesco 99 British Rally Championship (BRC) Super 1600 class after victory on the Ulster International Rally last weekend. Isle of Man Sports Aid Foundation supported Fagg was competing alongside Shropshire’s James Wozencroft in the Dealer Team Suzuki Ignis Super 1600.

Prior to the event MSA British Rally Elite member Wozencroft conducted a test to work on suspension set-up after suffering on the recent Rally Isle of Man with stability problems . Along with the car set-up, the team also had the benefit of sessions on writing pace notes with former World Champion co-driver Robert Reid. As a result confidence was high going into the event.

The opening leg of the Armagh based event consisted of five stages with the final two being run in darkness, meaning concentration and detailed pace notes would prove vital. With the opening stage cancelled due to an accident, James and Rob’s first indication of how good the car set-up and notes were would be over the 8 mile Ivy Hill stage. Reaching the end they found themselves 9 seconds slower than the Stobart Motorsport Ford Fiesta of Barry Clark, a definite improvement from the previous round. Maintaining the pace over the next three stages the young pairing brought their Thompson Suzuki backed Ignis back to final service in 22^nd place overall and 2^nd in BRC S1600, 22.3 seconds back from Clark and 11 seconds ahead of Darren Gass (Ford Fiesta) but with a long way to go.
 

The crews were greeted by heavy rain for the second leg on Saturday and the opening two stages were to set the pace for the rest of the event. Stage 6 would see the retirement of Gass with an alternator problem and on the very next stage Clark would retire. After picking up a puncture early in the stage, the tyre came off the wheel on a tightened right hander and running wide he would end up beached at the side of the road. Despite getting back on the road he would be over the time limit and retire from the event to finish under Super Rally.

James and Rob turning one of the tight junctions in front of the large crowd gathered there.
(photo courtesy of Jakob Ebrey)
 

From this point in the event it was a steady no risks approach for Wozencroft and Isle of Man Steam Packet Scholarship recipient Fagg, ensuring they reached the finish for maximum points. And despite some treacherous conditions they would accomplish this, finishing the event in 18^th place overall, 9^th BRC registered crew and 1^st in BRC S1600 class, moving them into the lead of the category.

“It has been a tough event, especially after Barry’s retirement” commented a smiling Rob at the finish. “We knew that maximum points were ours to lose from that point onwards and so we took a cautious approach over the remaining stages to ensure we reached the finish and at the same time risk no damage to the car. We have moved into the lead of the championship but there are still two tough events to go and with our team-mate Guy (Wilks) back for the Trackrod it is still wide open.”

The penultimate round of the Championship is Trackrod Rally Yorkshire taking place at the start of October in the North Yorkshire Forests and it was last year the scene of celebration for James and Rob when they wrapped up the inaugural Stars of the Future Championship. They will both be hoping for further success this year in there bid for the S1600 title.

The Ulster International Rally also saw Rob score maximum points for the second event running in the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship Class A6 and with one round to go he has a 21 point lead. The finally round though rewards 50% bonus points so he can still be caught and with no run secured on the Cork Rally the fate of the class championship will be out of his hands. 

This coming weekend Rob returns to action in the Manx Stage Rally Championship alongside promising young driver Ian Bailey on the DUKE Stages. The pair were last out together in June on the Kingsmead Forest Stages, achieving an excellent 5^th place result despite the loss of second gear with two stages to go. At that time they had been holding onto 3^rd place but with the nature of the stages they found it hard to defend their position and were subsequently overtaken.

However the David Land Car Sales sponsored Vauxhall Nova has been re-prepared since then with a new gearbox and rear suspension to improve the handling, and both Bailey and Fagg are looking forward to the event.

“The weekend promises to be a good event” commented Rob earlier this week. “Ian and I have been cycling the stages and I have to say since my last Isle of Man forest event in 2003 the stages have improved dramatically. I am really looking forward to the event and hopefully Ian’s hard work on the car and team work inside of it will pay off.”

Rob is supported in 2006 by the Isle of Man Sports Aid Foundation, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, www.Mexperience.com , Advanced Autosport Technologies, Dunlop Tyres, Robert Graham & Co Chartered Quality Surveyors and NickyGrist.com

Media
05/09/2006