David and Rob in action on their way to 17th overall and 9th Evo Challenge crew.

2006. The stage was going well with David driving smooth and fast as he and Rob continued to build up their relationship and trust inside the car. But 7 miles into the 11 mile stage they caught the car in front which was suffering a misfire. They were forced to follow the car to the end of the stage at which they felt they had dropped time and it may have ruined there event. But on reaching the next stage and comparing times with the other Group N front runners, they had actually gone 13 seconds quicker than their closest rival and moved into fifth place.

They further extended their lead over closet class rivals, David Wright with Shelley Rogerson on the notes, by 3 seconds and reached second service with a class lead of 16 seconds and in 4^th place overall following the retirement of Steve Petch.

Four stages remained and with confidence high in the car David and Rob left knowing that they needed to bring the car home. Continuing in the same manner as the opening 3 stages, driving neat and tidy they continued to extend their class lead and at the end of Stage 5, Hobcarton, they found that there cushion was now 33 seconds over fifth pace but just over a minute down on third placed Jon Ingram in his Ford Focus World Rally Car.

Just two stages remained and there was no sign of nerves in the car as they fired the Evo 9 off the start line into the 5 mile Comb stage. With no problems over the remaining two tests, David and Rob returned to Cockermouth for the finish in a fine fourth place overall and taking Group N honours in the process, the final margin being 37 seconds over Wright and Rogerson.

The delight was clean to see on the faces of David and Isle of Man Steam Packet Scholarship recipient Fagg on the finish ramp.

Commenting on the day’s event Fagg said “We have had a great day and the car has been faultless and that is down to the preparation by Pro-tec prior and on the event. David has driven superbly in only his second event in the car and we would never have thought this result would have been possible at the start of the day. Again the Kumho Tyres have been excellent and we thank Tony for his advice throughout the event. To beat Dave (Wright) over these stages is some feat also as he knows them well and always performs well. We are over the moon and looking forward to the Border Counties.”

The Jedburgh based Border Counties is the second round of the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge and takes place on the 24^th March. With confidence now high the Oakbank Services sponsored crew will go into the event looking to add to the points they scored on the opening round in Bournemouth.

Rob is supported in 2007 by the Isle of Man Sports Aid Foundation, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, www.Mexperience.com, Advanced Autosport Technologies, Robert Graham & Co Chartered Quantity Surveyors, NickyGrist.com and Manx Telecom.

Media
07/03/2007