Aberdyfi rally driver Wyn Humphreys is looking to re-ignite his Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship bid this weekend as he makes the trip across the Irish Sea to the Todds Leap Ulster Rally.
25 year-old Wyn and co-driver Rob Fagg suffered a fiery exit on the last round, Rally Isle of Man, which was doubly disappointing as it was Rob’s home event.
“The Manx didn’t go according to plan for us,” was Wyn’s understated view. “We dropped time on the final stage of the opening leg after on off road excursion in the treacherous conditions and from then on it was always going to be a fight back. As the roads began to dry we began to move back up the field but then a series of events caused an under bonnet fire and bought the rally to a halt. We returned for the final leg under Super Rally looking to score team points and keep Atlas TEG Sport out in front.”
As a result the pair sit seventh in the championship standings, but have played a large part in helping their Atlas TEG Sport squad to the top of the Teams Championship.
Fortunately the PGA Motorsport-run Subaru suffered relatively little damage, and is now fit and ready for the notoriously tricky day and a half event, with its usual ‘early-o’clock’ restart on Saturday making it a real test.
“We now we need a good result in Ulster to get our championship back on track after the non score on the Isle of Man”, explained Isle of Man Sport Aid Foundation recipient Fagg. “I was really looking forward to my home event after missing it due to other commitments in 2007, but it wasn’t to be. All attentions now turn to Ulster and we must forget the disappointment back in July.”
It’ll be Humphreys second attempt at the Northern Irish round of the championship. Twelve months ago he arrived as series leader and finished sixth despite completing the entire event without fifth gear, a testament to the strength of Modena’s product.
A dry event would be ideal to help restore confidence and claim a good result, but this summer’s weather and last weekend’s flooding in the province make that unlikely, adding another line to the challenge of closed public roads.
Along with regular team-mates Mark Higgins and Rory Kennedy, TEG’s push for teams points will be further boosted this weekend after Phillip Morrow was drafted into the team for his home event driving a right-hand drive Subaru.
The rally, which is based in Armagh, starts on Friday evening and features six timed special stages heading into darkness, before the overnight halt. A further ten tests follow on Saturday, the total of which provides a competitive distance 134 miles…
…but that’s not the end of the challenge for Rob, who leaves straight after the event to travel to Cumbria to compete on the Pendragon Stages on Sunday alongside John Cope as a pre-Mull test. They start at number six in the Cope Engineering Subaru Impreza WRC.
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