The Bishop Auckland pair took a steady run through the first couple of stages trailing by 5 seconds to Cole and Morris. Then on the third stage, with a change to a harder compound Kumho tyre, they managed to win the stage by over ten seconds from the nearest competitor. Driving the next three stages in similar fashion, taking a second a mile out of the chasing pack, with only a small scare on stage 5, when a puncture and broken brake calliper lost them some time.

Stephen commented: “It was fantastic to get a win, especially with such a good entry. We were only here because we love these stages and our main focus is on the Ancro and BRC championship this year. It was just nice to get a run out in a WRC and prove what we could do.”

“Everything went our way and the car was fantastic, especially the Kumho tyres which were faultless. I’m just hoping we can carry this good form into the Manx in a month‚Äôs time”.

Stephen and Michael will be testing soon in their newly built SGP Motor sport Mitsubishi Evo 9 before the RBSi Manx rally in May.