Stephen, co-driven as always by Michael Wilkinson in the SG Petch Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo 9, was an early retirement after ECU problems on the opening stage hampered his progress. Then, when the gearbox started to play up, as a result of the constant throttle surges caused by the faulty ECU, the pair decided to call it a day. Despite this non score the pair still clinched the title due to a string of strong runs earlier in the season.

A reflective Stephen said: “Last year I retired two corners from the start, so at least we got further this year. However it was a pretty poor end to the season. We are happy with our overall pace now but just need to try and balance pace with reliability for next season.”

Stephen currently has no further plans for 2007 but has not ruled out contesting his home event, the Grizedale Stages, in December.

Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson, who compete in an SG Petch Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo 9, set a string of top times on the recent International Rally of Yorkshire to finish third in the standings and will be looking to repeat that performance on the final round.

“Our 2006 event lasted about 3 corners before the central diff blew up, so I’ll just be hoping for a clean run. But all going well I’ll also be wanting to push the other Evo Challenge lads a bit. We’ve shown that we’ve got the pace and the stages certainly suit my driving style so we’ll just wait and see.” said Stephen.
The Oswestry based Bulldog Rally takes in some of the classic Welsh stages such as Pantperthog, Gartheniog and Dyfi. The first car leaves The Pedigree at 8 am and is expected back at the ceremonial finish mid afternoon.

For more on the championships please visit www.gravelrally.co.uk

Stephens’s day did not get off to the greatest of starts when he picked up a puncture on the very first stage, dropping a load of time. Things worsened when he then picked up another flat tyre on the very next stage, dropping him way down the order to 19th position. Stephen also didn’t help the cause with a time consuming overshoot on the third stage, ending up in a narrow track which took a lot of time to turn the car around.

The afternoon improved as Stephen went on to set a pair of top 5 times on the final two stages of the day and eventually returned to the finish fifth in class and 13th overall.

A perplexed Steven said: “I don’t understand the two punctures. It really messed up my rhythm and then I made things worse with the overshoot in the third stage. It took forever to turn the car around and we dropped so much time. The car was brilliant today but the conditions were really horrible, so wet and changeable.”

Next up for Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson is the Ulster Rally in Ireland. Based in Armagh the Ulster Rally takes place from the 31st August to the 1st of September.

A month after the last round Stephen, co-driver Michael Wilkinson and the rest of the SG Petch Motorsport team return to Wales for Round 5. Last time out, on the Severn Valley Rally, Stephen salvaged fifth position after a couple of spins, loosing out on fourth place by a mere half a second after a storming last stage drive where he clawed back 16 and a half seconds in 11 miles.

Stephen said: “We had run as course car on the tarmac based Jim Clark the week before so I think my head was still in tarmac mode on the Severn Valley. I’m hoping to do a bit of testing ahead of the Swansea Bay, because it’s an event I really like. It’s very close at the top and in this championship you have to be prepared to push quite hard… so that is our strategy for the next couple of rounds.”

The prize for winning the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge is a fully funded ‘works’ drive with the Mitsubishi team in the 2008 British Rally Championship.

The 2007 Swansea Bay Rally starts at 8:30am on Saturday 21st July and uses some of the roads typically used on the Wales Rally GB every year, including the world famous Port Talbot Stage. The first car is expected back at the ceremonial finish at 5pm that afternoon.

The County Durham driver entered the final stage of last weekends Severn Valley Rally 17 seconds off fourth position in the Evo Challenge. A storming drive saw him go 16.5 seconds quicker, loosing out by a mere half a second at the end of a long and dusty day.

The day began with a wild spin in the opening stage, causing Stephen to loose his rhythm a bit. A fifth fastest time amongst the Evo’s on Stage 2 showed that the he was back on the pace again. A really hard push through Radnor, the longest stage of the rally, saw young ‘Petchie’ hustle the SG Petch Motorsport run Evo IX around the 17 mile stage quicker than all of the Evo’s bar championship leader Phillip Morrow. This time saw Stephen vault into fifth in class, with Nik Elsmore in his sights.

Despite taking more time out of Elsmore on the next stage Stephen undid all of his hard work with an extravagant spin on Stage 5. This meant that, after going third quickest through the penultimate stage, Stephen was still nearly 17 seconds down on his fellow Evo IX pilot. Stephen, co-driven as always by Michael Wilkinson, flew through the 12 miles of Crychan Main to put in a brilliant time, but he fell short of his target by a mere half a second.

A frustrated but optimistic Stephen said: “I am pretty annoyed with myself for those two silly spins. You needed to be neat and tidy on this rally because, if you get off line, it is so slippery. It was still a great day and the car ran brilliantly, bring on the Swansea Bay now.”

As the series takes a bit of a summer break Stephen finds himself lying fourth in the standings and tussling with Philip Morrow for the Junior title so, with four rounds to go, it is still very much all to play for.

Next up is the South Wales based Swansea Bay Rally at the end of July.

Stephen, who currently lies fourth in the Evo Challenge standings, has had mixed results from his previous adventures on the island. He debuted his SG Petch Motorsport run Evo IX on this very rally last year and led his class early on, before fuel problems caused his retirement. However a return to the Isle of Man for the British Championship round last August resulted in the biggest accident of Stephens career and left both crew shaken but otherwise unhurt. The car was not quite so lucky.

Despite this big accident Stephen is confident that he has put that accident behind him and that he and co-driver Michael Wilkinson will still be on the pace of the front runners. The pair have had a decent start to their 2007 campaign and are a mere 4 points off third in the Evo Challenge standings.

Stephen said: “We had quite a big crash on the Isle of Man last year but to be fair that is behind us now. I don’t think it will affect either Michael or myself and we will tackle this rally the same way we always do. I’m hoping to get a bit of testing in ahead of the event so we should be close to the pace from the start. I’ve always enjoyed the Manx but the weather can be really fickle.”

The 2007 RBS Manx International Rally begins on Friday the 11th of May, with the crews tackling almost 115 miles of special stages before they return to the TT Grand stand at around 4 pm on Saturday for the ceremonial finish.

The day began slowly, with Stephen nearly 12 seconds off the pace after the opening stage, admitting that he had struggled to find a rhythm in the slippery conditions.

By stage 3 Stephen, co-driven as ever by Michael Wilkinson, had upped his pace and was setting top 6 times and by mid day was inside the top 10 in class. A 20 second penalty for hitting a chicane had cost him two positions but apart from that Stephen was happy with the car.

“I’ve been really struggling to find a rhythm today. Some stages have been brilliant but on others I’ve felt out of sorts. Still, we are on course to pick up some handy points in both the Evo Challenge and the ANCRO Juniors so its’ not all bad” said Stephen.

With Stage 6 being stopped after Paul Benn crashed, Stephen only had the final run through Harwood to try and improve his position but another half spin cost him time and he had to settle for sixth fastest time on the stage and seventh position in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge.

The young driver will change steeds as he prepares to defend his 2006 victory on the North Humberside Rally at the wheel of the SGP Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car this coming weekend.

Showing incredible talent in atrocious conditions, Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson, put in a polished performance when they brought their Mitsubishi Evo home 7th overall on the snow lined event, narrowly missing out on Group N honours by a mere 9 seconds.

With the 2007 running also counting toward the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, where the price is a ‘works’ drive in the British Rally Championship in 2008 Stephen is up against some stiff competition but as this talented youngster has shown time and again, when things go right for him, he is more than capable of putting in quick times.

The 2007 season opener, the Bournemouth based Rallye Sunseeker, saw the SGP Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 9 struggle with differential problems and despite the gathered spectators cheering him on after a series of time consuming spins these did not help Stephen get the result he wanted. Despite this Stephen and Michael were still able to salvage 6th place points in the Evo Challenge.

“I had a great run on the 2006 Border Counties Rally, when the roads were covered in snow. I don’t expect the conditions to be anywhere near as bad this year but just hope that Michael and I can have a better run than we did on the Sunseeker” said Stephen.
The 2007 running of the Jedburgh based Border Counties Rally takes in 60 tough and testing stage miles around the South Scotland town with the first car expected back at the finish ramp at 5:30pm.