A very frustrating retirement for Stephen Petch Junior coupled with a last stage mechanical problem for team mate Rob Gill were made almost bearable thanks to a breathtaking last corner victory for team principal Steve Petch Senior, who was out contesting the National rally.

After 2 wins from his last 2 events in Yorkshire, young Stephen Petch Junior was hoping to do better than his 2005 outing on the Trackrod Rally. After retiring due to an engine fire on the opening stage in 2005, young Stephen fired a warning across everyones bows with 8th fastest through the opening stage, just over 2 seconds off double British Champion Jonny Milner in a similar Mitsubishi.

With high hopes the young County Durham driver headed off to Cropton Forest for the second stage highly confident of a good run in his Sun, Scalextric, AVit tools and Virgin Money backed Evo IX. However a puncture 3 miles into the stage rapidly destroyed both the front tyre and the oil cooler, bringing Petch Junior and co-driver Michael Wilkinson to a halt. Despite being able to repair the damaged intercooler, the pair were forced into retirement as they were not carrying any spare oil in the car.

“I am so sick of this. Lady luck has totally abandoned us. The team has worked so hard preparing the car and it was handling beautifully‚Ķ and now this! I don‚Äôt even know what caused the puncture, because we didn‚Äôt hit anything.” exclaimed a very frustrated Stephen Petch Junior.

Stephen’s team mate Rob Gill faired slightly better and the Sun Newspaper contributor was in line for a top 20 finish when mechanical maladies struck his Subaru Impreza on the final stage of the entire event ending a very frustrating day for the SG Petch Motorsport team.

By total contrast team principal Steve Petch Senior, now officially retired from rallying, was out competing in the shorter National Rally in one of the teams Hyundai World Rally Cars. After a fierce battle with top BTRDA contender John Bannister, Steve eventually pressured the youngster into a small mistake, and a last corner spin for Bannister was enough for Steve Petch to take the win.

Both Petch Junior and Senior will now prepare for the forthcoming Bulldog Rally, the final round of the 2006 ANCRO Rally Championship, where they will go head to head in Group N ‘showroom special’ production cars in the North Wales forests.

Stephen was forced to miss the recent Philip White Tyres Ulster Rally as his car, badly damaged in a big crash on the Rally Isle of Man in August, was not ready in time.

Stephen has been back out in action since the panel damaging crash, when he and co-driver Michael Wilkinson used a borrowed Mitsubishi on the recent Park Systems Rally based in Newton Stewart in South Scotland.

With the Park Systems Rally being the penultimate round of the 2006 Mitsubishi Evo Cup Stephen was anxious to bag a good haul of points but a puncture in the very first stage cost him a lot of time. After staging a spirited fight back the pair brought their Mitsubishi Evo home second in the cup standings. Although Anthony Willmington cannot be caught in the overall standings this result has cemented Stephens second position in the Mitsubishi Evo Cup.

The team, sponsored by the Sun newspaper, Virgin money and AVit Tools, now changes focus as they prepare for the International Rally of Yorkshire, an event they will be keen to go well on after a disappointing run in 2005. Stephen’s run ended very early on when a blown turbo caused a minor engine fire on the very first stage.

“I love the Yorkshire Forests and was really frustrated when our turbo blew on the very first stage last year. And after the disappointment of the last few events, when lady luck really has deserted us, Michael and I will be going all out for a good result on this one” said Stephen.

Rob Gill faired slightly better, and despite a roll on the opening day, the Sun correspondent was having a good run until the gearbox cried enough on the second morning.

The 2006 International Rally of Yorkshire is more compact than in recent years, with all the stages running on the Saturday. But with 108 competitive miles through such classic stages as Dalby, Gale Rigg and Cropton this event promises to be tough on the competitors and cars alike.

The snow-covered stages were treacherous but Petch jnr ploughed on to take his first outright victory by more than two minutes in a Group N Subaru Impreza. Petchy followed that up with another win in the Yorkshire forests - the North Humberside Rally in March this year - in only his second event in a world rally car.

So it comes as little surprise that Petchy is revved up for Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, the penultimate round of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. The SG Petch Scalextric driver said: “I love the Yorkshire forests. The stages are fast and flowing, which suit my driving style, and I’ve scored my two biggest wins in Yorkshire. The Kall Kwik was special being the first win, but Dad had that big accident so it took the edge off things.”

Stephen is hoping his previous success and familiarity with the event, will give him an edge “Winning the North Humberside in the Hyundai was awesome. I‚Äôve been looking forward to the Trackrod all year. I know the stages, I know the surfaces, so hopefully I can show some speed and be right up there with the front runners on some of the timesheets.”

Despite his confidence and enthusiasm for the Trackrod, Stephen acknowledges consistency is key to future success: “I really need to finish this rally. We haven‚Äôt had much luck in the BRC this year and to be honest the Trackrod is the one rally in the Yorkshire forests that hasn’t been kind to us.”

“The differential went on our Peugeot in 2004 and Rob Gill tried to tow us out. Then last year our Subaru caught fire on the first super-special. So surely our luck has got to change this year…”

Petchy and co-driver Michael Wilkinson missed the Ulster Rally after a massive accident on the Manx meant they were unable to repair their Mitsubishi Evo 9 in time. Petchy said: “It was the biggest crash of my career. There was no grip on the shiny tar before a sharp left hand bend and we hit a wall. The geometry was 90mph to zero in 0.5 of a second. My back is still not the best now.”

“But we‚Äôre glad to be back on gravel. We won the Evo Cup on the Swansea Bay Rally before the Manx and only a puncture cost us victory in a hired Evo 6 on the Park Systems last month. So our confidence is high.”

Wilkinson, 25, also reckons the Trackrod is the perfect place to get their BRC campaign back on track. He said: “The Yorkshire forests are fantastic. We both know the stages really well, we learned them on maps before pacenotes. We just need a clean run and we’ll be right up there. “Stephen is definitely going in the right direction. He is really comfortable on gravel in the new car, he has got the speed and he showed amazing calmness and maturity to take his first win on the Kall Kwik knowing his dad had just crashed.”

Stephen, who debut his SG Petch Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo IX on the island earlier in the year, had been eagerly anticipating this event. With its notoriously changeable weather conditions and tricky roads the island is not for the faint hearted and the young County Durham driver was confident that the event would suit his driving style.

Stage 1 got off to a bad start when Stephen slowed to ensure that Roman Kresta, who had crashed out, was alright. With the anti-lag on his Mitsubishi inadvertently turned off Stephen struggled through most of the stage before realising his error. These two incidents combined resulted in Stephen posting a relatively slow time.

Stage 2, run over slightly faster and more flowing roads saw Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson up the pace considerably, but then, as the pair neared the finish they were slowed as young Stuart Jones had crashed out heavily and his car was partially blocking the stage. Stephen, presuming the stage had been stopped, halted at the accident to ensure that the crew were both ok before slowly continuing to the finish. Despite the majority of the crews receiving nominal times the SG Petch Scalextric Mitsubishi driver was awarded his actual time, costing him even more time!

The final 3 stages of day 1 went without incident and despite struggling in the dusk on the final stage, where running with lights seemed to make no difference, Stephen still set some fairly quick times but was not happy to be lying just inside the top 30!

“We’d lost a lot of time on the first 2 stages when we slowed down at two very big crashes. Now we had no option but to push fairly hard the next day and try and make up a bit of time” said Stephen.

Despite struggling with the wrong tyres on the opening Stage on Friday, Stephen was confident that his tyre choice would work for the rest of the morning loop and headed into Stage 7 still remarkably optimistic.

However half was through Stage 7, Kella 1, it all went horribly wrong for the team. As the pair approached a fast sequence of bends they hit a patch of wet tarmac which speared the Mitsubishi off the road and up a bank. This was not too bad except the bank… and the car, ended in a wall! Going from 90mph to 0 in half a second did the car no good and the team were out immediately.

Despite being fairly shook up both Stephen and Michael were uninjured but their rally, and quite possibly their championship aspirations, were over!

“I am absolutely gutted. This was the biggest crash of my career and the car is pretty messed up. Both Michael and I are pretty sore now but full credit to all the safety devices built into the car” said Stephen.

He added: “I don‚Äôt think we’ll have her ready in time for the Ulster so now I need to sit down with the team and decide what to do. Either way we’ll definitely be back for the Rally of Yorkshire seeing as how that’s my home event.”

The SG Petch Motorsport Team now face a challenge as Stephen is due to contest the Park Systems Rally in early September, as well as the Ulster Rally shortly afterwards.

Despite having no time to test, Stephen set some blistering times on the cars debut before minor fuel injector problems halted his charge. However, coupled with winning the Mitsubishi Evo Cup on the recent Swansea Bay Rally in Wales, Stephen is confident that the team will have a good run on the Isle of Man.

“The roads on the Isle of Man are really technical and seem to suit my driving style. After our recent win on the Swansea Bay Rally, my confidence is really high and I have a good feeling for this weekend.” said Petch.

The whole SG Petch Scalextric Team experienced an event they’d rather forget on the recent Jim Clark International, where Stephen suffered from handling problems created by the unusual nature of the roads and eventually retired with a broken diff half way through day two.

Rob Gill, driving the SGP Motorsport’s prepared Subaru Impreza, had a similar experience when a broken gear level on the very first stage, followed by terminal clutch problems on day two, also meant the team left Scotland with battered confidence levels.

Stephen then went some way to repaying the team for the hard work and effort they’d put into readying the car by setting a string of fastest Production Class stage times on the recent Swansea Bay rally as he stormed through the dust in South Wales to take 2nd in Group N, and winning the Mitsubishi Evo Cup as well.

The 2006 Rally Isle of Man begins with a ceremonial start in Douglas on Thursday at 6pm and after 180 miles of some of the fastest and most technical stage rallying in Europe the cars are expected back in Douglas for the finish at around 4pm on Saturday afternoon.

For more information visit the Rally Isle Of Man website.

After good runs over the closed public lanes around Kelso in 2005 both Stephen Petch Junior and Rob Gill were full of confidence heading into the weekend. However Rob’s 2006 rally got off to the worst possibly start when the gear lever broke shortly after the start of the very first stage. Despite finishing the stage he chose to retire with plans to re-start under ‘super rally’ rules on Saturday.

Stephen also encountered problems on the opening stage, struggling with the balance on his car, a result of running with soft tyre pressures. He then lost more ground to those ahead of him as he struggled with a faulty fuel pump all afternoon and it was by sheer determination that he persevered through to the final service on Friday before the team was able to descend on the car and replace the faulty fuel pump, ready for Saturday’s action.

With the team restored to 2 cars for the 2nd day everyone was full of hope, but once again bad luck struck. Rob Gill suffered terminal clutch problems, a result of the strain of being stuck in 4th gear on Friday. And then Stephen was hampered by a problematic centre diff.

The unusual nature of the Jim Clark is notoriously tough on cars and quite a few of the Mitsubishi drivers were struggling with differential problems. All Stephen could hope for was that the car would hold together long enough to complete the rally, as the way cars were retiring around him he was set for a decent points haul in the Evo Challenge.

Unfortunately it all went wrong on Stage 18, Fogo 2. Stephen was trying to keep up a good pace with his ill handling car whilst not taking too many risks. However the car snapped sideways on a fast bend and brushed a telegraph post, resulting in a punctured tyre. To add insult to injury the central diff cried enough at the end of the stage, ending their rally there and then.

“I must have done something really bad in a previous life to have warranted all of this bad luck” mused a frustrated Petch Junior. He added: “Next up is the Swansea Bay Rally and having rolled out on the very first stage last year, we‚Äôll be hoping for a better run this year.”

The Swansea Bay Rally is on the 22nd of July.

For more on the rally please visit http://www.gravelrally.co.uk/

Young Stephen Petch Junior has had a busy time in the past month, first contesting the Severn Valley Rally in Wales where severe dust hampered his early progress. But once the weather had improved Stephen immediately showed his talent by setting a string of stunning stage times as he set about climbing back up the leader board, moving from 7th to 4th in class in 1 stage alone!

Stephen eventually missed out on winning the Mitsubishi Evo Cup by a mere 4 seconds after an eventful day in the forests.

The car was then altered to tarmac specifications and Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson headed to Belgium to contest the Ypres Rally. Despite struggling with a couple of punctures, which cost him time, Stephen was happy about how the event had gone and is confident that the extra tarmac time in the car would assist him on this weekends rally.

Both Stephen Petch Junior and Rob Gill had good results on last years Jim Clark Rally, with Stephen finishing 6th in class, ahead of the eventual 2005 Production class Champion Barry Clark. Rob finished 11th in class, sandwiched between Irish competitor Aaron Machale and previous British Rally Champion David Higgins.

The Jim Clark, the season’s first tarmac event is also the only asphalt rally to be run in Scotland, where the competitors compete on closed off public roads which are both technical and demanding. As a result all of the competitors will put a great deal of emphasis on the notes they make during the recce, which although done at 20 mph still gives the drivers and co-drivers an idea of what the roads are like.

The rally begins from Kelso Race Course on Friday afternoon at 3:30pm and finishes on Saturday evening after 150 stage miles of treacherous tarmac rallying.

For more on the Jim Clark Rally please visit www.jimclarkrally.com

Despite only very limited gravel testing Stephen had high hopes of a good score in Carlisle, having finished on the production class podium here last year.

A cautious start to the event saw Stephen inside the top 15 at the end of the opening stage. Happy with the settings on his car he then upped the pace to go 8th quickest through the 8.7 mile Rushy Knowe. Stage 3, the famous Chirdonhead, saw 3 cars finish less than a second apart, with Petchie and young Irishman Phil Morrow sharing an almost identical time through the stage.

Stage 4 was the first run through the ‘P zero’ spectator stage, where the SG Petch Motorsport car entertained the crowds with his impressive leaps over the jumps and committed approach to the water splash!

By first service Stephen was up to 11th overall and was a mere 15 seconds behind JWRC contender Guy Wilks.

Next up was the 8.7 mile Shepherdshield Stage. A typical Kielder stage with tricky cambers and very fast straights. World Champions have been caught out in these forests. And so was Stephen. An incorrectly marked pacenote meant they came over a crest absolutely flat out, only to discover the road going 90 degrees to the right!!! A quick thinking Stephen yanked the handbrake and spun the car around, sending them backwards into a bank at over 90 miles an hour!!! It took spectators a while to get the car back on the road but the pair carried on undaunted and made it to the finish where they could execute minor repairs.

13th quickest on the next stage showed that Stephen was still on the pace, but then intercooler problems, and a damaged clutch hampered their progress and rather than damage the mechanicals further the pair opted to retire from the Saturday rally and focus on rejoining under super rally rules.

Sunday morning saw Stephen resume the rally down in 30th overall but a string of top times was some consolation, showing that young Petchie has the pace and should be a top contender when the season resumes with the Jim Clarke Rally in July.

Stephens’s next outing is Round 4 of the ANCRO championship, the Severn Valley Rally in Wales on 3rd June.

Amongst its entries are 7 previous champions. Alister McRae, Gwyndaf Evans, Martin Rowe, Tapio Laukkanen, Jonny Milner, David Higgins and Mark Higgins are all entered this weekend… but so is a certain young Stephen Petch Junior!

Competing in a state of the art Mitsubishi Evo IX, run by SGP Motorsport, in conjunction with The Sun newspaper, Scalextric and Kumho Tyres, Stephen is hoping that this new car is just what he needs to trade times with the best of the best.

“The car is absolutely awesome. I’ve only done the Manx in it so far, and my pre-event preparations for that consisted of a couple of miles to make sure my seat was in the correct position.” said Stephen.

Despite being halted by a faulty fuel injector Stephen was happy with his pace, having set some top 3 class times before his retirement. This should stand him in good stead when the British Rally Championship heads to the Isle of Man later in the season.

After a brief gravel test in the infamous Kielder forests Stephen is confident of a good result on the 2 day event. Last year Stephen finished on the podium in the Group N category, and with the rule change outlawing the more expensive World Rally Cars, Stephen is hoping to compare times with some of the top drivers in the country.

“I really love Kielder. The stages suit my driving style and I went really well there last year, so we are hoping for a good result.” he added.

The 2 day rally begins at 8 am on Saturday morning, and after 115 miles of fast and frantic competition, the first car is expected back in Carlisle just after noon on Sunday.

As well as contesting the full British Rally Championship, Stephen will also be competing in the ANCRO Gravel Rally Championship in his SGP Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo IX.

SGP Motorsport & the Sun Scalextric Rally Team have scored a winner - with a special ‘Come on England’ paint job!

The six-round British Rally Championship kicks off with the Pirelli Rally in Carlisle on 12/13th May. Sun journalist Rob, 33, said: “Just like England, it will be important to get a result and get some points on the board.

“Kielder forest has some of the fastest gravel tracks in the world - and some of the biggest ditches. The smallest mistake will be heavily punished so we need to drive with our heads.

“I’ve got a new Subaru Impreza for 2006, the N10 version - i just hope i don’t Bend It Like Beckham!”

Young hotshot Stephen scored his best result of the season on the Pirelli last year.

The Mitsubishi Evo 9 driver said: “I love the long, fast stages. It was a special feeling to finish third in Group N behind two former British champions last year - and it would be great to repeat it.

“I’m also looking forward to making my debut at the Wales Rally GB, the final round of the BRC and the FIA World Rally Championship.”

The Sun Scalextric Rally Team is supported by SG Petch, Virgin Money, AVIT tools, Pirelli and Kumho. You can keep up to speed with their progress throughout the season right here at SGP Motorsport.