Stephen, co-driven as ever by Michael Wilkinson, was contesting the event as part of a 2 car team alongside Sun correspondent Rob Gill and despite having previously contested most of these stages during his 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge campaign, where he clinched the Junior title, Stephen was under no illusions as to how tough this event would be.

Indeed, after a promising opening stage, where he was quicker than a number of British Championship regulars, Stephen was then forced into super rally when his steering arm broke in the second stage of the day.

Returning to action on Saturday morning saw Stephen ease back into the action as the atrocious weather was making the conditions extremely tricky. Even so Stephen was consistently inside the top 60 overall, which, when considering that he was running near the back of the field was no mean feat.

By the end of the day the SG Petch Motorsport run car was up to 55th overall and the pair were just aiming for a finish. Despite a spin in Brechfa on Sunday morning the Mitsubishi ran faultlessly and when young Stephen returned to Cardiff for the ceremonial finish he was over the moon with a top 40 result.

A relieved Stephen said: “I’m so glad to see the finish. This has been an incredibly long and tough rally but both Michael and I have had a great experience. The car ran very well, full credit to the team. I have to say a massive thanks to Rob Gill and Kumho Tyres for helping us compete this weekend.”

Stephen will now prepare for the forthcoming Grizedale Stages, where he will run as Zero car, whilst his father Steve will contest their local rally, the SG Petch Aneccc Stage Rally, on board a Hyundai Accent World Rally Car.

Stephen, who recently clinched the junior title in the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, will use his normal SG Petch Motorsport run Mitsubishi Evo 9 and has been gifted this opportunity after showing some impressive form throughout the season. He will partner Sun Newspaper’s Rob Gill in a two car team on the 3 day long rally.

A delighted Stephen said: “I am over the moon to be contesting my home round of the World Rally Championship. This has always been a dream of mine. I have to say a big thanks to Rob Gill for helping me put together a deal to do the event. Michael, my co-driver, and I are not expecting to go out there and win it, but we have to hope we will be fairly competitive this weekend.”

Stephen, who is co-driven by Michael Wilkinson, is contesting the event thanks to assistance from Mobil 1, The Sun, Scalextric and Kumho Tyres. The pair will begin preparations for Wales Rally GB with a 2 day recce before taking to the ceremonial start in Cardiff on Thursday 29th November 2007 for the three day rally.

For more information on Wales Rally GB please visit www.walesrallygb.com

Despite only limited testing with the Hankook shod car, David was confident of a good run and despite a cautious start through the opening stage, a very foggy Port Talbot, the Manxman was still 7th quickest.

Stage 2 saw him suffer a cruel hand of fate with not 1 but 2 punctures mid stage. “I have no idea what happened but suddenly the tyres just exploded and we had to stop and change them” said David.

Despite dropping all this time David, co-driven by Ieuan Thomas, carried on undeterred and despite having no more spare tyres still went 2nd quickest through the final stage of the morning run. A wrong tyre choice for the afternoon loop did not slow him down as David set a string of top 5 times but was ruing the lost time from Resolfen 1. A determined Higgins said: “We dropped nearly 7 minutes this morning so now it‚Äôs just a case of playing catch up. This event is always a tricky one so it‚Äôs not over for us just yet.”

Minor under steer problems on Saturday morning did little to slow the multiple Group N Champion down but a ‚Äòmoment‚Äô in Stage 9, Halfway, caused him to loose his rhythm for a while. “We had a big crash here a few years ago, and nearly did it again in the very same place” added David. Despite the roads cutting up really badly David was able to avoid the worst of the ruts and he even overcame a sticking throttle to continue his climb up the leader board, ending Day 2 fourth in the BRC.

Day 3 only consisted of 4 stages but they were some of the longest of the entire rally and David set out with his sights on those ahead of him. 2nd quickest on Trawscoed gave an indication of the fight left and also moved him up to within sight of the podium. 3rd quickest on the penultimate stage was then followed up by 2nd fastest on the last stage of the entire rally and David was ecstatic to finish 3rd overall, especially considering the huge time loss on Friday. An delighted Higgins remarked: “What a rally. Losing all that time on Friday was not part of the plan, but SGP Motorsport gave me a brilliant car and I‚Äôve loved every moment of it.” He added: “It is ironic that I managed to complete the entire rally without using ’super rally’ but if I had I probably would have won this weekend.”

David, a multiple Group N Champion in the United Kingdom, has more recently been contesting away from home, flying the flag in countries as diverse as China, America and Monte Carlo. And success has always seemed to follow him around. Back to back championships in the SCCA championship in America as well as no less than 3 Group N ‘Production Class’ Championships in the UK to back up his overall championship win in 2004 give some indication of David’s talent and determination.

Apart from 2 outings as part of the works Mitsubishi Team in the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship David has been contesting both the Production Car World Rally Championship, taking a hard fought podium on the opening round, the icy and treacherous Monte Carlo Rally, as well as the China Rally Championship in 2006.

However for the final round of the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship Manx born David will re-unit with SGP Motorsport as he takes to the wheel of their Mitsubishi Evo 9 for the International Wales Rally GB, tackling some of the trickiest roads in the UK early in what promises to be a very cold and icy December.

The deal will see David use the AVit Tools, Virgin Money & The Sun backed Mitsubishi, normally campaigned by Stephen Petch Junior, as part of a two car team with The Sun correspondent Rob Gill on the 3 day rally.

David said: “I am very excited by this opportunity. I know the team well from our 2004 BRC campaign and have always been impressed with their attention to detail and professional approach. And as such I am confident we can have a good run.”

David will face stiff competition from some of the top drivers in the UK, such as Gwyndaf Evans and Jonny Milner, but this will only add to the spectacle of seeing some of the country’s best drivers going head to head through some very icy welsh forests.

Stephen has been campaigning in the 2006 British Rally Championship and the Ancro Gravel Series in an SGP Motorpsort Mitsubishi Evo IX. He has impressed with his raw speed, often proving the class of the field and frequently going quicker than competitors in far superior machinery.

But Stephen admits that Wales Rally GB would be his biggest challenge yet. Despite having an excellent knowledge of the roads used on the 3 day International event this would be Stephens’ first attempt at the rally, but the opportunity to go head to head against the worlds greatest drivers is too great a challenge to resist.

Stephen enthused: “We’ve always gone well in Wales and both Michael (Wilkinson, Stephens co-driver) and I know the roads really well, and being British I think I’d have a bit of an advantage over some people in the foggy weather that is characteristic of that time of the year.”

The opportunity came after lengthy discussions with his father, the extremely talented former ANCRO rally champion Steve Petch Senior, who recently came out of retirement to take a hard fought victory on the Trackrod Rally in the very car Stephen could use.

Stephen has prior experience of the technologically advanced World Rally Car. After narrowly missing out on success on his debut on the 2005 Hamsterley Stages, the 23 year old then made amends by taking a dominant victory on the 2006 North Humberside Rally, beating the similar car of Damian Cole by over 30 seconds after a hard fought 60 miles of tricky forest rallying.

“I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime but with only 2 weeks until entries close I still have to source the budget to actually compete in the event, so I’m not in the clear just yet.” added Stephen.

The 2006 Wales Rally GB runs over the first weekend of December and routinely attracts an incredible number of spectators. As well as having local TV and media coverage, the rally is an International event and will be beamed on Television around the world.

If you want to expose your brand to a world wide audience and sponsor Stephen, please contact Martin Jenkins at SGP Motorsport on 07885 797199.