Stephen, who was using a Kumho tyres shod SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car on this event for the first time, began the rally with a spectacular run through the Winter Gardens on Friday night. Third fastest overall on his second run on this short spectator stage saw him enter Saturday morning lying 4th overall. However things immediately went wrong when he was caught out by the slippery conditions and overshot a junction before stalling whilst trying to engage reverse. Over forty seconds were lost before the rapid youngster finally got going again, with this time loss dropping him down to 39th overall

A spirited fight back saw Stephen, co-driven as always by Michael Wilkinson, set a string of top 6 overall stage times and by stage 11 he had clawed his way back up to tenth overall. However this was the end of the road as the water temperature was running too high and Stephen had no option but to retire, with a blown head gasket later identified as the culprit.

A frustrated Stephen said: “It is annoying that we were forced to retire at all, but at least our times showed that we were on the pace of the top runners. Next up is one of my favourites from the whole championship, the Border Counties. I have always gone well there and fingers crossed we can have a good clean run and get some points on the table.”

The 2008 Pirelli Gravel Rally Championship runs over 7 rounds and heads north to Jedburgh for the Border Counties Rally next.

Stephen, who has previously campaigned the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, will now be in a position to challenge for overall honours in the technologically superior Hyundai. And whilst the learning curve might be great the talented youngster does have prior experience. After finishing second overall on his debut in the car Stephen then won his second ever event in the Hyundai, the North Humberside Rally, outright.

Stephen said: “I love driving the Hyundai and whilst I’ve had some cracking results in it in the past this is the first time I will be contesting a full championship in the car. A big thanks to both Kumho and SG Petch for all their support. I expect the competition to be really tough but hopefully we’ll be there or there abouts.”

Stephen, who is co-driven by Michael Wilkinson, recently contested the Wyedean Forest Rally as a pre-season warm up and was pleased with his times on what was, in essence, a high speed test.

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

After using the recent Wyedean Forest Rally as a pre season test SGP Motorsport adjusted some of the settings on the car but with the forest of Dean having been covered in up to 8 inches of snow in places and the forests around Bournemouth bearing no resemblance the characteristics of the car were affected.

“On Saturday morning she was really scary to drive. The diffs weren’t locking up so we were flicking from under steer to over steer with almost no warning, which although I’m sure was entertaining for the spectators made for a pretty trying time in the car.” said Stephen.

Despite struggling with the handling Stephen once more impressed with his car control by not only keeping the Mitsubishi Evo 9 on the road but still managed to set a string of top 6 class times as well. A couple of spins cost Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson quite some time. But even with these problems the pair steadily improved all day, climbing from 20th overall at first service to an eventual final position of 12th overall. This also means that Stephen opens his 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge account with 6th place points.

The team now have almost a month to resolve the handling problems before Petch and Wilkinson tackle round 2, the Border Counties Rally which takes in the infamous Kielder Forest.

Before then Stephens father, Steve Petch Senior, will be out in action on the forthcoming Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria where he will drive one of the teams Hyundai Accent World Rally Cars.

Stephen Petch Junior recently contested the Get Connected Wyedean Forest Rally as part of his preparations for what could possibly be the toughest Evo Challenge ever. A string of very competitive times in the morning saw Stephen lying well up the order before minor power steering problems in the afternoon, coupled with a brief spin, cost him some time. ‘Petchie’ eventually brought his Evo 9 home 2nd in class and the top Mitsubishi at the finish.

Stephen is now looking forward to the Sunseeker, having had a good run there in 2006. He said: “The stages really seem to suit my driving style and the atmosphere is just awesome. We had a good run on the Wyedean recently but it was really snowy…. I just hope the Sunseeker doesn’t have the same conditions.”

As well as looking after Stephen’s Evo, SGP Motorsport will also be running Julian Reynolds in a similar Mitsubishi Evo 9 and are hoping that both cars have a clean run this weekend.

The 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge looks set to be one of the toughest in the history of this one make championship and with an incredible prize of a works drive in the British Rally Championship in 2008 you can be sure that everyone will be pushing hard throughout the weekend.

After 2 short spectator stages through the centre of Bournemouth on the Friday night the rally proper begins early on Saturday morning with runs through the well renowned Wareham and Ringwood Stages as well as 2 visits to the ever popular Somerley Park, before finishing back in Bournemouth at 6pm.

Visit the Rallye Sunseeker 2007 website for more information.