Defending Protyre Asphalt rally champion Callum Black has vowed to bounce back at the next two rounds of the series, the double header Manx National Rally (10/11 May), after hitting problems on the opening Legend Fires North West Stages.
He and co-driver Jack Morton were the leading Protyre Asphalt crew after the opening two stages, but smacked the rear of their Pallas Connections Ford Fiesta Rally2 on SS3.
Luckily for them, stages four and five were cancelled, meaning that the 586 Sports crew could head straight to service and only pick up a single stage maximum time penalty – albeit nine minutes, three minutes more than if they’d completed the stage without a problem.
They now hope that their title defence will get back on track on the Isle of Man. The Brackley driver won the Manx by an incredible 3min 17.9sec last year and scored 58 points (out of a possible 60) for finishing second (behind David Wright/Paula Swinscoe) on day one and winning day two.
“The North West Stages was a challenging and frustrating event for us and we were slightly disheartened after what happened on stage three given our promising pace,” admitted Callum.
“I knew on the start line of stage one when the start lights failed twice that it could be one of those days – and then we had a misfire for the first mile, so it wasn’t ideal.
“When we had a clean run Jack and I were capable of setting top three stage times overall and leading the Protyre Asphalt Championship times.
“But it just wasn’t to be after a small mistake from me, which caused a broken rear left hub.
“A huge thanks for everyone who got us back out.
“Now it’s on to the next one!”
Be the first to comment