With conditions proving to be very tricky, courtesy of snow lined stages and ice in places, the crews were always going to be in for an interesting time and, when thick clouds of fog descended on the stages, crews had minimal visibility with which to negotiate the forestry tracks. Despite this Stephen was on fine form, going fifth fastest through the opening stage, despite not being altogether happy with the handling of the car.

An equally strong run on Stage 2 was on the cards until Stephen was caught out on a tightening corner, slid wide and got stuck in a ditch. Due to the icy nature co-driver Michael Wilkinson had to jump out and push the stricken car out of the ditch, and even with the help of spectators the pair dropped well over a minute and a half, plummeting them to 23rd overall.

Swift work by the SG Petch mechanics saw the handling issues rectified at first service and Stephen then mounted a spirited fight back, eventually returning to Coniston in seventh position overall. Some consolation was the fact that he came home second in class.

Stephen said: “A typical rally for us really, lots of excitement and plenty of dramas. The car was all over the place in the morning and we just got caught out and ended up in a ditch. Once we’d sorted the handling out the car was brilliant, and if you remove the 90 seconds we lost on Stage 2 we’d have won our class and finished fourth overall.”

Despite Steve Petch Snr’s early retirement, the team have experienced a 90 percent reliability record in 2008, a statistic that helped Stephen to take a top 3 in class in the ANCRO Gravel Rally Championship in his first year in a World Rally Car.

Although now officially retired from rallying Steve still enjoys the occasional blast around the forests, and after a strong second overall on the recent Malton Forest Stages, he has proved that he is still as quick as ever.

Son Stephen, the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge Junior champion, has recently completed his first full season at the helm of a world rally car when he used one of the SG Motorsport Hyundai Accent WRC’s to good effect, finishing second overall in class B13 after a year of highs and lows where the young County Durham driver showed his maturity with a string of reliable runs in all conditions.

“It’s good that Dad and I get to have another battle with each other this weekend. The Grizedale Forest Stages are always well organised and a brilliant way to end the season. I’m not sure what the weather conditions will be like but I’m sure it won’t be plain sailing out there.” said Stephen.

The Coppermine Grizedale Forest Stages takes place on Saturday 29th November 2008. Based in Coniston the 41 stage mile long rally takes in six stages in the Grizedale Forest complex, with the action beginning at 9:00am.

For more on the rally please visit www.grizedalestages.co.uk

Using the SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car that son Stephen normally campaigns, Steve and co-driver John Richardson used the opening run around the Pickering Showgrounds to dust off the cobwebs. They then went third fastest through the opening runs of both Cropton and Gale Rigg and returned to Pickering for the first service lying fourth overall. The afternoon saw Steve raising his game and on the second run through Gale Rigg he was a mere one second off the pace of Tony Thompson, the eventual rally winner. This increase in speed saw Steve and Ian move up the leaderboard and the pair returned to Pickering in second position overall.

“Once again a big well done to the whole organising committee of the Malton Forest Stages, the event ran faultlessly and despite the atrocious weather a good time was had by all. We had a lot of fun out there, even if the weather made it interesting at times.” said Steve

At present SG Petch Motorsport has no confirmed plans for the rest of 2008 but a run for Stephen Petch Junior on the Grizedale Stages is likely.

Steve was a regular at the head of the field in the late 1990’s and earlier in the ‘noughties’ but hung up his helmet and went into semi retirement two years ago. Since then the Durham based businessman has returned to action for the occasional blast and more often than not still runs near the top of the leaderboard thanks to his rapid pace.

The last time Steve Petch Senior competed in a rally was two months ago on the Trackrod National Rally where he was trading times with son Stephen until the transmission broke near the end of the event. Steve will again use the very same Mitsubishi Evo 9 on this weekends Malton Forest Stages and will be hoping for a more successful run.

“We’re just going out for a bit of fun. I’m definitely not thinking of making a full time return to rallying, but there are some forests that I still love competing in, and Dalby is certainly one of them. We’re not worried about our pace, just as long as we have smiles on our faces at the end of the day.” said Steve.

The rally begins from Pickering Showgrounds at 8:30am on Sunday 2nd November 2008. A compact route takes the cars through some of the best North Yorkshire forests, Cropton, Gale Rigg and Langdale, before returning to Pickering for the ceremonial finish at around 3pm. The rally also includes three spectator stages in the Pickering Showgrounds making it a great day out for the family.

The opening stage saw Stephen’s rhythm disrupted when he slowed to pass the stricken car of Mark Higgins, which was then followed by a small moment which dented his confidence, resulting in the 2007 Evo Challenge Junior Champion languishing down in fifteenth position overall at the end of that opening stage. With Stephen still adjusting to the new paddle shift gear change on his Hyundai he lost more time with a spin and stall on the second test. More time was haemorrhaged on the third stage when the brakes began to fade mid way through ‘Big Ray’. Clean runs on both stage four and five allowed Stephen to break into the top ten overall and despite losing hydraulic pressure in the final stage Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson returned to Oswestry with seventh overall and second in class.

“This rally really sums up my year. Flashes of promise and lots of character building. On the whole I’m happy with how everything has gone, but am annoyed at myself for not getting my head into gear in the morning. We lost a lot of time because I made some silly mistakes. And then in the afternoon I struggled with smoke coming into the car, which was caused by something to do with the transmission.” said Stephen.

He added: “Still, we showed that he have the most reliable world rally car out there, as we finished more rallies than anyone above us in the standings… that has to count for something.”

In the overall championship standings, as a result of a strong run of reliability on his SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai, which saw Stephen finish all but one of the rallies he contested in the series, the 24 year old takes third in class B13 in the series in his first year in the top class.

As of yet Stephen has not finalized his plans for 2009 but will be out in action next weekend when he appears at Croft for the Get Connected SG Petch Rallycross Superprix to run demonstration laps in his Hyundai. A week later he will be joined by his father on the Malton Forest Stages in North Yorkshire.

Abarth is the latest edition to the group and has just joined the York branch. Abarth is always synonymous with tough spirited cars, challenges, passion and thrills and is back with a new range to whet the appetites of all sports car enthusiasts. The first product available is the Grande Punto Abarth, a product true to the spirit of the brand.

“SG Petch is delighted to be sponsoring the 2008 Rallycross Superprix - the premier event in the British Rallycross calendar. Rallycross is a fantastic sport and the Superprix has become the traditional end to the Rallycross season attracting the top drivers from across Europe.” added Managing Director Steve Petch.

For further information on Get Connected and SG Petch, please visit the official 2008 Rallycross Superprix website.

Stephen was returning to action after a summer break and, despite a short test prior to the rally, admitted that he was feelings rather rusty. Considering he had not competed since the Swansea Bay Rally in July, fifth fastest through Housedale, the opening stage, was not bad. His Hyundai accent World Rally Car has recently had a ‘paddle shift’ gear change fitted and it took some time adapting to the new system.

A spin and the consequent stalling of the engine in Stage 2 proved pretty time consuming but when Stephen slid into a chicane in Cropton and could not engage reverse, any hopes of a podium finish went out the window. “We had to get some spectators to push us backwards as we could not get reverse” said Stephen.

A minute was lost in this stage and dropped Stephen down the order. The young County Durham rally driver was able to fight back up the order to eventually finish seventh overall and fourth in Class B13.

“I do love these forests and the Accent always goes well here. It took some time to get used to the new paddle system but once I get the hang of it I should be a fair bit quicker.” said Stephen.

Stephen’s father Steve, a former national champion, made one of his rare returns to the driver’s seat, on board a Mitsubishi Evo 9, and was enjoying a good run all day long until transmission problems stopped him on the very last stage of the rally.

The SG Petch Rally Team will be back in action on the forthcoming Bulldog Rally, the final round of the 2008 MSA Gravel Rally Championship. Stephen Petch Junior not only stands a good chance of claiming the junior title but is currently also in the thick of the fight for overall victory in class B13.

Stephen is contesting the full 2008 ANCRO Gravel Rally Championship in a Hyundai Accent World Rally Car, this being his first full season in the technologically superior machine. And whilst the young rallying ace may have struggled on occasion he heads to the penultimate round lying second in class. Having enjoyed strong runs on this rally in the past, Stephen will be hoping for a similar run this weekend.

“The summer break is always a really busy time for us and it means i don’t get to compete much. The last rally I did was the Swansea Bay Rally in July so I just hope I’m not too rusty on the first couple of stages. My Dad is also doing the rally in my old Group N car. It’s quick down the straights so I reckon we could have a good little family battle.” said Stephen.
Although now officially retired from rallying Stephen’s father, former champion Steve, returns this weekend. Having enjoyed top 3 runs on the Trackrod Rally in the past few years Steve should still go well this weekend, as he dusts off the Mitsubishi Evo 9 which Stephen drove to the junior title last year.

The 2008 Trackrod Rally offers competitors over sixty stage miles through some of the most famous forests in the area, including Dalby, Cropton and Langdale. The first car departs from Pickering Showgrounds at around 12 noon and is expected back just after 6pm.

Stephen, co-driven as always by Michael Wilkinson, was reunited with his Hyundai Accent World Rally Car a week after contesting the Greystokes Stages at the wheel of a Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9. And for the second week in succession Stephen, who was expected to challenge for class honours, suffered a cruel hand of luck.

After struggling through the opening two stages with a mysterious handling problem it all became clear when the track control arm suddenly broke half way through stage 3. Stephen did his best to limit the time loss as he nursed the wounded Accent out of the stage and into service, but an agonising 5 minutes had been lost.

Once repairs had been administered by the SG Petch Motorsport team, Stephen and Michael returned to the woods for a bit of damage limitation. A string of top 3 in class times through the afternoon showed what might have been.

“I’m getting a bit frustrated with all this bad luck that always seems to come my way. I haven’t had a clean run in so long that I’ve forgotten what it’s like. When the car goes well she is amazing to drive, so I just have to hope that we have a good end to the season

Incredibly Stephen is still in the thick of the class battle, currently lying second overall in B13, sandwiched between Marcus Dodd and Andy Burton.

The next outing for the young County Durham rally driver is expected to be the Bulldog Rally in October.

Stephen, along with co-driver Michael Wilkinson, contested last weekends inaugural Greystokes Stages in Cumbria as a warm up event. Because there was less than a week between the two events the SG Petch team chose to contest the Greystokes stages in their production class Mitsubishi Evo 9. Stephen and Michael were looking forward to the event, based completely within the famous Greystokes Forest, but unfortunately their rally came to a premature end when the pair suffered a broken pro shaft which then ruptured the fuel tank, briefly setting fire to the car. Thankfully the crew were able to extinguish the flames with no major damage.

“What an adventure. I haven’t really had a lot of luck this year. Last weekend was a bit of a scare as we had exactly the same problem that Guy Wilks had in his works Mitsubishi a few weeks ago. Luckily, though, we saved our car. Now we’re off to Swansea for a rally that I really enjoy. The stages in South Wales are fantastic and hopefully we can get a good clean run in the Hyundai.” said Stephen.
The 2008 Swansea Bay Rally kicks off at 8am and includes 65 high speed stage miles through such classics as Rhondda, Resolven and the spectator friendly Walters Arena. Stephen and Michael are seeded at Car number 6 this weekend.