Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson were back in their SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai Accent following a stint as course car in a Group N Subaru recently. The pair were also back on gravel following a pair of tarmac rallies in the last three weeks. And Stephen was so glad to be back on his favoured surface that he opened his account with a sixth fastest stage time on the first stage of the Mid Wales based rally. Stage 2 saw the young County Durham based pilot still set a strong top 10 time despite a spin at a hairpin.

Calming down slightly saw Stephen, the reigning Mitsubishi Junior Champion, set some very strong times over the next few stages and by the mid way point was pleased to be lying seventh overall and only 3 seconds away from his nearest rival. But then gradually his rally began to fall apart. Not only was the 23 year old forced to slow down at incidents involving other cars, costing him precious seconds, but a damaged steering arm put him into a ditch for nearly a minute and dropped him down the order.

“The morning was really good, the car felt great and I had loads of confidence. But then this afternoon it all fell away. We had to slow down a lot at two different accidents only to get waved on at the last moment, so that cost us time. And then i hit a big rock in one stage which damaged our steering. Despite this we’ve been on the pace of Marcus Dodd, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

With four of the seven rallies now completed Stephen finds himself still third in class in the championship battle, but with dropped scores to be taken into account the young Northerner could yet spring a surprise.

The championship fight resumes towards the end of July when the title protagonists return to Wales for the Swansea Bay Rally.

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

Less than a fortnight after finishing third in class on the Manx National Rally Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson ran as course car in a Group N Subaru Impreza on the Jim Clark International Rally in Scotland. The pair will now return to the cockpit of their SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car for their first trip to Wales this year.

Stephen is currently tied with Andy Burton for second position in Class B13 in the Pirelli Gravel Rally Championship and will be aiming to consolidate his position this weekend, aware that there are a number of local drivers who could also be a threat.

“The Manx was interesting as I’d never driven the car on tarmac before but I’m glad we’re back on the loose stuff now. We’ll hopefully get a bit of a test in ahead of the rally, and as I’ve gone well on this event before I’ll be hoping for a good run this weekend. I know that the likes of Julian Reynolds will be pretty rapid so we aim to just go at our own pace and try not to make any silly errors.”

The 2008 Severn Valley National Rally starts from Builth Wells in Mid Wales at 8 am on Saturday 31st of May. The competitors then tackle over 60 stage miles broken into 8 of the world renowned Mid Wales forest stages, including the likes of Crychan and Halfway, before returning to the finish at around 5pm.

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

With no opportunity to test ahead of his first ever tarmac rally in the car Stephen opted for a cautious start but still picked up a puncture in the opening stage, dropping 10 seconds to the leaders. Playing around with the setup of the car to try and find the perfect balance saw Stephen on the fringes of the top 10 for most of the evening as he enjoyed his first experience of the car on through the high speed lanes, calling it a big go kart.

Saturday morning saw Stephen on the pace of defending champion Marcus Dodd but then, running through a notoriously tricky section in Stage 7 Stephen out braked himself on a sharp corner and slid off through a gate, which was fortunately open, and into a field. Although there was no damage to the car it cost him over 30 seconds as he struggled to engage reverse gear. A mis-fire later in the morning also cost time but a string of top 15 times showed a level of consistency as Stephen focused on bringing the car home in one piece.

“I really enjoyed this rally. I always seem to go well on the Manx as the stages suit my driving style and this year was no exception. We struggled with a lack of pre event testing and had to work on the setup as the rally progressed, but we were on the pace of Marcus which is encouraging. The car is great fun to drive on tarmac but I’m really glad it was a dry rally.”

After three rounds of the 2008 MSA Pirelli Gravel Rally Championship Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson find themselves lying third in the Class B13 standings, behind only Marcus Dodd and Andy Burton… pretty impressive company.

The SG Petch Motorsport team will next be in action in two weeks time on the Jim Clark Rally. Stephen changes cars and will run as course car in a Production class Subaru Impreza whilst his father, Steve senior, will take to the wheel of the Hyundai Accent and contest the Jim Clark National Rally.

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

County Durham based Stephen, who is co-driven by Michael Wilkinson, has had mixed results from his numerous trips to the island but, typically, the young pilot shows strong form on the many narrow and twisty lanes that make up the bulk of the stages. In the past Stephen has been used to hustling a Production spec Mitsubishi Evo around the island, but this year he has made the step up to the more sophisticated world rally car machinery. The Hyundai, an ex works car, should go well here. However minimal tarmac testing will present Stephen with his biggest hurdle. As such the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge Junior Champion aims to take a steady approach and learn the car.

“No heroics this weekend. I love the car, and it really suits my driving style. I’ve had some good runs on the Manx before, but this place has to be treated with respect. Michael and I are not going to get much chance to test before the rally, so we’re just going to go at our own pace. Once we’re comfortable with the settings we might raise our game a bit.”

The RBS Manx International Rally is based in Douglas and consists of 14 high speed tarmac stages on closed public roads throughout the tiny island. The first car starts from the TT Grandstand at 7pm on Friday evening, and will tackle a selection of tests in the dark. Action resumes at 8:30am on Saturday morning for a full day of action packed rallying.

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

Stephen, who is contesting the full Pirelli National Gravel Rally Championship this year, with Michael Wilkinson alongside him, had a cautious run through the opening stage, Wauchope, but still relatively happy with 11th fastest. Whilst Kielder has a reputation for being tricky, stage 2, Ogre Hill, was made all the more difficult by a snow blizzard shortly before the stage began. Despite this young Petch was fifth fastest in class through the 7 miler and headed to first service ninth overall but was just happy to still be going.

The next trio of stages were covered in a light dusting of snow, making the grip levels extremely inconsistent. And Stephen wasn’t helped by a sticking throttle which hampered his efforts to slow the car down for chicanes and corners. A spin in Stage 5, Pope’s Hill, saw the young crew loose precious time as the hot engine refused to fire up. Roughly 30 seconds were lost before they eventually got going again, but keeping a cool head, Stephen continued at his own pace. More time was lost with a stall at a very tight chicane on the final stage of the rally and these two incidents might surely have cost the pair the class win, as they gave best to Julian Reynolds by a mere 21 seconds at the end of the 60 stage mile rally. However both Stephen and Michael were more than happy to survive Kielder once more, and collect some useful points along the way.

Stephen said: “Stage one was pure carnage. There were cars off in ditches everywhere. And then it began snowing. The sticking throttle made life interesting but despite the problems we had fun and got back to Jedburgh unscathed and with a decent haul of points. We were also pleased to be so close to the leading pack in terms of stage times.”

Next up for the SG Petch Motorsport team is a trip across the water to the RBS Manx International Rally, the only tarmac round in the championship. Having never driven the Hyundai Accent WRC in anger on tarmac before Stephen is well aware of the massive learning curve ahead of him.

Stephen, who is contesting the full series in 2008 driving an SG Petch Motorsport run Hyundai Accent World Rally Car, has previously enjoyed some strong runs on this event including sixth in the production class on the 2007 rally. With the car mechanically sound after a recent test in the hands of Steve Petch Senior, the team will be hoping that they have eliminated the mechanical gremlins which halted Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson’s charge on the opening round of the 2008 championship, the Rallye Sunseeker.

Stephen said: “My dad did the Malcolm Wilson Rally recently and the Hyundai ran well, so hopefully everything should go according to plan this weekend. I’ve had some good runs on the Border Counties before and just hope I can get a solid result and open my account this weekend.”

The Border Counties rally takes place on Saturday 5th April and features over sixty stage miles in the infamous Kielder Forest complex before competitors return to Jedburgh at around 3pm.

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

Tricky conditions throughout the opening loop did not help matters but the retired rallying ace was happy with his times as the day progressed, even though he was unable to match the pace at the front of the field.

“Today was all about having a bit of a blast in the car, and using the Malcolm Wilson Rally as a shakedown for the Hyundai. The pace at the front was pretty rapid, but I know the car can match those boys… there is just no point in chasing them and risking going off. By the end of the rally I was happy with the settings and as we brought the car back in one piece all the lads are smiling, so that’s a result.”

The Malcolm Wilson Rally took in some of the famous stages of the area, including Grizedale and Greystokes, and by the end of the day Steve, co-driven by John Richardson, was lying 9th in class.

The SG Petch Motorsport team will be back in action on the Border Counties Rally in early April, when Stephen Junior retakes the reigns for the second round of the National Gravel Rally Championship.

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

Despite retiring from active competition over a year ago Steve Petch Senior, the proprietor of SG Petch Motorsport, still likes to dust off the cobwebs and come out for the occasional play. And eager to support his local event the former national rally driver showed he still has the pace as he brought his Hyundai Accent World Rally Car home fourth overall and second in class, taking an overall fastest stage time on the very last stage on the snow inflicted rally.

However his rally was hampered by event long over heating problems, a bit ironic considering the sub zero temperatures experienced. Eventually the engine cried enough as he and co driver John Richardson returned to the finish, but despite this late drama he was happy with his day out in the woods.

“Even though the car was overheating all day long we had a great day out. The conditions were made all the more tricky by the snow fall but what is rallying without changeable conditions.” said Steve.

Son Stephen, the 2007 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge PIAA Junior Champion, had an interesting day when he ran as course car and was effectively creating a path through the snow for the competitors following behind.

He said: “I can’t say I enjoy running first on the road in these conditions but we got the car home in one piece so that’s the main thing. My plans for 2008 are coming along nicely now so we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

Steve Petch Senior finished the 6 stage event a mere 18 seconds off of the final podium position and ran consistently inside the top 5 all event long. Both cars will now be completely rebuilt ahead of the 2008 season.