Bentham rally driver David Wright suffered a disappointing Dukeries rally last weekend when a broken driveshaft ended his hopes of a good result.The event, held on gravel forestry tracks in Nottinghamshire, kicked off with the Blidworth stage. Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson made a good start in their GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9 claiming fifth overall and first in class. By the end of the second stage they had moved up to fourth place after another good time.
Disaster struck on the third stage though when part way through the Sherwood Pines forest test Wright slid up a bank at a corner with the rear of the car leaving the ground. Although they got off the bank the car was making ominous noises and it was decided to retire rather than risk further damage.
“We did well on the opening two stages and I was ready to push for third place in the Sherwood and Clipstone stages but it wasn’t to be,” said Wright.
“We had a look at the rear of the car as the noise sounded like a broken driveshaft. There was no visible damage so we reckoned the driveshaft had broken inside the diff. We could’ve struggled to the end of the stage but the time loss would mean there was no chance of a good result so we decided to retire.”
“It’s a very disappointing result, I think my hopes of retaining the BTRDA championship title are over now, we need overall wins to have a chance and our class of car does not have the pace of the World Rally cars that are winning the events.”
“I’m going to decide in the next couple of weeks whether to continue with the championship or to do some other events instead. We’re working on a new car at the moment so it would be good to get that out on some rallies before the end of the year. Thanks to Drenth, Proflex, Kumho Tyres and Grove Hill Garage for their support.”
Wright presently lies in seventh place in the BTRDA championship standings.
Image courtesy Simon Clarke Photography
