After retirements on both the Wyedean and Malcolm Wilson rallies Wright decided to take some time out from competing to make some modifications to his Kumho Tyres, Drenth, York Brewery, Proflex and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9. With the modifications finished last week he entered the Hamsterley forest event as a test ahead of the BTRDA championship Plains rally next weekend.
Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson made a fantastic start to the event, setting fastest times on the first three stages to lead by 34 seconds. However, most of that lead was lost on stage four when a puncture meant that Wright was only 7th fastest.
Wright fought back from the puncture to take another fastest time on the fifth and final stage which meant he won the event by 7 seconds.
“We had a brilliant event, the car is absolutely awesome, and the stages were fantastic – really fast and flowing which suited us,” said Wright. “It was frustrating to lose the time with the puncture but I am delighted to have been fastest on most of the stages. It’s great for Michael to win his local event too.”
“We’ll do the Plains rally next weekend and I’m feeling very confident that we can get a good result. We’ve nothing to lose after retiring on the first two BTRDA rounds so we will be pushing hard to battle with the World Rally class cars.”
Image courtesy Steve Pugh
