Stephen Wright’s winning start to the season came to an unfortunate end in Bishopscourt last weekend when driveshaft failure dropped the Monaghan charger time that would be irretrievable.

Stephen had sister, Susanne calling the notes for the first time this season in the Killyhevlin Hotel, Spanwright Flooring and Lafarge Cement backed fiesta. The pair had a mixed run over the first stage. Cold tyres caught them out early on, but by the second lap, the Hankooks started to perform perfectly and left the crew happy with their time. However disaster struck on the second lap of stage two and a driveshaft failure dropped them well away from the leading pack.

The brother and sister team pushed hard on stage three with the DGM team having repaired the driveshaft. Second fastest stage time meant that they were poised to pounce should the leaders falter. Another second fastest time on stage 4 followed by a solid time on stage 5 lifted the crew up to 3rd in the class standings. A final push on the last stage consolidated 3rd in class and left Stephen and Susanne lying 39th overall.

After the event Stephen commented: “It’s great to get another solid score on the board. It’s a pity about the driveshaft failure but I had a really enjoyable day. The rain stayed away and in the extremely abrasive conditions, the Hankooks performed brilliantly. I’m looking forward to getting back out in the circuit but unfortunately as I’m contesting the Fiesta Sport Trophy I won’t be able to score NI Championship points.”

Released by Martin Fallon via Rally Buzz