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Thursday, April 28, 2011
By Jakob Ebrey
 http://www.jakoberey.com
 

31 year old Cannon Tech (Scotland) sponsored Rob Fagg continued his solid start to the 2011 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship with a 16th overall finish on Round Four of the series, the Jim Clark International Rally, last weekend.

Competing on the Kelso based event with 17 year old Milford Haven resident Nick Cristofaro, the pair’s result sees them now hold onto a top five position in the Formula 2 category of the championship but more impressively moves them into the lead of the UK Fiesta SportTrophy series, all in Nick’s debut series at the top level of British Rallying.

It was not all plain sailing for the pair though who almost did not make the start of the event; the season’s budget hit hard following expensive repairs to his Ford Fiesta ST from previous rounds. But last minute deals and a lot of help from third parties meant that it was possible for Nick and Rob to head to the town of Duns on Friday evening to begin the opening leg.

With the rally marking Nick’s debut on tarmac, the plan was always to learn and ensure they made it through the evening run that featured six tests running into nightfall. A short spectator stage through Duns got the nerves out of the way, then it was on to the classics of Bothwell and Abbey St Bathans. Despite feeling he could not get a rhythm the Nick and Rob would finish the opening loop in 24th overall and 5th Fiesta.

A repeat of the stages followed, this time in darkness and with increased confidence of his TEG Sport prepared and run Fiesta, Nick built up his pace, ending the opening leg in a strong 21st overall and 5th Fiesta, 27.4 seconds up on season rival Osian Pryce in the more modern Fiesta R2.

Saturday arrived and with it uncertainty surrounding the weather with rain threatening which would leave the Scottish roads treacherous to the competing crews.

The Wiseman Diaries backed Fiesta left on intermediate tyres for the opening loop as rain had begun to fall. It was to prove to be an incorrect choice as the roads remained dry with the rain localised over the service area in Kelso.

Fortunately the crew were able to take advantage of the slick tyres they were carrying in the car, but it still left them with the intermediate tyres on the rear, which over the longer stages of the loop overheated, causing the car to be very twitchy.

A spin on stage eight, Edrom, and an overshoot on stage nine, Ayton,  cost the pair time and saw them fall behind Pryce but remain ahead of the next chasing Fiesta and Formula 2 crew. Following a visit to service Nick and Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors backed Fagg tackled two runs round the Eccles and Swinton stages, both stage 10+ miles, before a return to the earlier days loop of stages.

Nick and Rob were able to post good times over the remaining stages, moving them up to 16th Overall and 4th in Fiesta classification as the crews returned to the finish in Duns.

“We have finished and got further points towards the Fiesta series which is our main aim this year and our consistency has put us in top spot” commented Rob, “There is no doubt though that without the help of a number of people this would not have been possible. We have the thank Wiseman Diaries, Pirelli and TEG Sport for there constant encouragement and support – not just on this event but throughout the year so far. Also Giles Brooksbank and Julian Wilkinson for there encouragement over the weekend, overall a great support package to give us the confidence to get this result.”

The series now takes a break, with action due to resume in August when the crews tackle the Toddsleap.com Ulster International Rally. For the team though the work does not stop with further budget to be found to enable them to compete.

While the BRC campaign takes a break, Rob doesn’t however, hopefully competing on events in the UK and back at home on the Manx Championship throughout the summer.

Rob is supported in 2011 by Cannon Tech. (Scotland) Ltd (www.cannontech.co.uk), Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors, Synergy IT (www.synergyit.co.im), Cable Design Services (www.cdsl.net), Holton Homes (www.holtonhomes.co.uk), Nicky Grist Motorsport (www.nickygrist.com) and Fastime Stopwatches (www.astopwatch.com)