Seb Marshall Rallying

Manic Manx For Marshall

14/05/2007

MSA British Rally Academy Co-Driver Seb Marshall endured a tough weekend on the RBS International Manx Rally, battling several problems to gain a solid points finish.

Partnering championship frontrunner Tom Curtis in a Ford Fiesta ST, the pair were looking forward to the event held over the fast and twisty lanes on the Isle of Man. This was Seb's first event on tarmac, and after a good recce, the crew took the start in torrential rain at Port Erin late on Friday night. Things didn't quite go to plan though as a puncture on the first stage dropped the young crew 10 seconds to the leaders.

Stage 2 was shrouded in thick fog making the job all the more difficult, and more drama was to follow on SS3, the longest stage of the rally at 21 miles, as the fire extinguisher was set off by a bad bump, causing large time loss as the car filled with foam. Despite this the team made it back to the overnight service and set to work fixing the handling issues, eventually finishing at 2 am!

Saturday dawned dry and confidence was building, recording six top 6 stage times over the challenging roads and engaging in a close battle with Max Utting. After pulling back 12 seconds to the Oxfordshire rival disaster struck on the penultimate stage of the rally as the car lost 2nd gear. With just one 4 mile stage to go the crew set off to nurse the car to the finish and get some points in the bag. All hopes of overhauling Utting were gone though as during the stage all remaining gears except 5th were lost, leaving the pair a difficult job in driving the 7 miles back to the finish ramp.

They succeeded though and took 7th in the Fiesta SportingTrophy standings, scoring 14 more points which ensures Seb retains his fifth place in the championship standings.

"Despite the problems we encountered, it was a superb event, with some incredible stages." said Seb "It was great to work with Tom, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first time on the island, gaining valuable experience of recceing the very technical roads."

"I went into the event having never done a stage rally on tarmac, so it was a bit of a 'Baptism of Fire' on Friday when it was dark, raining and foggy! I'm determined to come back and enjoy the place once again."

Seb will miss the next round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy, the Severn Valley Rally, due to exam commitments, but hopes to be competing again later on in June.

 

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