Vanishing Hopes In The Valleys
24/07/2007
Having endured an arduous 8-hour journey through the flooded Cotswolds just to make the start of the Swansea Bay Rally, Co-Driver Seb Marshall was looking forward to competing over the slippery stages of South Wales.
A puncture on the first stage saw Seb, once again calling the notes for Bobby Mitchell, in a frustrating 11th place of 16 identical Ford Fiesta ST's after nine miles of tricky competition. With stage 2 cancelled, it was onto the longest stage of the rally, Margam.
At 13 miles this was a great chance to make up lost time, and fifth quickest on the stage elevated the young team to 8th overall, just 10 seconds away from fourth. With renewed confidence the plan was to push on the final two stages and climb the leader board, however this chance was denied as on the way to stage 4 the suspension collapsed.
Despite an incredible effort by the mechanics to get the car running again, retirement beckoned. "It was gutting to have to retire after having a good run through stage 3 but these things happen." commented a philosophical Marshall.
This Friday Seb travels to Mid-Wales for an intensive two-day training event with former World Champion co-drivers Robert Reid and Phil Mills. As part of his involvement with the MSA British Rally Academy, the 19-year-old will receive expert advice on what it takes to be a world-class co-driver.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to work with the best in the world and I hope I can put into practice some of the things I'll learn on the Mewla Rally in August."
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