Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy Rd. 5: Craig Breen dominates on the Isle of Man

Photo: Roy Dempster (www.roydempster.com)

The fifth round of the Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy took place last weekend at the Manx International Rally, based in the seaside resort of Douglas on the motorsport mecca, the Isle of Man. The event gave crews over 80 miles of some of the toughest tarmac stages the infamous motorsport renowned island has to offer. At the end of the event it was the crew of Craig Breen (18) from Waterford and navigator Gareth Roberts that clinched victory also handing them the lead to the series overall.

Before the event even began there was drama on the shakedown stage for some competitors. Mark Donnelly (17) from Omagh and navigator Tony McDaid had an overshoot and damaged the front of their car but with no problems sustained from this they continued to prepare for the event the following day, however it was not so easy for Kris Hall (19) from Appleby and navigator Robbie Durant. The pairing clipped a bank sending them into a spin ending with the car rolling. Some superb work through the night from their service crew allowed them to start and before long they were ready to begin the event all be it with some light exterior damage.

With Friday morning came dry weather conditions to greet the crews, as they got ready to face the first of eight tough stages. Stage one was the 7.22 miles of Staarvey. Breen would set the quickest time stopping the clocks on 7.02.3. Kris Hall was the second FST crew into the stage and when exiting a slow 90 left, he ran wide went off the road and the car once again rolled over. Suffering minimal damage apart from a heavily smashed windscreen the fourth round winner lost three minutes to Breen and with it the hopes of a second consecutive victory. Donnelly was also to suffer on this stage pulling a wheel off the car and ending his event instantly, a gutting disappointment. With the combination of these accidents it meant the stage was cancelled for the crews of Stefan Davis (26) from Aylesford and navigator Thomas Maguire, Harry Hunt (20) from London and navigator Kris Killip and Thomas Watson (18) from Glanamman and navigator Ken Bowman. All three of these crews received the nominal time of Breen. The final two competing crews were that of Matt Edwards (24) from Cockermouth and new navigator Rob Fagg and Billy Coleman award winner Ross Forde and navigator Gary McElhinney. With both of these crews competing in the BRC Challenge event it meant the stage had been cleared and they both competitively completed the stage with Forde finishing on 7.24.3 and Edwards finishing on 7.33.2

Stage two was the 11.21 of Kella. Breen again set the quickest time with Davis second fastest and Forde third quickest. Hall was still dropping time as he struggled to see through his broken windscreen. With no other dramas reported the crews headed to the final stage of the first loop of stages.

Stage three was the 7.14 miles of Ravensdale. After a promising start to the event this stage would catch out Davis. After a series of fast corners led into a tightening right hander he slid wide and put his wheels onto the grass, the wheels dug in it sending the car into a roll forcing his retirement for the day. Meanwhile Breen once again set a quickest time increasing his lead to an impressive 1.35.1 over Forde. This huge margin meant Breen could afford to rethink his strategy and control his pace just to ensure that he finished the event with maximum FST points. Forde was second quickest on the stage with Edwards third fastest.

At the first service of the day Hall was fitted with a new windscreen whilst the other remaining crews reported no problems. Following service was a loop of two more stages. SS4, 21.38 miles of Newtown was unfortunately cancelled for all the competing crews due to an earlier accident from an International competitor meaning SS5; Cringle at 13.66 miles was the only competitive test of this loop. Breen again set the quickest time a blistering 13.04.2, and with Hall now being able to see clearly again he upped his pace to take second quickest. Edwards took third fastest 25s adrift of Breen.

With the final visit to service where no crews had any problems the competing cars left to tackle the final three stages of the event. SS6, Glen Roy at 4.66 miles saw Hall take his first stage win. Breen was second quickest with Forde taking third fastest. Forde was really getting into his pace on asphalt and enjoying every minute of it.

The penultimate stage of the FST event was the short 3.30 miles of Maughold. Hall again set quickest time and with it managed to leapfrog Hunt into fifth overall. Breen set second quickest, an impressive time even if he had backed off the pace slightly, Edwards took third quickest with Forde fourth. The battle between Edwards and Forde for second would go down to the wire as they were separated by a mere 2.9 seconds as they headed into the final stage of the event.

At 12.47 miles Dog Mills would see Breen and Hall awarded a notional time as the stage was cancelled for these two crews due to an earlier accident. This awarded Breen the victory for the event but the main battle was still for second overall. Forde finished the stage in a time of 11.40.6 but Edwards struggled to meet this pace and finished the stage in 12.07.2 meaning he jumped ahead of Edwards and finished second by a margin of 23.7 seconds - a great result for the Billy Coleman award winner and his best result to date.

Hunt and Watson had also had a great battle all day setting very close times to each other and enjoying some great stage battles but at the end of the event it was Watson who would take fifth by 20.7 seconds to Hunt, both competitors ended the event jubilant with their results on what was a very tough and challenging rally.

Breen also clinched the Castrol Hard Charger award when he scored the highest number of stage wins during the FST event.

Away from the FST event the Manx International Rally counted as a double scoring event for the BRC Challenge. The Friday event saw Edwards take the overall win but the Saturday event saw Forde take the overall win, but with Forde not registered for points it left Edwards to take maximum points on both days and relight his BRC Challenge campaign. All the other finishing crews carried on to complete the full International event but it would be a long challenging second day where Breen would roll and retire, and Watson would also get caught out in the mist on one of the stages and finish up stuck in a field. This left Hall to be the first FST home and 11th Overall - a great result considering his two rolls during the event! Hunt would be the second FST home in the International event and finish an impressive 15th overall, his best International finish to date.

The next round of the series is the Toddsleap.com Ulster rally in August and the series second visit on Asphalt, and if this event is anything to go by it should be very exciting.

Championship leader, Craig Breen, said:
“I am very happy and pleased with how the results eventually planned out, I really enjoyed the stages and we worked hard in the shakedown to get the car properly set up. Unfortunately after the FST event I tried to chase the faster cars but it didn’t go to plan, however we achieved what we wanted to do on the event and I am now really looking forward to the Ulster Rally.”

More information on the Fiesta Sport Trophy can be found at www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk