The 2013 Manx National Rally was to be the only retirement in a successful year rallying on the Isle of Man for island resident co-driver Rob Fagg. He along with his Carnforth driver Arron Newby were forced to retire from the event with a split fuel tank while lying in a top five position. Twelve months on and the reigning Eurocars Motorsport Manx Rally Champions produced a fantastic drive to fifth place overall putting the previous years disappointment well and truly behind them.
The result also saw Newby and Fagg finish as the top registered competitor in the Manx Rally Championship, making it two maximum scores from the opening two rounds and ensure their title defence reminded in the strongest possible position.
It was not to be all plain sailing for Newby and Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors backed Fagg, the event getting underway with a costly stall on the opening stage. Then despite posting a competitive time amongst their rivals on stage 3, the 11 mile St Marks test, the usually buoyant pair seemed to be unhappy with their performance over the opening stages.
Following a quick trip to service, it was a different crew that reached the end of the Marine Drive stage with a renewed confidence and a sixth quickest time to show for it in the Beatsons Building Supplies / VP Fuels / Pirelli backed TEG Sport Subaru Impreza.
A further two stages, bringing the total to six and 50 competitive miles, brought Friday’s opening leg to a close and left Arron and Rob in seventh place amongst some very good company and probably the best entry the event has seen in recent years.
Saturday arrived and with it further challenges, with the skies holding plenty of surprises. A brave tyre choice saw the TEG Sport Impreza leave for the opening loop on a slick tyre while those around went with the safe wet option. It appeared to be a master stroke until a delay on the second stage of the day saw rain fall, but Newby just took this as another opportunity to showcase his talents dropping under 10 seconds to Manx rival Steve Colley (Mitsubishi Evo 9) over 20 miles.
Another trip to service then it was back to Marine Drive and Parville, the latter being a stage both Newby and Fagg later admitted to be too cautious on and in the process dropping time to those around them on the leaderboard but with a repeat of the morning stages remaining the champions had a plan.
At the end of stage 12, Brandywell, there was an 18.3 second gap to Colley in fifth while Newby and Fagg lay eight. It was then the gloves game off and they went for it on the penultimate stage taking a staggering 16.3 seconds back on Colley and setting third quickest time overall to bring themselves right back into contention. The final stage bought another top six time and with it a leap from seventh to fifth getting ahead of Colley for maximum championship points.
It was certainly a different pair that was witnessed at the finish to that of the events first service.
“What can I say, the event did not start great for us, but we have come through it and this result is the reward for a lot of hard work by the TEG Sport team” commented Rob. “The guys have worked endless hours to get the car ready and I think Arron and I put too much pressure on ourselves early doors to get the result for them. Once we settled into our usual rhythm the times began to come and with it the climb up the leaderboard. Fifth overall in this company is a great result and finally getting the chance to let Arron off the leash over the final two stages and see what he can do has been a positive experience”.
Rob was also quick to praise the sponsors the team have.
“Arron and I can not thank the sponsors enough, John Marshall at Beatsons Building Supplies has come onboard this year and we hope this is further reward to him for that. Pirelli’s tyres have once again given Arron the confidence in all conditions and VP Racing Fuels have powered us throughout. Personally I can not thank Rob and Ali Graham of Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors enough; their support has been vital to me in the past and continues to be so”.
The team are supported in 2013 by Beatsons Building Supplies, Pirelli, VP Racing Fuels, TEG Sport (www.tegsport.co.uk), Speedline Corse, Cobra Seats, Schroth Racing, PIAA, Ravenol, Border Embroideries and Nicky Grist Motorsport.
Rob is supported in 2013 by Robert Graham & Co Quantity Surveyors, A-dore Furniture (www.a-dore.us), Nicky Grist Motorsport (www.nickygrist.com) and Fastime Stopwatches (www.astopwatch.com).
Photo - Arron and Rob flying to fifth over Abbeylands crossroads. Photo Courtesy of Mark Corlett (https://www.facebook.com/Markspics)
