MOTOR SPORT

Round nine of the FIA World Rally Championship has seen an event of mixed fortunes for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team this weekend.

Topping the Neste Oil Rally Finland time-sheets for the team was Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud who finished in a solid fifth position overall.

Cumbria’s Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin cruised into the finish ramp as the next best placed Stobart crew just one spot adrift of a point scoring position in ninth.

Unfortunately for team-mates Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini their rally ended in a high speed accident after rolling at 14.3 kilometres into stage 16 - Kakeristo 1 - after slightly misjudging the pace of the road.

The same section where the Italians rolled also claimed two other crews including fellow WRC competitor P G Andersson.

With their Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 heavily damaged during the incident the pair were unable to restart the event and therefore retired from Rally Finland. Both Galli and Bernacchini were uninjured during the high-speed accident.

Solberg’s great effort was not without troubles however when he experienced problems with the setup of his rear suspension due to heavy landings on both passes of the Surkee stage on Friday.

The Norwegian also picked up a 10 second penalty on Saturday after a mechanically-induced jump-start on the 20.09 kilometre Kakaristo 1 test.

Without much practice in his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 over the summer break, 21-year-old Wilson (pictured above) struggled early on to find the right confidence on this ultra-fast event.

As the event rolled on so did the confidence as the youngster began setting some firm stage times and making full use of his soft compound Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres on these high speed tests.

This build in confidence was prevalent when he posted an amazing fourth fastest time on the 10.92 kilometre Hannula stage - three seconds quicker than rally leader Sébastien Loeb.

This spectacular event again did not disappoint as crews blasted over 340.42 kilometres of competitive stage distance to the delight of the tens of thousands who flock to the Jyväskylä-based event for one of the all-time greats in the WRC.

In contrast to yesterday, which saw a mammoth 168.25 kilometre long day over 10 special stages, today’s final leg was fairly mild at just 40.47 kilometres covering three tests.

Today also blessed crews with clear blue skies and warmer temperatures after an unfamiliar down-pour on Friday morning; throwing a spanner in the works for crews running down the order who generally benefit in the dryer conditions.

The next event for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team takes the squad to Germany for ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

For this round the team will be rejoined by Belgian François Duval who will join Galli as the second nominated point scoring driver. 

*To see a video clip of Matthew Wilson in action earlier in the rally season just take a look at our video section.

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