For
immediate release: 06 April 2010
Kinallen's
Stuart Biggerstaff secures
first in class and eighth overall on closed road rally debut!
Kinallen's Stuart Biggerstaff won his class and finished in
an impressive eighth overall at last weekend's UTV Drive Circuit
of Ireland National Rally, round three of the Hankook MSA Northern
Ireland Stage Rally Championship.
The event marked the 21-year-old driver's maiden closed road
stage rally, and he climbed an extremely steep learning curve
to secure a top eight finish on what was a gruelling two-day
event.
Biggerstaff overcame a number of obstacles during the 17-stage
rally, but even before the Easter weekend spectacular was underway,
young Stuart had already faced a number of issues.
"Francis Regan was going to navigate for me but unfortunately,
about one week before the rally, he broke his wrist," Biggerstaff
explained. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make the start
ramp but thankfully Anthony Nestor jumped into the navigator's
seat."
Biggerstaff entered the event with no intentions of any heroic
charges. He took a mature approach, realising that it was essential
to build his experience and arrive at the finish.
But even at a cautious pace, the tricky stages caught out a
number of crews, including Stuart. He clipped a concrete pole
during leg one, thankfully only causing some cosmetic damage.
Biggerstaff lost more precious seconds when his wipers stopped
working but he took it all in his stride. The Hankook-shod Subaru
stayed glued to the road, and after holding an early 28th overall,
he had worked his way into an impressive 11th overall by the
end of leg one.
"I learned so much during the first day," Biggerstaff
explained. "I had watched a lot of in-car videos before
the event to try to get tuned in to listening to pace notes.
That definitely helped but it's a completely different experience
when driving a rally car at the same time!"
With more experience under his belt, Stuart and the team decided
to increase their pace on leg two. Top three stage times soon
followed, and on stage 14, Biggerstaff was second only to rally
leader, Kenny McKinstry.
The team were up to ninth overall, and a final push through
the last stage may have seen an even higher placing. Unfortunately,
the stage was cancelled when McKinstry's car caught fire, bringing
a premature end to the event, but Biggerstaff had done enough
to secure eighth overall and first in class!
"I'm absolutely delighted," Biggerstaff said afterwards.
"It's fantastic to get to the finish, and even better to
get there in eighth overall, and win our class at the same time."
"Thanks must go to everyone who made it possible,"
Stuart continued, "especially my sponsors, and in particular
Hankook, who kept us on the road all weekend. Thanks also to
Anthony (Nestor) who kept me on the straight and narrow, as
well as all of the guys who helped in service. It was a great
weekend - one that I'll never forget!"
Stuart is now preparing for round four of the Hankook series,
the Tour of the Sperrins Rally. The Maghera based event takes
place on Saturday 08 May, where Stuart will once again face
the challenges of a closed road rally!
ENDS.
Photograph: Attached photograph Stuart Biggerstaff at
the finish of the 2010 UTV Drive Circuit of Ireland National
Rally. Image may be used free of charge for editorial use.
Regards,
Jonathan MacDonald
MediaJAM Communications
