Despite a time consuming roll on the opening round Stuart Jones has shown maturity far exceeding his age and a top five finish on the Jim Clark Rally has elevated him to third in the standings. Jones has also had a confidence boost in that his times are on par with his far more experienced team-mate Gwyndaf Evans who, despite retiring from the
Jim Clark, has been constantly quick and should go well on the technical and twitchy roads around the island.
Someone else who is impressing is young Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach. With former British co-driving champion David Senior sitting alongside him Rautenbach has embarked on a busy period, contesting rounds of the African Rally Championship, the Junior World Rally Championship and the British Rally Championship. Despite having never driven a four-wheel drive on tarmac before, he set a string of quick times on his way to finishing second in the production class on the Manx National earlier in the year. Rautenbach's consistent approach to the past two events has elevated one of the most inexperienced drivers in the championship to fourth in the standings.
Competing against the four-wheel drive Subaru's and Mitsubishis are the Super 1600 machines. With Junior World Rally Championship contender Guy Wilks in a Suzuki once again, he is worthy of watching. Wilks briefly led the British contingent outright on the Jim Clark Rally and should go well on the Isle of Man, providing the weather remains dry. Roman Kresta, the official Ford World Rally team test driver, will be hoping that there are no water splashes on this event after the infamous Whiteadder ford cost the Ford Fiesta S1600 driver over 3 minutes and dashed his hopes of a good result. Their respective team-mates, James Wozencroft and Barry Clark have both shown turns of speed but have both been blighted by problems, whilst Darren Gass, the youngest competitor in the championship at just 17 years of age, will just be looking to gain more experience.
