by Gary Simpson / Songasport
David Wright and Shelley Rogerson won the Group N class and took fifth place overall on the Malcolm Wilson Rally at the weekend.
The Bentham pairing, who were using a GPM-prepared Mitsubishi Evo 9, made a cautious start to the Cumbria-based event taking 20th place on the opening Hobcarton stage.
As Wright, who had not competed since last years Grizedale Stages, got used to the car their pace increased on the following Comb, Wythop and Greystoke stages with the Evo crew arriving at the first service halt of the event in 12th place overall and third in their class.
“We struggled a bit on the opening stage, the conditions were very slippery so we were quite cautious as we didn't want to put the car off,” Rogerson explained.
“The following stages were better, we were on the pace of the leading crews in Group N and happy to get to service in third place in our class.”
The rally then moved on to Grizedale for two stages on the tricky gravel forest tracks and Wright and Rogerson set an excellent third fastest time on both of the them, beating several World Rally Cars in the process and jumping up the leaderboard to sixth overall and first in class.
The final stage of the rally saw the crews return to Greystoke forest and, despite a small spin, Wright and Rogerson maintained their class lead and moved up to fifth place.
“I am delighted with the result, Dave and I got second in class on the event last year so it's brilliant to go one better this time,” Rogerson added. “Dave drove really well, especially in Grizedale where we were only beaten by the two leading World Rally Cars. I'd like to say thanks to my sponsors for their continued support.”
The result leaves Rogerson in second place in the BTRDA Gold Star Co-driver Championship behind Yeovil's Nick Broom.
Rogerson's next planned event is the Jedburgh-based Border Counties rally in April which she hopes to contest with Andrew Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth.
![David Wright and Shelley Rogerson. Malcolm Wilson Rally. March 1 2008. [PIC CREDIT: Songasport]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/412998.jpg)
