by Geoff Mayes
David Meredith proved that he has gotten to grips with his Mitsubishi Evo 9 after setting some really strong times on the Pirelli International Rally last weekend, but punctures ultimately hampered his chances of a really good result.
A year on from his debut in this car, the Dolgellau farmer returned to Carlisle confident of a good run and an opening stage time equal to Wyn Humphries, who led the British Championship at the mid-way point last year, showed he was not dawdling.
The next two stages were equally as quick but then a front left puncture on the final night stage delaminated and destroyed the front wing, headlight and sill, as well as costing the team a lot of time.
Had it not been for the strength of his Revolution Wheels the damage could have been far worse.
Overnight repairs using a borrowed front wing saw the Revolution Wheels backed-Evo restored to full health but with a mountain to climb. Starting the day down in eighteenth position Meredith set a string of stage times that were on the fringes of the top 10 overall and gradually climbed back up the order.
By the end of the rally, after over 100 miles of fast and furious action in the infamous Kielder forests, Meredith had clawed his way back up to twelfth position, which considering the list of finishers ahead of him, was not bad at all.
"We finished behind two former British champions, a Super 1600 champion, 3 PWRC competitors and the reigning Mitsubishi Evo Challenge champion so I don't think we've embarrassed ourselves," he noted.
"The stages were really good, a bit rough in places, but I'm happy with our notes. The car went well, but was a bit tail happy at times."
Next up for the Welsh farmer is the RBS Manx International Rally, where lessons learnt from 2007 should hold him in good stead and David will be hoping for a good run.
