James Wozencroft recovered from a brace of punctures, caused after hitting an obstacle placed in the road, to take a top ten result on the Pirelli International Rally last weekend, the opening round in the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.
Wozie, who was making his debut with the Revolution Wheels Rally Team, finished just ahead of his team-mate Rob Swann, who was hampered by intermittent electrical problems all rally long.
Wozencroft belied his lack of experience in a four-wheel drive, this being only his second ever competitive outing, and posted a string of quick times on Friday night's stages.
After a cautious opening stage in the dusk, the 2006 British Super 1600 champion put the hammer down to blast through the 5 miles of Arthurs Seat a remarkable eighth fastest. Further top ten times saw the British Rally Academy man end day one tenth overall.
Day two featured a further ten stages through the infamous Kielder Forest and Wozencroft and co-driver Chris Ridge were consistently harassing those around them.
Having found a rapid but comfortable pace the pair returned to second service now in ninth spot and looked all set for a career best finish on this very difficult rally.
However things went wrong on Stage 11 when James encountered a large boulder that had been placed in the road. Unable to avoid the offending item he took the full impact on the left side of the car, puncturing both tyres. Thankfully the superior strength of his Revolution wheels meant he was able to limp out of the stage with minimal time loss. The frustrated young driver though was now down to eleventh position.
After the car was re-fettled in the final service Wozie headed back out to the forests for the final loop of three stages.
A series of blistering stage times ensured that he moved ahead of team-mate Swann to end the opening round in tenth position overall, in a car that is two years older than those around him.
