There were last minute dramas for Dave Weston Junior on Rally of Great Britain after he set notable stage times, only to be robbed of an event finish going into the final stage.

Despite not finishing, Weston Junior, who was competing in the Production World Rally Championship section of the field for the LMT/Vergina Inforally Team, is looking at the positive side of the experience.

“We all know how rallying works, and you've got to look on the positive side of every event,” he reflected. “We set good times when we had clear runs, we worked well together, and the experience I gained on this year's BRC and by going out to Rally Spain all really came together to help me prepare for and perform on the event.

“My recce was better, my notes were better, and I feel I really stepped things up a notch for my Rally of Great Britain effort this year.

“This may be the first Rally of Great Britain I have not finished, but in ways it has been my best, because myself and the team I regularly work with could see that all of my experience has come together and really developed me for world class events, which I aim to do a lot more of in the future.”

When they retired, the Subaru Impreza Sti N14 crew were already running under SupeRally rules after suffering an off early on the Saturday stages, but were in good spirits having set good stage times against the PWRC field, and were looking good for a finish.

“My co-driver Ieuan [Thomas] and myself were gutted to go out so close to the end of the event,” Junior added. “We could feel that we had some damage after landing heavily over a jump in the penultimate Port Talbot stage, and sadly it turned out to be a bent rear suspension arm.

“The car was crabbing, but we managed to get through that stage, then the front suspension arm came off and, without having access to a service before the final stage there was nothing we could do, our event was over.”

Were it not for the mechanical failure, Weston Junior would have successfully completed his third Rally of Great Britain in a row - and not many 19-year-old privateers can boast that.