Stobart VK driver Roman Kresta endured one of his shortest ever rallies on the Rally Isle of Man at weekend, the third round in the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, when he went off on the opening test.

The former full-time WRC and current BP Ford M-Sport test driver performed an unscheduled high-speed roll cage integrity test just a mile into the first stage of the event on Thursday evening.

Although Kresta and co-driver Petr Goss were unhurt the same could not be said of their Super 1600 Ford Fiesta ST, which was heavily damaged in the incident: "There was a jump and we had a big compression on the landing," he explained, "the rear slid about and then bang - it went so quickly and it was a big accident. I have a sore neck and sore ribs and that was the end of the rally for us."


Picture courtesy of Geoff Mayes Images - www.geoffmayesimages.com