RALLYING: Ulster pain for duo (From Swindon Advertiser)

RALLYING: Ulster pain for duo

6:00am Wednesday 19th September 2012 in Sport

HIGHWORTH rally duo Shelly Taunt and Julie Murphy were left disappointed after skidding out of the all-tarmac Todds Leap Ulster Rally in Northern Ireland.

Matters went wrong on the longest stage of the second leg when Taunt stepped on the brake heading into a tight right turn, and the Subaru Impreza locked up on loose stones and shingles.

She was unable to correct in time for the corner and the Impreza ran off the road and missed a deep ditch by inches.

Taunt attempted to reverse, but a large rock had jammed itself underneath the front wheel and despite the best efforts of spectators and marshals, the car was stuck.

Eventually, that forced the pair to retire as they went over the allowed time limit. They were eventually towed back onto the tarmac and drove back to the main service area.

“We are gutted, we were having a fairly good run up till then, the rally was running smoothly and the car felt great on the fast tarmac roads,” said Taunt.

“We only had a mile left of the stage to complete, we were so close to the finish.”

Co-driver Murphy added: “We are so disappointed, even more so once the recovery crew had towed us back onto the road and we were able to drive the car normally.

“It's so unfortunate, if there were more people at that section of the stage they would have been able to push us back onto the road.

“But the car was stuck and the rock was just too big to lift the car over.”

No major damage was done to the Impreza and Taunt and Murphy’s next outing will be on the gravel when at the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire on Saturday, September 29.

The Highworth pair are backed by OCM Capital Markets, Swindon Karting F1, Guest & Fiore Bricklayers, Combined Scaffolding ltd, ASF Sign Factory and Jim Griffiths Car Body Repairs.

For further information on the team, visit www.shellytauntrallying.com.