HIGHWORTH’S former British ladies rally champion Shelly Taunt secured a creditable 13th-placed finish overall and third in class in the recent South of England Tempest Rally.

Taunt and co-driver Julie Murphy started the Aldershot gravel event cautiously as the treacherous conditions had caused havoc with many crews and forced many to retire on slippery and tricky surfaces.

The recent weather had made conditions so bad that the stages had become extremely rutted and caused huge pot holes on some of the normally fast sections.

The Subaru Impreza driven by Taunt managed to come away with no damages or broken parts but still the car took some major knocks which caused the Highworth duo to drive with caution throughout the day.

Taunt said: “Normally this is a fantastic event and the stages are surprisingly smooth and fast for this time of year, and even just weeks before the event the stages were in superb condition.

“It’s such a shame. The organisers put so much effort and time into the running of these rallies for us competitors but unfortunately no one can predict what the weather is going to do and what damage it can cause to the gravel stages in such a short time.

“But that's rallying and rallying is all about being unpredictable.”

Taunt and Murphy have one more event remaining this year, the Premier Rally in Sherwood Forest at the end of November.