Robert Swann round two summar

Puncture grounds Swann on Jim Clark

Bishop Stortford Businessman Robert Swann had one of the strongest runs ever on last weekends Jim Clark Memorial Rally, and was on course for a top 5 result in his Revolution Wheels backed Subaru when a puncture mid stage cost him time, dropping him to sixth at the finish.

After a Kielder ditch ended his recent Pirelli International Rally Rob, co-driven by Welshman Darren Garrod, was keen to get some points on the board and pushed hard right from the start. Too hard, perhaps, as the pair endured a spin on the very first stage, much to the delight of the gathered spectators.

He then rectified that with a string of top 8 times throughout the morning loop on Saturday. The afternoon brought with it changeable conditions, with everything from bright sunshine to hail offering a challenge to the drivers, and Rob revelled in the tricky conditions, with a run of top 6 times throughout Saturday afternoon.

By the end of the day the Revolution Wheels backed, Geoff Jones Motorsport run Subaru Impreza was lying fifth amongst the British Championship runners.

Sunday morning saw the opening stage cancelled. Next up was the first run through the infamous 'Swinton' stage, which included a rough gravel section mid way through. Running on hot tarmac tyres Rob was amongst the unlucky ones, picking up a puncture on this gravel and with a large portion of the stage still to run, he was left with no option but to stop and change the tyre, dropping him over 3 minutes!

A strong fight back over the remaining 4 stages resulted in the Subaru moving up to within 1 second of Darren Gass by the end of play, leaving Rob and Darren relieved to have been on the pace and reached the finish, but ruining the puncture.

The car ran really well all weekend. The conditions were very tricky but considering this was my first tarmac rally for almost a year I'm very pleased with our pace. The puncture was annoying but just one of those things.

The Revolution Wheels backed pair now have a 6 week break before the treacherous Isle of Man International Rally.

-credit: geoff mayes