Crashing out of the Quinton Stages Rally 2006 has fuelled Nathan Crewe's determination to end the season on a high. Having joined the XSpec 1400 championship for round three of the series, Nathan now needs to finish well on all the remaining rounds of the championship to reach a possible podium position, although the title has already been claimed by Neil Weaver.The British Trials and Rally Drivers Association Championship qualifier took place in Mid Wales on Saturday 8th of July with the competitive mileage taking place with two runs over the loose surface forest tracks of Esgair Dafydd, Crychan and Route 60, the latter is the last few miles of the Halfway stage used on the Wales Rally of Great Britain, Britain's round of the World Rally Championship. However for this event, Route 60 was used in the opposite direction for the first time.The Bromsgrove driver and his Birmingham co-driver Chris Brooks, launched into the opening tests in Esgair Dafydd and Crychan keen to make a dramatic start to the rally. Crewe and Brooks felt their start was good. However, the long uphill section from the start of the opening test was reflected in the pair's time in the under powered MG ZR."Both myself and Chris thought that we had been going really well on the stages, we were determined to make a good start and were committed all the way. The times were pretty disappointing, nowhere near where I thought we would be. It was very frustrating because we felt we were driving the best we had all year." The reverse run over Route 60 was next up, Crewe and Brooks continued to push hard through the stage and within sight of the stage finish an uncharacteristic error put the MG off the road.

"At the end of SS3 Route 60 a tightening left on lose gravel caught us out and we were just going too fast to make the corner. We hit the bank on the other side of a ditch damaging the suspension and the impact flipped us over on to the roof."The pair managed to regain the road with the help of some spectators and with service immediately after the stage, both were keen to continue. "I cannot praise the guys in our team enough, they worked really hard to get the car back out. I was also very grateful to all who helped, especially the two guys who provided us with their welding equipment and would like to thank them personally for their help. We made it out of service with no time to spare. We got out onto the road section and could feel the suspension was damaged and just not strong enough. Under braking it was moving and allowing the driveshaft to rub on the sub frame. We decided to call it a day rather than risk having a bigger accident."

The car will now under go some major repairs following the roll in preparation for the next rally, the Woodpecker, which takes place on Saturday 2nd September. The rally will be Ludlow born Chris' home event. Crewe also plans to install a new engine unit to help resolve the horsepower disadvantage experienced so far this season. "Hopefully the new engine will put us on a par with the front runners for the last three rounds of the series and while Neil has won the title, we still have a chance for a top three championship finish and we are both fired up for that."Nathan and Chris are supported in the BTRDA XSpec 1400 championship by Grosvenor Repair Centre, Cottrill Transport, Maximum Attack Promotions, Questmead and Silkolene