Making his first visit to the Isle of Man in his Vehiclesource.com Peugeot 106, Gareth Nutt was boosted with second place in the Isle of Man Stars Rally. The result keeping any Stars of the Future championship aspirations alive for the young Pontypool driver.

The Welshman, with Newport man Stuart Powell co-driving alongside, initial plans were to start the fourth qualifying round of the championship with a finish in mind and drove accordingly throughout the weekend, despite a mechanical problem which left the pair with reduced power for the rallies duration.  

The pair found conditions tricky at times on the all tarmac event but were encouraged by the performance of the Hankook tyres to maintain a pace comfortable to keep in touch with rally leader, Robert Barrett. Just 27.9 seconds separated the pair with just one stage remaining. Nutt and Powell pushed hard through the stage and used all the power available to claw back over half the time lost to cross the finish line just eleven seconds off the leader, with third place man David Meredith over three minutes further adrift.

"I really enjoyed this event, conditions were difficult on Friday with rain and mist. The Saturday stages were better in the dry although certain parts were very bumpy. The Hankook tyres have again worked extremely well in such challenging conditions. It is good to get a good result after two non finishes in the series and hope to continue for the remainder of the season. To visit the Island for the first time and have a virtually trouble free run has been fantastic. The bumpy sections did cause a little drama with the front windows falling out of their runners after one heavy landing"

Nutt and Powell now head to Yorkshire and return to gravel for the Trackrod Stars Rally on Saturday 7th October.