Multiple British National Rally Champion Marcus Dodd leaves the gravel roads behind on May 11/12 as he tackles the RBS International Manx Rally. The super fast tarmac of the Isle of Man will play host to the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship regulars for its yearly sojourn onto a sealed surface.
There will be no time to admire the scenery for the Poole based driver. Backed by Flitewise.com, Sunseeker Powerboats, Pirelli Tyres and Sunoco Fuels, Marcus will be keen to grab as many championship points as possible on the two day event based in Douglas. Together with Hove’s Andrew Bargery, Marcus will be looking to press his championship rivals hard on the surface he favours least.
The HPM Motorsport run Hyundai Accent WRC4 is back to rude health after retiring from the recent Border Counties Rally when leading. Marcus was to suffer a gentle roll into one of the infamous Kielder forest ditches. Despite virtually no damage to the car, it was impossible to regain the road leaving Marcus frustrated at not scoring points after a dominant win on the season opening Rallye Sunseeker.
To warm up for the fast and often bumpy tarmac of the Isle of Man, Marcus and Andrew have travelled to Wales on May 5th for the Welsh Rally. Based in Brecon, the event uses the extremely fast tarmac of the Epynt Military Ranges. For Marcus it will be good practice to reacquaint himself with the different driving style required for asphalt.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the car goes on Epynt” said Marcus en route to recce the South Wales venue. “Border Counties was a real disappointment for everyone but that’s gone now. The Isle of Man is a very tough place on the car and in particular the brakes so it will be good to go and get a feel for the car at Epynt. The speeds are very high up there and you get a bit of everything thrown in with the variety of roads on offer. We really need to get some good points on the Manx as that will put us in a very good position going into two consecutive events in Wales. The forest roads there are ideally suited to my driving style so I’m confident that we’ll be able to score heavily. The Manx is always an exciting event for everyone involved so hopefully a good clean run will see us ideally placed to pick up a large haul of points.”
Dodd’s main advantage over the weekend will be the home grown knowledge of Manx born Andrew Bargery. The former works Peugeot and Mitsubishi WRC co-driver has an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the island roads and will certainly be a huge help to Marcus as he battles with series rivals Steve Perez, Paul Bird and Roger Duckworth on the Friday and Saturday.
