Teenage rally driver Tom Cave endured a difficult opening day on this year's Rally of Great Britain, the final round of the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship. He rolled his Group N Ford Fiesta on the event's third stage and although he and co-driver Craig Parry managed to get back on the road, the time spent stuck in a ditch relegated them to last place overall.
The event had begun well for Tom. Heavy and persistent overnight rain on the stages meant that conditions were tricky but he put in top three class stage times as he felt his way into the event. However, three kilometres into the day's third timed test, the 32Km Myherin stage, his car ran wide on a fast left hand bend over a crest and dropped a wheel into the ditch on the outside.
This dragged the car further into the ditch and it rolled twice, before coming to rest on its wheels. Tom and Craig immediately assessed the situation and realised that mechanically, the car appeared undamaged but they were unable to get back onto the road straight away.
It wasn't until one of the Armed Forces Rally Team Land Rovers stopped to pull Tom from the ditch that he was able to continue to the remote service area at Builth Wells, where the Davies Motorsport technicians could asses the damage.
En route, Tom confirmed that nothing mechanical seemed untoward, as the car drove as it did before the roll. The DMS technicians confirmed that the damage was primarily superficial, although Tom would have to contest the afternoon's repeat loop of three stages with a broken windscreen and no door window.
Commenting at the mid-day service, he said; "We went into the left hand corner over a crest a little too quick and ran wide. The car got dragged into the ditch and we went over twice and got stuck. One of the Land Rover guys eventually pulled us out and I'm extremely grateful for their help, once again.
"I'm really frustrated, as I wasn't even trying and we went off! Before the start, I said Myherin was the stage I was looking forward to but now... Strangely, it hasn't knocked my confidence - if anything, I'm even more determined to get back to Cardiff so the guys can get the car straight for tomorrow. I initially thought I'd damaged the radiator but the engine, transmission and suspension all seem fine - it looks worse than it actually is, thankfully."
Tom was forced to take things easy on the second run through as, with no window in his door and a cracked windscreen, visibility and his concentration would be seriously affected. However, he still posted third-fastest class stage times on the three remaining tests. But with the time lost in the morning, he finishes the first leg of the event in 61st and last place, 25 minutes behind the class leader.
Speaking at the end of day service, Tom said; "Today could best be described as character building. We've obviously dropped a long way back but there are still two days to go and we're going to have a push tomorrow, to see if we can make some time back.
"It's really unfortunate for this to happen this weekend, on Rally GB, my home event. But if we get through the next couple of days and get more experience, then it's the best we can hope for."
Today's second day of the event sees the action take place closer to Cardiff, again with two loops of three stages separated by a lunchtime service in the Cardiff Bay service park.
