Rockingham’s Head of Operations, Cat Lund, normally organises race and rally events at the Northamptonshire circuit, but this weekend she was competing in one herself.

Together with Hull rally driver Andy Rowe, she took part in the Turbo Centre Twyford Stages rally yesterday (Sunday April 18) and the pair took a comprehensive victory on the single venue stage rally at Twyford Wood, near Grantham, winning every stage of the day and finishing 1m 57s ahead of the nearest competitor.

Rallying in glorious weather on the former World War II airfield, they had to deal with extremely fast stages set out on the former runways and perimeter roads through the Forestry Commission trees.

Despite losing all the power steering fluid when a bolt worked loose on special stage four and then suffering a puncture from a hard landing after a jump on special stage seven, the crew put in some superb committed driving over the course of the day.

Northampton based Lund said: “We had a great day’s rallying and it was thanks to some hard work and amazing driving from Andy that we achieved such an excellent result. Days like this don’t come along very often!”

Driver Rowe added: “Luck was on our side today, as the problems we had were all toward the end of the stages and we were able to get to the finish and put them right in service.”

The result is all the more impressive as the crew drive a 15-year-old Mitsubishi Evolution III with a standard engine and gearbox and Andy does all the preparation work himself.

The crew are hoping to be out again on Sunday May 30 competing in the ORC Canal Rally in Belgium, which is part of the new Flanders International Rally Challenge series.