In his first ever competitive outing in a World Rally Car, York driver Olly Marshall overcame difficult conditions to record a superb eighth place finish overall on the Malton Forest Rally today.

Driving the ProSpeed Motorsport Skoda Octavia WRC along with Oswestry-based co driver Craig Parry, the 23 year old Managing Director only finished preparing the car in the early hours of the morning before a five minute test drive was the limit of his experience in the ex world championship car.  After a steady start in the foggy North Yorkshire forests of Cropton and Gale Rigg and a blast around the Pickering Showground stage, Olly held ninth overall at first service before a concerted effort on the second loop had him inside the top six.  Eventually, Olly had to settle for eighth place after over forty miles of some of the fastest forests in the country, most of which were shrouded in dense fog all day and at the finish, the former British A7 Champion was well pleased with his efforts at the Pickering finish.

"It took some getting used to and I took it really steady on the opening couple of stages but once I got my head round it, I started to really enjoy it.  We had a couple of stalls which cost time early on and a couple of other problems during the day but the more I drove it, the better it got and come the final stages, I was starting to pedal it properly.  The corners come up a lot faster than I'm used to in the S1600 car and my knowledge of these forests isn't great but all in all, it's been a lot of fun" said Olly who was fourth fastest on the final test.

The same car is available for hire for future events and anyone interested should contact Olly on 01977 684795.

Results

1	Steve Petch/John Richardson	Hyundai Accent WRC	40m 23s
2	John Bannister/Kevin Rae	Subaru Impreza	40:47
3	Andrew Robinson/Ian Robinson	Subaru Impreza	41:02
4	Tony Thompson/Jon Dunning	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8	41:14
5	Matt Yeadon/Richard Shores	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3	41:40
6	Andy Elliott/Plug Pulleyn	MG Metro 6R4	42:16
7	Neil Hiorns/Ian Bass	Ford Escort Cosworth	42:54
8	Olly Marshall/Craig Parry	Skoda Octavia WRC	43:09
9	Jimmy Christy/Ian Thorburn	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5	43:12
10	Mike Stephenson/Kevin Bardon	Ford Escort Mk 2	43:45

Issued on behalf of ProSpeed Motorsport by Larry Carter, Cartersport, PO Box 150, NORTHALLERTON DL6 3WZ. 07831 890486 larry@cartersport.com