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Stuart Biggerstaff secures first in class and eighth overall on closed road rally debut |
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Wednesday, 07 April 2010 |
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 Kinallen's Stuart Biggerstaff won his class and finished in an impressive eighth overall at last weekend's UTV Drive Circuit of Ireland National Rally, round three of the Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship.
The event marked the 21-year-old driver's maiden closed road stage rally, and he climbed an extremely steep learning curve to secure a top eight finish on what was a gruelling two-day event.
Biggerstaff overcame a number of obstacles during the 17-stage rally, but even before the Easter weekend spectacular was underway, young Stuart had already faced a number of issues.
"Francis Regan was going to navigate for me but unfortunately, about one week before the rally, he broke his wrist," Biggerstaff explained. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make the start ramp but thankfully Anthony Nestor jumped into the navigator's seat."
Biggerstaff entered the event with no intentions of any heroic charges. He took a mature approach, realising that it was essential to build his experience and arrive at the finish.
But even at a cautious pace, the tricky stages caught out a number of crews, including Stuart. He clipped a concrete pole during leg one, thankfully only causing some cosmetic damage.
Biggerstaff lost more precious seconds when his wipers stopped working but he took it all in his stride. The Hankook-shod Subaru stayed glued to the road, and after holding an early 28th overall, he had worked his way into an impressive 11th overall by the end of leg one.
"I learned so much during the first day," Biggerstaff explained. "I had watched a lot of in-car videos before the event to try to get tuned in to listening to pace notes. That definitely helped but it's a completely different experience when driving a rally car at the same time!"
With more experience under his belt, Stuart and the team decided to increase their pace on leg two. Top three stage times soon followed, and on stage 14, Biggerstaff was second only to rally leader, Kenny McKinstry.
The team were up to ninth overall, and a final push through the last stage may have seen an even higher placing. Unfortunately, the stage was cancelled when McKinstry's car caught fire, bringing a premature end to the event, but Biggerstaff had done enough to secure eighth overall and first in class!
"I'm absolutely delighted," Biggerstaff said afterwards. "It's fantastic to get to the finish, and even better to get there in eighth overall, and win our class at the same time."
"Thanks must go to everyone who made it possible," Stuart continued, "especially my sponsors, and in particular Hankook, who kept us on the road all weekend. Thanks also to Anthony (Nestor) who kept me on the straight and narrow, as well as all of the guys who helped in service. It was a great weekend - one that I'll never forget!"
Stuart is now preparing for round four of the Hankook series, the Tour of the Sperrins Rally. The Maghera based event takes place on Saturday 08 May, where Stuart will once again face the challenges of a closed road rally!
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