Keris Back in the lead

Keris Motorsport team member David Perrelet and Stefan Arndt where once again in action this week end in Steyr Puch Manx Rally, the 3rd round of the National Ancro Championship. The event which is held on the closed roads of the island, included for the first time 3 night stages on Friday.

David had not driven the car which was completely rebuilt by the team after last season's crash on the Bulldog Rally in Wales. Many improvements had been made with the help of Alton based 205 specialist Pug Performance who have been sponsoring the duo for the last 2 years, the team were unable to carry out testing prior to the event which meant that a few teething problems and a learning of the improved handling characteristics prevented David and Stefan from exploiting the full potential of the 205.

Teething problems on the night stages, resulting in the service crew working on the car until the early hours of the morning replacing the clutch which started slipping badly early on in stage 1 seriously affecting the performance of the car. The problem continued to get worse on stage 2 and cancellation of stage 3 was a saving grace allowing the car to be nursed to the finish of the first day.

The second day went very much according to plan, bar a faulty starter motor and gear box problems including the loss of reverse and 2nd gear which resulted in an over-cautious drive from stage 6 onwards.

Perrelet stated:

"The car is totally different beast from last year, and it does take some getting used to, but we are learning and are delighted with the result, bearing in mind that it was only MOTed at the beginning of the week!".

They finished a brilliant 57th overall and a result good enough in class to ensure a commanding lead in the class's championship.