County Durham rally driver Chris Anderson was yet again denied a good result when a gearbox failure robbed him of a promising finish at today's E.W. Motor Services Lindisfarne Rally on the Otterburn Military Ranges in Northumberland.
The 18-year-old maintenance engineer from Butterknowle near Bishop Auckland had hoped his run of bad luck would be finally over and he was keen to get some more multi-venue experience under his belt and once again paired with fellow Durham Auto Club member Chris Thirling on the notes, the pair got off to a great start, quickly improving on their starting position and moving up the leaderboard.
After stage three, the pair had moved inside the top forty with Chris commenting: "The first loop of stages was really good, the roads up here are really fast but I have enjoyed the experience and was really pleased with our progress."
However, at the start of stage five, disaster struck when they suffered transmission failure on their MSR Motorsport-prepared and Wilkinson Maintenance Ltd, John Cullerton & Sons and Bell's Truck Sales-sponsored Ford Puma S1600, forcing the team into retirement.
Reflecting on his disappointment Chris added: "I think it's time to take a step back and reassess our options before we decide on which event we will tackle next. We have to have a reliable car to get finishes and at the moment the Puma isn't proving to be reliable, so we need to have a long hard think about what we do next." Chris also joked: "I am determined to finish an event on Otterburn."
Picture attached (courtesy of Ian Hardy www.ianhardy.net): Chris Anderson in action in the ex Guy Wilks Ford Puma S1600.
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