'Hughes curses his Corsican luck'

Welsh World Rally Championship driver Simon Hughes put in a tremendous performance on the twisting tarmac roads of Corsica last weekend. The 23 year old from Deganwy was contesting the Rallye De France, second round of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International (FSTi) series, and a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, based on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

With Berwickshire's Claire Mole co-driving, the pair were looking to maintain their strong start to the season. Hughes took a finely judged 2nd place on the recent Rallye Catalunya in Spain, and with more tarmac roads on offer in France, Simon was keen to maintain his good run of recent form.

With twelve long stages making up the Corsican event, Hughes was anxious to get off to a good start in his Ford Fiesta ST150.  The rally route consisted of loops of two stages run twice in a day, and Simon planned to take things steadily on the first runs through, before attacking on the second pass of the stage.

True to his word, the Welshman increased his pace throughout the opening day as he held a solid Top 5 position. Hughes then pushed harder during the second day of the rally as he began to swap times with the leading French and Italian drivers who specialise on tarmac surfaces. Hughes showed great confidence as he pushed the Fiesta into a strong third place by the end of the second leg of the rally. The Fiesta was running well and both Simon and Claire were happy with their pacenotes. Simon was determined to maintain his podium spot on the final day of the rally.

Luck was not to side with Hughes this time however. After setting more excellent stage times, the Fiesta was to suffer a freak mechanical failure with three stages to go. As Hughes accelerated through a fast left hand corner, the Fiestas wheel studs snapped on the front right corner, resulting in the wheel parting company with the car, and Hughes having no control as the Fiesta went off the road and into a ditch. Despite having sore necks, the crew were unhurt but the Fiesta was unable to continue. Under the FIA 'Superally' rules, Hughes received a nominal time penalty for the final two stages of the day, and he would be classified as sixth in the FSTi standings.

Understandably, Simon was disappointed not to be able to see the result through to the end:

'It has been one tough rally. The stages are so unforgiving and it is just corner after corner after corner in places. It is very technical and getting the notes right was crucial to doing well. I felt we had done a really good job on the recce, and it showed in our stage times. We were able to match the pace of the tarmac specialists and that was something I was particularly pleased with. We stuck to our game plan throughout the rally, and we were very confident that we would have been able to take 3rd place.  Fate decided against us, and it wasn't a great feeling to see the wheel and tyre overtake us into a corner! There was nothing I could do as the car just slumped off the road and into a very solid ditch. That was the end for us, and although it is good to get points for sixth, we really had deserved to finish on the podium once more. Unfortunately, these things happen in rallying, so you have to take the rough with the smooth. We're now third in the championship after two rounds, so I'm quite satisfied with that for now.'

Hughes will be back to gravel for his next outing. Simon will tackle the renowned Kielder forest stages of the Pirelli Trophy Rally on May 14th. The Carlisle based rally is the second round of the UK based Fiesta Sporting Trophy (FST), and Hughes will look to go one better than the 2nd spot he grabbed on the opening round, the Malcolm Wilson Rally, back in March.

Follow the Ford Fiesta SportingTrophy online at www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk or for the World Series, visit www.fiestasportingtrophy.com