Aspiring Hexham rally driver Carl Robson would secure an impressive finish at a racing event last weekend.

Carl made the long haul to RAF Kinloss at Forres on Saturday, September 23 to compete in the Autosave Components Stages Rally organised by Condor Motor Sports Club.

Eager to continue his recent success in his very competitive Toyota Yaris, Carl made the six-hour journey to take on the challenge of Kinloss with its very long stages and a full and competitive entry list of 70 cars.

Accompanied this time by veteran Hexham co-driver Iain Norton (who was Carls Dad’s co-driver over 25 years ago) this was the pair's first event together and Iain’s first time in the Yaris.

With dry conditions and a good sea breeze, the pace was incredibly fast and the early top entries including several Fiesta R5 and R2s, an Ex- Works VW Polo R5, several Group A Subaru Imprezas, Mitsubishi Evos and an amazing Audi Quattro S1– quickly made it clear it was going to be a very fast day indeed.

Running in under 1400cc Class 1- Carl attacked the unseen stages from the word go finishing SS1 – just over 10 miles in length, with a nine-second class lead and lying in the top 20 runners. SS2 gave the Hexham and District Motor Club crew a further margin placing them 15 seconds ahead in class.

A lengthy break while the stages were changed to provide 11.6 miles each for SS3 and SS4 – very technical with a real mix of flat-out runway sections turning into tight and twisty sections – a real challenge for all of the crews.

Carl took the bull by the horns and drove faultlessly again over these two stages and opened up a class lead of 44 seconds as he finished SS4 with the Yaris brakes suffering from overheating with the long stages and the crew challenging him for class retiring with mechanical failure.

Another long break as the stages were prepared for the final session and set out to be 8.6 miles long each, less technical however the fasted stages most drivers had seen and perfectly dry conditions.

Looking at another class win in the face and an incredible overall result, Carl and Iain were adamant about protecting the car and their lead whilst giving nothing away.

Off the start and into the stages Carl continued his flawless drive and pulled out an even larger class lead by the end of SS5 and incredibly beat this stage time by 10 seconds on SS6 giving a class win of one minute 11 seconds and 22nd overall beating many more competitive and larger engine cars again, the Yaris proving that the extensive improvements and high-quality preparation most certainly paid off again and incredibly beating the stage times of the Audi Quattro S1.

As winter approaches the rally calendar continues with another trip North of the Border looking likely in the next few weeks as Carl seeks some sponsorship.