Newby Sixth at Jack Frost

Following a successive hat-trick of outright victories on his first three rallies in the TEG Sport -prepared Subaru Impreza last year, Carnforth teenager Arron Newby continued his great form with another superb drive to clinch a class win and sixth place overall on today’s Autogas 2000 Jack Frost Stages Rally held at Croft Circuit.

The 18-year-old was competing on snow and hard-packed ice for the first time at the Yorkshire race circuit and co-driven by Gary Tomlinson, Newby very wisely took it relatively steady on the first couple of stages before upping the pace as a slight thaw set in.

Ninth after the opening loop of stages, Arron held his position until the halfway service halt but as track conditions improved, he upped the pace significantly straight afterwards to move up to eighth but as the light started to fade, the Pirelli-sponsored driver really started to motor.

Fastest on SS6 was followed by second fastest on the penultimate six-mile stage before setting fastest time on the very last stage to elevate himself up to an impressive sixth overall at the finish which is remarkable considering it was his first experience in such conditions.

Arron Newby: “The first couple of stages were eye openers for sure as I’d never experienced anything like that before and seeing as though I was under orders not to damage the car unnecessarily, I just played myself in. But as soon as it started to thaw, I really felt confident and on the last few stages, we upped the pace and got a good result. It’s been a great experience and all part of the learning curve so once again thanks to Pirelli and the TEG Sport team for doing another great job.”

Stuart Newby, TEG Sport Team Owner: “We wanted to use the rally as a shakedown for the car as we’ve just finished rebuilding it and to try a new sequential gearbox so the weather could have thrown a spanner in the works. But we also thought it would be a good experience for Arron to drive on ice and snow and he responded with a brilliant drive. He listened to our advice early on but when it started to thaw, we let him off the reins and what a superb result he achieved. If it hadn’t have been so icy early on, I think it could have been a different story!”

Arron is in action again next weekend when he contests the K&R Mitsubishi Stages Rally at Brean Leisure Park near Weston Super Mare.