Owen Murphy Takes The First Win
Cork teenager Owen Murphy once again showed his astonishing pace by winning the first round of The Fiesta Sporting Trophy (UK) Championship on the Malcolm Wilson Rally Saturday. This now means that Owen leads two championships the 2006 McCauley Trailers National Forest Rally Championship in his Yokohama Mitsubishi Evo 5 in Ireland and the Fiesta Sporting Trophy in the UK.

However the rally did not have the best of starts for the young Cork man,
Friday night he was absolutely dying with the flu and even felt unable to
watch the DVD of the stages he decided to go to bed and hopefully wake up better. Something small like the flu was not going to stop Owen from  havinga cut in his new Fiesta ST.

Owen decided to set his own pace and see where he would be after a few stages this proved a wise decision a mere second off the pace on stage one joint fastest on two and three seconds faster then anyone else on stage three Owen was now in the lead.

The stages were the roughest ever seen on the event due mostly to the bad
weather over the last few months. Rain muck and snow did little to slow the Cork man and he kept with the task of getting his Fiesta to the finish
first. On stage four the first of a few minor hold ups as Owen caught a
fellow Fiesta competitor who was slow to pull over and a MK2 Escort this showed the Cork man has pace. These delays cost some time however he was still second quickest on that stage a mere four seconds off the pace.

Stage five brought one bit of a moment when going over a jump the fire
extinguisher went off  after Owen accidentally hit the button however co
driver Paul Williams just kept calling the notes and it really had no effect
on the lads. A new extinguisher bottle was fitted in service enabling the
lads to continue safely. Stage six saw the lads 2 seconds off the pace
however order was restored on the next stage when Owen was nine seconds quicker then anyone else.

Owen took a fastest time again on eight and having led from stage three had the confidence to put in a fastest time on stage nine even though a tyre was deflating as they neared the finish.

Owen said while I was on the stages I felt ok but once we finished the last stage I started to feel sick again this flu is murder. What a day and what a car, the Fiesta ST is a joy to drive and to win first time out is great Paul Williams my navigator was fantastic he does the job so professional he makes it look easy and we get on great , I have to thank West Midlands Motorsport for giving me a great car and the lads who work on the car for being 110% behind me.

Finally I must thank my sponsors Mac Tyres Ireland ,O Flynn Construction ,O Brien Crowley Accountants , Wolfrace Wheels, Permafrost, Brooklyn Ford and Carnet.ie and all who helped this weekend.

At the ramp Malcolm Wilson said that it was his first time meeting Owen but his result augers well for the future while at the prize giving WRC co
driver Robert Reid said the Fiesta in the hands of Owen looked very
impressive having seen him on the stages.

Yes once again Owen has demonstrated  his pace 16th overall in the main rally first 2 wheel drive car home and the winner of the Castrol award for the  most fastest times it was a great day out for Owen Murphy hopefully the start of many in the UK this year.

The Fiesta Sporting Trophy (UK) Championship  Round 1 provisional results

1  65 Owen Murphy / Paul Williams Fiesta ST 0:59:30
2  60 Simon Hughes / Claire Mole Fiesta ST 1:00:08
3  66 Kevin Davies / Emyr Jones Fiesta ST 1:00:29
4  75 Chris Moore / Richard Edwards Fiesta ST 1:02:55
5  79 Fraser Jones / Inbal Edry Fiesta ST 1:03:19
6  76 Alex Evans / Tim Sturla Fiesta ST 1:03:27