Last weekend saw the third round of the Peugeot 206 Super Cup and ANCRO Championships take place on the notorious tarmac roads of the Isle of Mann.

North Devon crew Jon Tucker and Scott Cleverdon travelled to the island on the previous Monday, where they spent 3 days making pace notes in preparation for the event which started on Friday evening in the South Western town of Port Erin.

Spectators lined the streets in the town as the cars, including the 17 Super Cup crews, left the town centre and headed out into the narrow, winding lanes of the island.

"One of the main things we noticed on the recce was that the weather was very unpredictable on the island and that made tyre choice for the Friday night stages very tricky" said Jon

Having made their tyre choice they set off into the stage they emerged in a respectable 8th place. Satisfied with the choice they had made and with the first stage under their belts they continued into stage 2.

"The stage was going very well, and we were pushing quite hard, and had a huge moment about a mile in, coming out of a slippy right hand corner when the car lost grip and slid sideways down the stage. Jon controlled the slide and we continued on."

After only a few more miles into the stage Jon and Scott came across another 206 on its side and blocking the road after a big accident which took down two trees. After ensuring the crew were okay the stage was stopped. We up righted the car so cars could get passed non-competitively. This caused havoc with the times and they were given a 'notional' time, unfortunately this was about 30 seconds slower than they would have achieved.  This left the team down in 10th place overnight.

The rally started again in daylight on Saturday morning where the crews were met by rain and thick fog on most of the stages. This made the driving very difficult, and it was more important than ever for the driver to rely 100% on what his co-driver was saying.

Jon and Scott put in some very respectable stage times throughout the day and gained back some of the time they had lost the night before.

Another stage had to be cancelled on Saturday, just 3 seconds before Jon and Scott were about to start the stage!  This was due to another accident in the treacherous conditions.

"We were suffering with brake problems on Saturday afternoon, which meant we couldn't drive as hard as we wanted to.  This stopped us from continuing to make back more of the time lost and climbing to the top of the leader board."

Despite all the dramas the team finished 4th Peugeot from the 17 entered, which was better than we could have hoped seen as this wasn't just Jon and Scott's first time on the island, but Jon's first time in the 206 on tarmac!  This has given the team a good amount of points in the Championship and some prize money to help pay for the next event.

The result gives the team an excellent chance of success on the other tarmac round of the Peugeot Cup later in the year.  The next event though is back on Jon's preferred surface in the Welsh forests, based in Builth Wells on the 5th of June.

Many thanks go to Clive White Motorsport and Truscott's of Barnstaple for their support.