Team PURE Digital pairing of Paul Alexander (Kings Langley) and Vicky Johnson (Denbigh) showed their mettle on Roush Manx National Rally, battling against the odds even to take the start of the event in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII.

After replacement brake components arrived on the island in a damaged condition, and with less than four hours to the start of the event, the team turned to a local marine engineer to fabricate one-off parts that saw the car ready to compete with just minutes to spare!

An excellent opening time through the spectator stage at Port Erin saw the team grab a top 12 position before venturing out to the country lanes in treacherous conditions and failing light. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the Mitsubishi’s setup wasn’t ideal for the unique Manx tests, with Paul struggling just to keep the car on the road, even on the straights! With no opportunity to service the car until the end of the leg, a cautious approach was adopted to get through the remaining stages and allow the SRM Racing engineers to make changes before the following day’s action.

“It might look exciting on the TV cameras” commented Paul back in the service area, “but its adding years to me with every each mile that passes. The car is extremely nervous over the bumps, and when I back off, the diffs unlock and make things even trickier! We’re pleased to have got though these 5 stages and already be close to our target of the top 20, but hopefully we’ll be able to push much harder tomorrow.”

After arriving at a more suitable setup during Saturday’s morning stages, and subsequently moving into a battle for a top 15 place, a transmission failure sadly forced the PURE Digital and Polypipe Civils supported crew into retirement within 30 miles of the finish.

“We’re absolutely devastated to be forced into retirement so close to home, especially after all the effort that went into making the start. We had zero pre-event testing, and it was the first event together for Vicky and I, so to overcome the problems and hold such a position against a very strong field was very pleasing indeed. Now we just need Lady Luck to look down on us so that we can deliver the results that we know we are capable of.

The crew’s exploit on the Roush Manx National Rally can be seen on Sky Sports later this month, with their next outing being the Mutiny Rally held in mid Wales on June 5th. For latest team news, images, event results, competitions, and further information about our partners, please visit www.alexrally.com.

Team PURE Digital is supported by the following leading companies: PURE Digital, Polypipe Civils Ltd., Yokohama HPT, Co-OrdSport, SRM-Racing, Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International, Birch Print Productions, Midland Turbo, Aquamist, Compomotive, Doughty Precision Engineering, Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM), Plastics-4-Performance, Pagid Racing, CamSport, Shell Racing Fuels, PIAA and Allsports Logistics.