On the very first stage of the rally, after reporting a soft brake pedal, Wallis and Burgess overshot a T junction and went through a fence into a field full of cows. The service crew patched up the bent suspension somewhat but there were still some handling problems.

The first stage of the second day saw the handling of the car deteriorate as the wishbone bent further. This caused a brief but dramatic excursion into a ditch which snapped the wishbone entirely. The oil filter was destroyed in the impact, and with oil spraying over the engine bay, the dashboard illuminated with warning lights and the rally was over for Team Wallis Astra.

This was their first retirement in three seasons of the British Rally Championship - still an enviable record, although no longer unblemished.

The team, from left to right: Will, Simon, Gill, Neil, Jo, Ian, Jim

Highlight of the first day of the Manx was overtaking an Impreza in the fog on stage 5.

The second day saw time loss with minor problems including gearbox mounts, engine overheating due to fan not working, sticking brake caliper, and trip meter failure.

On the third and final day, Neil and Simon maintained their 2nd in class position throughout, but by a slim margin. On the final 13 mile stage, they knew they could afford to drop only 3 seconds to the Dutch Clio team. Disaster! less than a mile from the end of the stage, a driveshaft broke, just as it did on the last stage of last year's Manx. They had done enough on the earlier part of the stage, and extended their slender lead by another second, to finish 2nd in class N3 and 29th overall.

Rally Barbados, 29-30 May 2004

Wallis and McColl were fourth in class P3 after stage one and realised they had some work to do. Upping the pace, they held a solid 3rd in class when they inherited 2nd from Freddy Gale. Gale's Toyota Starlet Turbo holed a radiator and retired at lunch.
Darkness fell - rapidly - and Wallis's new spotlights caused enough problems for him to lose a minute in only four stages and slip back to 3rd in class at the overnight halt.
At the start of the second and final day of the event, Wallis was 28 seconds behind Lindsey Farmer for 2nd in class. Within 3 stages he had made this time up, and another 4 stages gave him a comfortable 30 second cushion.
Then on the 3rd run of the Stewarts Hill stage, disaster struck Wallis at the end of a 100 mph 5th gear straight when a driveshaft snapped. After losing over a minute driving out of the stage, Wallis replaced the broken driveshaft and (as a precaution) the opposite driveshaft. But the rally came to a premature end due to stage cancellations, and Wallis finished 3rd in class for the 2nd year running, 43 seconds behind Farmer.

TotalSport International Rallysprint, Barbados, 22-23 May 2004

Team Wallis Astra has withdrawn from the Rally of Wales because of a wedding.

This invitation-only event is open to registered British Rally Championship teams. A short special stage, which is a mixture of broken concrete and gravel with open corners, will allow teams to offer rides to team sponsors and guests whilst at the same time putting on a show for the crowds. Greenlight Television will also be there to gather footage for the PBRC preview programme, to be broadcast on Channel Four on Saturday 24th April 2004, at 7:30 am.

Photos courtesy of Rob Wiltshire.