HEREFORDSHIRE Motor Club's Darren and Sue Underwood took to the Isle of Man in the second round of the REIS MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship.

Dreadful weather conditions met all crews on the Friday evening, but it brightened up the following day for the 35th running of the Manx National Rally.

The husband and wife team used their previous experience over the tricky surfaces, assessing the grip levels and keeping on the road in their Ford Escort Rally G3.

“We invested in a set of Michelin wet-weather tyres, which worked amazingly well on the water logged roads," said Darren.

"The confidence to be able to push on and know you can still steer and brake is huge."

The Crystal Images Awards supported Escort did suffer a broken rear suspension link bar on stage six, which hampered the Underwoods' progress, as did a misting windscreen, which thankfully was more on the navigator's side.

The demanding 110-competitive mile stage event over the infamous bumpy asphalt roads proved a challenge on the eleventh stage when the pair had a half-spin on one hairpin, clipping the kerb and damaging the wheel rim.

"Thankfully the tyre didn't deflate, but we changed it as a precaution on the next road section," said Sue.

The Leominster paring eventually finished in 22nd place in the main national event and fifth in class.

Regarding the championship, they were credited with third placed, due to two crews ahead of them not registering.

Therefore, they travel to Trim near Dublin in July holding third place in class B11, while Darren is 21st overall and Sue seventh.

Also competing on the Manx National Rally were Tim Phelps and Elwyn Manual in their Ford Escort Mk11.

The pairing finished 36th overall and 11th in class.