RISING rally star Fraser Anderson saw his latest bid for glory end in heartbreak in the forests of north Wales.

The Shandon youngster found himself sitting pretty after the first two stages of the Cambrian Rally on Friday, November 4 and going into day two at the top of the Junior British Rally Championship classification as a result of two stage wins – little more than a minute and a half behind overall pace-setter, and eventual winner, Oliver Solberg.

But as anyone who’s ever been involved in motorsport will know, healthy optimism can turn to despair in the blink of an eye – and such was the case for the luckless Anderson, for whom a “small technical niggle” on the first two stages developed into a full-blown misfire on his Ford Fiesta Rally4 on the Saturday morning – the result of a spark plug failure – that prevented him even reaching the start line for the third stage.

Posting on Facebook afterwards, Anderson said: “From two stage wins to not even making it to the first stage today.

“Unfortunately our misfire from last evening returned with a vengeance this morning meaning we have had to park up to save the car.

“Whilst it cost us quite a bit of time last night we had hoped it had cleared, sadly not.

“Still we can take some positives - thank you to everyone for the support, it really has been felt. We’ll be back.”

The enforced retirement in Wales was the latest in a year of setbacks for Anderson, who was forced to pull out of the Junior BRC after the first event of the year after a deal with Taylor’s Motorsport to run the car for a full campaign fell through.

A new deal with EDSL Sport enabled him to enter the Omloops de Vlaanderen rally in Belgium alongside a new co-driver, Irishman Darragh Mullen, and EDSL’s support enabled him to line up for the Cambrian at the weekend, this time with another Irishman, Shane Byrne, in the co-driver’s seat.

The duo’s pair of first-place JBRC class finishes on Friday were enough for eighth place overall on stage one and ninth on stage two, giving them eighth place in the overall standings before darkness fell and the gremlins struck.

An EDSL spokesperson said in a social media post: “The Cambrian bites again…after a fantastic start on Friday evening, leading the British Rally Championship juniors, spark plug failure put an end to Fraser’s Cambrian Rally.

“Some real positives to take from this weekend, but time to gather some thoughts and plan ahead to next year.”

If you’re interested in giving corporate backing to Fraser for 2023, you can find out more by emailing George Anderson at surveying@ baxterandgillespie.co.uk.