Journalist and rally co-driver Alyson Marlow overcame a mountain of mechanical woes to finish the Network Q Rally GB.

Alyson, who works at the Southern Daily Echo in Southampton, was competing in Britain's round of the World Rally Championship with Canadian rally champion Pat Richard in a Subaru Impeza against the cream of the world's rallying teams.

Based in Cardiff, the rally took in 16 special stages in south Wales with some stages as long as 54km.

The pair finished 36th overall despite problems with everything from the gearbox to the turbo and brakes but Pat was determined to finish his first-ever WRC round.

It is the seventh time Alyson has competed in the event and this result was a personal best for her.

She said: "I have now finished the event four times which is a good ratio as more than half the starters never get to the finish. My previous best was 40th overall so I am pleased to improve on that."

Alyson was co-driving in a Group N Subaru Impreza on the rally and when everything was working well the pair set times comparable with the top runners in the group, including a blinding run through Margam Park near Swansea on the final day.

However, most of their stages were fraught with difficulties.

"We had a good recce and were really looking forward to the event but things went wrong from the moment we got into the forest," said Alyson.

"We lost fifth gear very early in the first run through the first forest stage in Brechfa which lost us time and when we got to Rheola in the dark later in the day we only had first and second gear left which dropped us way down the order."

But with the gearbox changed the pair were ready for a strong run through day two of the event but after just 20km of the 54km Resolfen stage there were further problems - this time the brakes failed and the pair picked up a puncture which had to be changed forcing the pair even further down the field.

"It was so frustrating as everything felt good, the notes were flowing and I think we were on for a good time but changing the puncture cost valuable minutes and with no brakes its just so dangerous," she said.

The two runs through Crychan gave the pair the chance to set top six Group N times before disaster struck on the penultimate stage of the day through Halfway when a clash with a log broke both the hub and once again left the pair with no brakes.

They had to stop to inspect the damage and tried some running repairs but dropped more than 20 minutes and the course closing car had to wait for them to get going again.

A charge on day three was also thwarted as they suffered mechanical problems in the 54km Resolfen stage, but they caught and passed three cars within 25km and then lost the brakes and blew the turbo losing much of the valuable time gained earlier in the stage.

To add to their problems the new gearbox was beginning to fade and the pair completed the rally with just four of the five gears.

Alyson said: "We had such a catalogue of problems it was incredible that we managed to make it to the finish. Every time we came into service the guys from 22 Motorsport leapt into action and got us going again but it was a really tough event."

Pat is already on his way back to Canada to compete in the final round of his home series the Tall Pines Rally this weekend, while Alyson is taking a well earned rest after a hectic rally season before competing in her local event - the Bournemouth based Rallye Sunseeker in February.

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