Stu Bainborough (Mitsubishi Evo VI) scored his first event victory on Saturday’s OrmCo Jurby Stages, the opening round of the Motor Mall (IoM) Manx Rally Championship, writes Chris Boyde.

Teaming up with Rob Fagg for the first time, the pair got the better of Steve Colley and Giulio Fabrizio (Evo VII) over the early stages and were able to control the event from the front. They were fastest or joint best on eight of the 10 tests to run out winners by 33 seconds.

Runner-up Colley rued taking intermediate tyres at the start of the day, with strong winds drying the surface quickly after overnight rain.

A fantastic battle between Welsh crew Dale Furniss/Sion Williams (VW Golf) and Martyn Jones/Mark Bumfrey (Vauxhall Nova) for best two-wheel drive ended with Furniss taking third overall in his first ever stage rally as a driver. Local man Jones dropped vital seconds with tyre wear on the abrasive surface.

Sean Kelly and Kirsty Duke (Evo IX) overcame fuel pump failure on SS7 to claim fifth place, with Paul and Michael McEvoy sixth in a Subaru Impreza.

Provisional top 10: 1, Stu Bainborough/Rob Fagg (Mitsubishi Evo VI) 42min 36sec; 2, Steve Colley/Giulio Fabrizio (Mitsubishi Evo VII) 43:09; 3, Dale Furniss/Sion Williams (VW Golf GTi) 44:28; 4, Martyn Jones/Mark Bumfrey (Vauxhall Nova) 44:38; 5, Sean Kelly/Kirsty Duke (Mitsubishi Evo IX) 45:17; 6, Paul McEvoy/Michael McEvoy (Subaru Impreza) 45:30; 7, Rory McCann/Paul McCann (Honda Civic) 45:44; 8, Ross Tunney/Nicole Moon (BMW E36) 46:02; 9, Kex Walker/Dannii Matthews (BMW 325) 46:18; 10, Gavin Tyler Roberts/Martin Burns (Mazda RX8) 47:10.

l See today’s Final Whistle, page 29.