Monmouth rally team Richard and Matthew McLachlan had high hopes for the Caerwent event, but were blighted by braking problems on an event where precision driving and mechanical performance were critical.

With the 205 rally championship overall and expert class trophies up for grabs, the team, sponsored by Cogent of Newport, had carefully prepared the car for the penultimate round of the challenge with tarmac suspension settings and new brake linings employed.

The Caerwent training complex was the venue for the event, which provides tight tarmac stages with high kerbs testing both the car and the driver.

The first stage started well with good progress being made through the course, however after 3 miles all was clearly not well with the brakes with the car becoming increasingly difficult to slow for the many tight corners.

The service halt showed the rear linings had disintegrated causing the wheel cylinders to fail and leaking the brake fluid.

A repair was carried out at the service halt, but to no avail with the second stage proving even more of a challenge for the team as the second wheel cylinder failed near the start.

Richard continued to push hard despite the problems attempting to maintain championship position and provided some spectacular action for the marshals with a near roll and then a small accident at the end of a long straight. At the service halt the rear part of the braking system had to be completely disconnected to provide at least some braking effort at the front. Stage 3 went better than the previous two and the team were pleased still in the top 10.

By now the field was starting to thin out with many of the 205 competitors also having problems with broken driveshafts being a common complaint.

Richard surmised "If we can just get the car to the finish, we'll gather valuable championship points" and tempered his pace on the fourth stage. However with the front brakes now becoming increasing overloaded, a tight bend with high kerbs proved to be the undoing of the team. The car suffered a hard knock on a kerb and came to a grinding halt with broken suspension and no drive.

As the gearbox oil drained across the tarmac the team had some time to contemplate what might have been while warning oncoming rally traffic of the stricken car and waiting for the recovery vehicle to arrive.

The last round of the championship takes place in Yorkshire on 14th November, where the the McLachlans will be going all out to get a podium place in the championship's expert class.