Phillip Morrow's Dreams Of Rally Career Temporarily Put On Hold

Posted: April 27, 2004 5:51 PM

The rally marked the opening round of this year's British Championship and Phillip, who is one of the UK's leading junior drivers, decided to use the event to get more experience under his belt. But just a few miles into the first night stage, the 20-year-old Lisburn man suffered the biggest accident of his rally career. Entering a deceptive square left, the rear of his Morrow Fuels sponsored Mitsubishi Lancer caught a ditch and Phillip was sent into a multiple roll. The car eventually came to rest on its roof but the crew were trapped inside for what seemed like a lifetime.

"I've never been as terrified in all my life!" Phillip said. "We were wedged in and we couldn't get out through the doors or the windows. I was afraid of the fuel igniting but there was nothing we could do."

Almost five minutes elapsed before spectators reached the scene of the accident and it took around 20 of them to wrestle the car back onto its wheels. Eventually, Phillip and his co-driving brother, Simon, were able to extract themselves from the wreckage. Thankfully, neither of them were seriously injured.

"I'm a bit depressed, as you can imagine," Phillip said. "We've been setting some really quick times lately, mixing it with the big boys. We won Group N in Aberdeen just over one week ago and were chasing for a top three finish so for this to happen just as we're getting used to the car is unbelievable. We were just starting to go really well and now everything is up in the air."

"After all the hard work, I can't give up now. A lot of people have helped me get where I am and I really hope to see it becoming more than a hobby. Mechanically, the car is fine but the body is a complete mess. If we can get it fixed then we'll be back out again, hopefully in time for the Mutiny Rally in June. We've got a good chance of winning the Evo Challenge Junior Award but now we really need some extra backing."