Getting around the Network Q Rally GB is no mean feat. Pitted against the world's top rally crews Wheels reporter Alyson Marlow was among the finishers in last weekend's event and had to contend with a string of mechanical problems along the way...

BASED in Cardiff, the three-day rally forms the final round of the World Rally Championship and is regarded as one of the toughest in the 14-round series.

Fareham co-driver Alyson Marlow was racing in the event for the seventh time and found the going very tough at the top.

Alyson was competing in Britain's round of the World Rally Championship with Canadian rally champion Pat Richard in a Subaru Impreza and 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.

The result was a personal best for Alyson. "I have now finished the event four times which is a good ratio as more than half the starters never get to the finish," she said. "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 the 27km Rheola stage in the dark later in the day we only had first and second gear left which dropped us way down the order," she said.

With the gearbox changed the pair were ready for a strong run through day two 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.

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.

A charge on day three was also thwarted as the pair once again suffered mechanical problems in the 54km Resolfen stage.

"We caught and passed three cars within 25km but then we lost the brakes and blew the turbo losing so much of the valuable time we had 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.