Josh Moffett and James Fulton embarked on an epic adventure in the European Rally Championship campaign which would see the pairing start their quest in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on the Azores Rally.

This would be Fulton’s first event overseas along with being the first time he has sat with Josh on a gravel event. This event would also mark a return to the island for Josh having crashed out of the event 2 years previously it would be a case of unfinished business with eyes firmly set on a top 5 position if all goes well.

Lining up on the Thursday afternoon the tension would be palpable in the Combilift car with the pair seeded tenth on the road in a plethora of R5 cars with no less than 29 taking the start in Ponta Delgada.  A steady start airing on the side of caution would see the Fiesta open its account as they climbed their way up to 10th overall by the end of the first day.

On day two, handbrake issues would hamper Moffett and Fulton and they would only make inroads on the top 10 later in the day over the second loop of stages to finish out the 2nd day of action in a very credible 6th overall and a very real possibility of a podium finish on the cards.

The final morning would bring a drivers worst nightmare in the form of fog. Over the opening stages of the morning Moffett and Fulton elected to box clever keeping their noses clean and a good rhythm would ensure they would overhaul Russian driver Nikolay Grayzin to hit their pre event target of 5th place overall with 3 stages to go.

On the next stage Ricardo Moura would stop in the stage with mechanical failure and the Combilift car would suddenly find itself on the cusp of a historic podium. Piling on the pressure over the next 21 km stage again in dense fog they forced an error from the Czech driver Jan Cerny as he rolled out of the event and with 1 stage to go the Monaghan/Cavan duo finished comfortably occupying the 3rd place which they held to the finish.

It was a dream result for an international debut and redemption for Moffett who would right the wrongs of 2 years ago. This result places the pairing firmly in the hunt for the ERC win now in 3rd place with the next round in the Canaries in May it will be a bit more like home back on tarmac.