SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Fraser McConnell drove himself into the record books, when he became the youngest-ever driver to win the championship segment of a national sprint series as he took victory at Sunday’s RallySprint Finale, Bog Walk in St Catherine.

“It feels overwhelming to have such a victory because not only was I driving hard, but so was everyone else,” McConnell told Auto.

The youngster defied the odds with a near 11-second winning margin to his nearest competitor, 2013 Rallysport champion Daryl King.

“Just mind-blowing,” McConnell added.

The shot at overall victory was blown wide open when the pre-event favourite Kyle Gregg dropped out as his Lancer Evolution IX suffered mechanical problems on the first run.

“A CV joint broke on the second corner as I was doing my first run,” Gregg said.

His team tried everything to get the car to the start line, even borrowing a replacement from a spectator’s car, but the mechanical gremlin prevailed.

“Just one of those days,” he said.

For King, it was a fight back to second place as early mechanical issues slowly started to resolve themselves as the day progressed. It was a close call for him as third-placed Maurice Whittingham was only a second away in elapsed time.

“I’m happy with the way I drove and I achieved my plan to stay ahead of Maurice, but we have some serious work to do to the car before Rally Jamaica next month,” King explained.

Despite the loss, both men were bullish on the health of the sport as they saw McConnell’s performance as a positive step for the next generation of rally drivers. Another veteran, Bobby Marshall, and the ever-exciting Nigel Wilmot completed the top five finishers.

The event itself brought the sprint series to an end with the overall champion to be announced next week. It may also decide the DRC driver’s title giving current points leader Maurice Whittingham a significant boost heading towards the Rally Jamaica in November.