MICHAEL Igoe will be looking to get on the podium’s top step at Cadwell this weekend.

Current circuit rally champions Igoe, from Knutsford, and co-driver Will Atkins began the defence of their title with a runner-up finish in round one earlier this month when their WPI Motorsport sponsored Citroën C3 Rally was put through its paces at Oulton Park for the Neil Howard Rally Stages.

With a lot of strong opposition in the field, the guys knew they would have their work cut out.

Seeded number one, Igoe and Atkins were first out of the blocks on a dry but gloomy day, but they had another Citroën C3 hot on their heels as James Ford and Neil Shanks were quicker on stage one by four seconds.

With seven more stages to go, the No1 Citroën could not match its main rival and had to play second fiddle until stages seven and eight where Igoe and Atkins were quicker by just one second.

But in the end the combined overall times for Igoe and Atkins were just a fraction slower by 0.27 of a second and had to settle for runners up.