David Bogie and Kevin Rae took an emphatic victory on the Jim Clark International Rally this weekend, extending their lead at the head of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship by five points.
The Scots’ win on home asphalt was particularly special; Dumfriesshire based Bogie stating that he has wanted to win the International event for several years. It is testament to the challenge that faces crews on rounds of the BRC, that he and Rae already have two wins on the National event to their credit so the win here completes the set.
That said, the pair can’t celebrate their win too much, as they have the significant matter of the Scottish Rally Championship round tomorrow (Sunday), a series that they also lead, chasing a hat-trick of Jim Clark Reivers Rally victories.
Their Mitsubishi borne victory was not always a foregone conclusion early on though, as the Škodas of Robert Barrable and Jonny Greer set about the opening Mantis Instant Shine sponsored Duns spectator stage with some gusto. Barrable’s lead may have been short lived, the alternator expiring on stage three, but the leader’s mantle was taken up by Adam Gould and Seb Marshall on stage three.
Bogie wasn’t about to let the Subaru pair have it their own way though and by the overnight halt he had taken the lead from Gould, albeit by the merest 0.8 seconds. Greer settled into third place as he became more accustomed to the car on asphalt, but day two would bring dramas at the front for Bristolian Gould.
Clipping a bank on the opening stage, Gould left the door open for Bogie to pull clear and as frustration took over aboard the Impreza, he further deranged the car’s suspension when he clouted a bridge.
From that point on it seemed Bogie was clear to do what he pleased at the front, but a charging Greer not only passed Gould, who continued to use Berwickshire and the Scottish Borders as a pin-ball table, but by the close of play, Greer was seemingly setting fastest times at will, as Bogie pushed just hard enough to keep him and co-driver Dai Roberts at bay.
Had there been more stages, Pirelli Star Driver Elfyn Evans and Andrew Edwards might have been close enough to mount an attack on the ailing Gould, but the Welsh youngster was reasonably happy with his performance considering his ten miles testing time, a result of a broken gearbox.
Notable retirements in the four wheel drive battle were Jason Pritchard, who ran fourth for much of the event, but was caught out by a slippery stage ten, landing in an unyielding ditch. Round one runner-up Tom Cave’s event didn’t go according to plan from the outset, languishing in eighth place overnight. His rally was eventually to end ignominiously in the service area, as the team struggled and eventually ran out of time while changing a gearbox that was stuck in third gear.
Dulux Trade MSA British Formula 2 Rally Championship
Martin McCormack and David Moynihan piloted the fabulous Citroën DS3 to top spot in the Dulux Trade MSA British Formula 2 Rally Championship. En route to the win, they not only took fifth place overall, a place that could easily have been fourth but for a puncture on stage ten, but they posted several top five overall times including two third fastest.
Without detracting from the excellent result, their path to victory was made relatively easy on the very first stage though, when Mark Donnelly and reigning BRC champion co-driver Barry McNulty crashed on the opening spectator stage.
Donnelly made it cleanly through the town centre, but was caught out on cold tyres and spun under high speed braking near the end of the stage, collecting a kerb and lamp post which damaged the rear suspension – game over.
Fiesta SportTrophy / Rally 2
Second place in Formula 2 after a potentially epic Fiesta battle were Alastair Fisher and Daniel Barritt. Fisher’s return to the BRC at this midpoint of the season put him alongside his WRC Academy rivals Craig Breen and Gareth Roberts and even with an early minute road penalty the closeness of the stage times looked like a ding dong fight would go to the finish.
Breen however left the road and holed his radiator leaving Fisher to claw back the time penalty and with it overhaul four two wheel drive crews, He might also have needed to push hard to pass John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon who had been the class of the Fiesta SportTrophy field, but they left the road too, ending what had been a very promising run.
It was therefore left to Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead to take third in F2 and second R3 in their Renault Clio. The Cumbrian had a trouble free run, although was frustrated by the car’s lack of outright speed, the gearbox final drive ration giving a top speed of just 91mph, reckoning on one stage alone the car had been flat out on the rev limiter for nearly a minute.
Citroën Racing Trophy
Desi Henry/John Rowan managed to keep Joe McGonigle/Niall Burns at bay long enough to take a well deserved win in the Citroën one make series. But a 23 second margin at the finish could easily have been smaller, as the gap see sawed and the lead changed no less than five times between the two Irishmen.
Pirelli Star Driver
The fourth nomination for the prestigious and sought after Pirelli Star Driver shootout went to Marty McCormack after such a sterling drive to fifth overall. His result will pit him against rival Donnelly, Jukka Korhonen and Siim Plangi who already have their places from the first three events.
BRC on Sky Sports HD
All the action from the front runners in the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s fourth round will be shown on Sky Sports 2 & 2HD this Tuesday 31st May, (not Monday as previously advertised). The programme is repeated over the following 24 hours, for the full schedule click HERE. or go to www.rallybrc.co.uk and follow the Media>TV dropdown.
For more information on the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship visit www.rallybrc.co.uk.