Rallynotes - Border Counties Rally 2008 Report

Border Counties Rally 2008 Report

Sunday, 06 April 2008

Cheshire driver Jon Ingram took his maiden victory in the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship as he finished second behind event winner Barry Johnson on the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally

In their Subaru Impreza WRC, Ingram, and co-driver Ian Allsop came home 5.6 seconds behind the Ford Focus WRC of Johnson and Stewart Merry on the Jedburgh-based event following a trouble-free run to claim maximum points in the ANCRO championship on the second round of the series.

Richard Cathcart and Martin Brady finished second of the registered crews, and third overall, as well as taking honours in the Production Cup and the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 with Daniel Barry and Mark Bowens next up in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 behind Jimmy Girvan/John Bennie and Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy.

Ingram and Allsop set the pace over stages five and six and heading into the final stage, just two seconds separated them from Johnson/Merry.

"I'm pleased to win the MSA Gravel Rally Championship round but disappointed not to win the event outright," Ingram said. "It's great to get my first win in the series, it's one of the hardest one-day rallies I've ever done."

The Subaru Impreza WRC of Julian Reynolds and Patrick Walsh took fourth in the championship and seventh overall, after losing time on stage four following a spin due to a puncture, whilst Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson finished fifth points scorers and eighth overall in their Hyundai Accent WRC after earlier suffering with a problem with the throttle sticking and a spin on stage five also lost them some time.

Neil McCance and Anthony O'Connell finished ninth registered crew in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 whilst Andy Burton and Shelley Rogerson suffered disappointment in their Peugeot Cosworth. The crew had taken the lead of the rally on stage two before Johnson/Merry edged ahead on stage six, but they suffered with an engine problem on the final stage, losing around two minutes to ultimately finish sixth in the championship and tenth overall.

Round one winners Marcus Dodd and Andrew Bargery went out on stage one when they spun backwards into a bank and damaged the exhaust on their Hyundai Accent WRC.

As a result, Ingram moved to the lead of the series going into the RBS Manx International Rally on 9/10 May.

Round three of the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship will take place on Friday 9 - Saturday 10 May with the Douglas-based RBS International Manx Rally.