2006 MSA Asphalt Champions David Kynaston and co-driver Andy Russell took outright victory on the Jim Clark National Rally in their Audi A3 Quattro to strengthen their lead at the top of the Richard Egger Insurance-sponsored series at the halfway stage.

Hot on the heels of the RBS International Manx Rally, the Jim Clark National Rally sees two of the iconic UK asphalt events taking place less than a fortnight apart but, nevertheless, the popularity of each is borne out by the numbers of registered crews on the entry lists.

‘Fantastic’ is how Exeter-based Kynaston described his win after struggling through the early stages with a lack of brakes. The National Rally runs behind the Jim Clark International Rally and the five-minute gap between the two proved insufficient on the opening 16-mile stage through Abbey St Bathans as both Kynaston and Andy Fenwick/Lee Tindall, who were running first on the road in their Skoda Octavia WRC, caught the last car from the first event.

However, the gap was extended for the second run and Fenwick/Tindall, who have won the rally on two previous occasions, went on to take runners-up spot.

Making a clean sweep of the podium places for MSA Asphalt Championship contenders, David Mann/Alun Cook were 3rd in their Subaru Impreza WRC. This result is all the more impressive when the damage caused by the fire that put Mann out of the Manx is taken into account. Much midnight oil had been burnt by the team in the intervening ten days to ensure that the car took the start of the Jim Clark in Kelso restored to pristine condition.

The former MSA Gravel Rally Champions’ problems hadn’t ended there. The trip up to the Borders had been similarly fraught, with Cook having to retrace his steps part-way south to collect his driver whose road car had suffered a blow-out. In the course of the excursion, an owl had made contact with Cook’s windscreen and cracked it such that the event itself was almost something of an anti-climax, even after the power-steering failed on the second run through the 16-miler!

Simon Mauger/Brian Cammack put in a giant-killing performance in their two-wheel drive Ford Escort RS to take 5th overall – a feat for which the driver was awarded the John Price Rallying ‘ Star Drive’ salver. An incorrect tyre choice for the first loop of stages slowed them slightly, but not so as you’d notice!… The Oxfordshire driver now heads into the mid-season break in 2nd place in the overall points, tied with defending Champion Steve Simpson whose Hyundai Accent WRC finished in 6th place, a mere four seconds behind Mauger after 100 miles of stages.

Simpson counts himself lucky to have finished after the wheel studs on one of his car’s front hubs sheared early in the day. He didn’t have an identical spare, but a forest equivalent was fitted and, although the car kept trying to turn left for the remainder of the rally, his persistence resulted in more valuable points.

Broken wheel studs were John Stone/Lee Carter’s downfall – after the first loop of stages, their Metro 6R4 was in a fabulous 2nd place but a damaged rear hub saw the Legend Fires crew join the ever-lengthening list of retirements. It was not a good day for Metros – Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt had already gone with no brakes and John & Caroline Price looked set for a top-five finish when their example suffered mechanical failure with a couple of stages to go.

Behind Mauger, the Escorts of Pete Hughes/Chris Evans and Graham Hollis/ Ashley Trimble were also just a handful of seconds apart at the finish. Hollis’ progress had been hampered by a broken gear linkage on the eighth stage which saw the car stuck in 5th and the driver arriving at the following service clutching the offending bolt which had sheared! Mauger, Hollis and Hughes are all in there fighting for Rear-Wheel Drive category honours and, with three rounds still to go, it is far from over!      

Dave West/Keith Hounslow took a Top 20 finish in their Peugeot 306 Maxi which, following a DNF on the Manx, puts them back into the Top 10 overall. Similarly, Rob Tout’s Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9 was the Group N winner on the day, ahead of Steve Simpson’s Subaru Impreza – the necessary paperwork for the promised Murtaya not yet completed.

Richard Butler/Matt Dubber had fitted a replacement engine – sourced from a scrapyard! – into their Honda Civic Type ‘R’ following the originals unit’s demise on the Isle of Man and headed home with another class win under their belt.

2007 BTRDA Asphalt Rally Series Champions Adrian Spencer/Mark Hewitt returned to the MSA Championship after missing the Manx and spun on the first corner of the first stage! Worse was to follow as their Impreza suffered two broken driveshafts necessitating driving at least one stage in two-wheel drive!

Paul Harewood can breathe a sigh of relief after his Vauxhall Astra GSi completed the Jim Clark unscathed. Transmission problems have seen the car retire on the opening stage on both previous rounds of the Championship this year. Not so this time, and the Taunton driver has at last opened his account in the points table!

Tracey-Louise & Gary Muir (Citroen AX) spent some time acclimatising themselves to the stages and, having settled into the routine, had an unproblematical run to maximum points in B9. Roland Jones/Andy Wynn performed likewise in their MG ZR to move ahead of the erstwhile leader, a spectating Martin Newson.

Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter had survived an early scare when contact with a hedge on the second stage had damaged their Mitsubishi Lancer’s intercooler. However, it remained intact allowing them to continue until multiple punctures on the seventh – of twelve – stage of the event put them out.

Ashley Field/Janice Hooley had a very short Jim Clark National Rally after their Darrian T90 experienced transmission bothers on the very opening stage. A similar plight affected the Peugeot 206 of Ryan Borthwick/Gary White, the difference being that the latter crew only had to go as far as Melrose before they were home!

Geoff Glover/Charlie Turner (Vauxhall Astra RWD) and Ian Copping/Dave Rowley (Ford Fiesta RWD) had spent much of the early part of the event virtually bumper to bumper. Glover’s Astra was experiencing gearbox problems after the usual sequential unit, which failed on the Manx, had been replaced by a more traditional H-pattern unit. It was leaking oil and had begun to jump out of 4th & 5th and the driver was forced to give up the unequal struggle with one stage to go. Copping, meanwhile, at least started the final one, but was not to make the end! 

Contenders for the Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship now have six weeks to prepare themselves for a trip across the Irish Sea to the Sligo Stages Rally on Sunday 13th July.

National Results

1  DAVID KYNASTON/ANDY RUSSELL (AUDI) 1:14:01.5
2  ANDY FENWICK/LEE TINDALL (SKODA) 1:14:42.1
3  DAVID MANN/ALUN COOK (SUBARU) 1:15:01.7
4  ALISTAIR THORBURN/PAUL MCGUIRE (SUBARU) 1:16:00.8
5  SIMON MAUGER/BRIAN CAMMACK (FORD) 1:16:08.6
6  STEPHEN SIMPSON/MARK BOOTH (HYUNDAI) 1:16:12.7
7  TRISTAN PYE/KIRSTY RIDDICK (SUBARU) 1:16:30.8
8  KEITH ROBATHON/MARTIN FORREST (FORD) 1:17:23.3
9  DANIEL HARPER/CHRIS CAMPBELL (MINI) 1:19:17.5
10 PAUL KIRTLEY/DAVID JONES (SUBARU) 1:18:40.8 0:40