Saltash driver Alan Cookson and London co-driver Julian Wilkinson collected more points in the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship as they finished a tough Severn Valley National Rally on Saturday (31 May).

Cookson and Wilkinson came home 18th overall and ninth in class B13 in their GillettsSpar.com, Robert Wiseman Dairies, VK Vodka Kick, Kumho Tyres and Riverside Property Services supported Subaru Impreza World Rally Car (WRC) on the Builth Wells-based gravel event after battling through a series of problems.

The event, round four of the national gravel series, started well for the crew and they were up to 16th overall after the opening two stages following a clean run. But the first disaster struck on stage three, the challenging Radnor test, when the gear linkage broke again and they were stuck in third gear for 10 miles, dropping around four and half minutes.

Despite fears that the same problem had occurred that had forced them to retire from the previous round, the RBS International Manx Rally in early May, thankfully though, it was a different part and the pair managed to limp through the stage and back to service to fix it but they slid down the leaderboard to 24th. 

Their day did not get better from there as on leaving service full of fuel, the car bizarrely began to pump fuel out of the tank. They overcame the problem though to post competitive times through the final three stages – being 15th fastest through stage five – and haul themselves back up the standings to a credible 18th and to eight points in the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship.

“I’m just so relieved to have made it to the finish, it’s certainly been a character building day for everyone involved,” Cookson said. “The problems we had throughout the day were really frustrating but we overcame them thanks to some exceptional work carried out by the service crew in second service, and to get a result and some more points in the championship was the main target after the problems.

“The day set off really well for us, I was happy with how the car was running, and first service saw us only need to fit a set of new tyres. We couldn’t believe it when the gear linkage broke again in Radnor, but thankfully it wasn’t the same as the problem on the Isle of Man, which meant we could make some temporary repairs to get to the finish. It does look as if it’s not been repaired correctly from a previous incident before I had the car, but that’s rallying I suppose.

“The fuel problem was a bit strange but we think it was because the tank was over filled but thankfully it didn’t hamper us too much although we do seem to have a reoccurring intermittent problem with the centre diff controller which makes the car handle more like a MK2 Escort than a WRC Subaru.  We went on to finish on a good note with some positive times and we’re pleased to have finished, it was certainly a tough day for everyone.”

Cookson and Wilkinson will next be in action in round five of the championship, the Swansea Bay National Rally on Saturday 19 July.