GRN'S cars: Donegal International Rally

Car No. 3 Garry Jenning's/Neil Doherty Subaru Impreza S14 WRC

1^st Overall

Garry and Neil ran a faultless rally, leading from the outset in Peter Lloyd's Impreza S14. The new paring’s defining moment came on the Glen stage, which ran through Neil's home town, when they took 15 secs out of their closest challenged Darragh O'Riordan in extremely tricky conditions. Such was the emotion involved in the victory, with Garry becoming the only driver to win Donegal's three main rallies (the International, Donegal Harvest Rally and Donegal Forestry Rally) and with Neil's father John being ill in hospital, that Garry “cried for the last half mile” of the final stage.

Car No. 9 Aaron MacHale/Brian Daniels Ford Focus WRC03

Retired (steering damage after a crash on Fanad, SS12)

Son of multiple Tarmac Champion and Donegal winner Austin MacHale, Aaron made a welcome return to the Donegal stages. Aaron ran a fairly conservative rally, running as high as sixth in a the oldest WRC car in the rally. He was passed by Donagh Kelly on SS6 but he nevertheless held a comfortable seventh. However, he was caught out on the challenging Fanad test, complicated further by rain. He went off and damaged his Focus's steering, retiring on the spot.

Car No. 136 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan Ford Escort MK2

Retired (Engine problems on SS2)

Frank's rally ended prematurely, at the first service with his engine went sick. Reports came from service that Franks car had dropped a valve and that put him out of the rally with no hope of rejoining under SupeRally. A sad end to Frank's challenge, a man hotly tipped to win the National Rally.

Car No. 40 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney Renault Clio R3

10^th Overall (2^nd 2WD) (International)

Joe had a very quiet rally in his new ex-Tommy Doyle Renault Clio R3. Well, when we say quiet, we don't mean the car, which continued it's trait of backfiring at every chance. He clawed his way up to 10^th place at the end, learning the car more and more as every stage went on. Impressive, considering the fact that he crashed the car at the Donegal International Press Day!

Car No. 118 Brian Quigley/Conal Doherty Honda Civic

22^nd Overall (International)

Brian and co-driver Conal Doherty made good progress throughout the rally. They began 39^th O/A and 13^th in class, but kept their cool throughout the 3 days and 22 stages. They moved up the order as others fell by the wayside. Their final finishing position was 22^nd O/A and 4^th in class.

Car No. 106 George Baskin/Trevor Graham Volkswagen Golf TDi

Retired (SS21)

Rallying diesel cars hasn't really caught on in Ireland, or even in the world the that matter. It's only really caught on in Endurance Racing, and with monumental success. GRN crew George Baskin and Trevor Graham might be the revolution in today's fuel-consious world. Their rather smoky Golf Tdi ran to 44^th overall and a remarkable second in Class 15, behind a more conventional Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Nevertheless, it was a great run for the unique crew and GRN are more than proud to be associated with a team who could just change the face of Irish rallying. (Maybe not tomorrow, but in the future)

Car No. H6 Gary Owens/Denver Rafferty Ford Escort MK2 RS1800

Retired (Differential failure Day 2, rejoined, Retired, engine problems Day 3)

Gary and Denver had an eventful Donegal International Rally. They came to the North West with only one intention, to win the Historics with their immaculate MK2 RS1800. Multiple problems didn't allow it to go to plan, and when the differential failed it looked to be over. Not for the Tyrone pairing however. They packed the car up, drove back to their base, replaced the offending unit (by 7 o'clock in the morning) and drove back to Donegal for the re-start on Sunday morning. They restarted, but ended up on their side in a bog for 20 mins on the first test. Not to be outdone, they pushed on with all their might. They put the hammer down and gained back time, only for the engine to fail on the final test. A sad end to a frustrating rally for the pair, but they proved what they were capable of had the situation been different.

Car No. H15 William Todd/Aaron Johnston Mini Cooper

9^th Historic

William and Aaron came said that competing with the Escort's and Porsches on Donegal's fast stages would be tough, and it certainly was. They had the beating of them in the corners, the Mini in William's hands danced through the corners like a ballerina. The Mini wasn't short of speed, with co-driver Aaron reporting they were topping out at 125mph on some parts, which he described as “scary when you are only 6 inches off the ground!”. The Mini was superb in the rain too, flying as it's opposition slid everywhere. They did what they came to do, win class B2 and so they did.

Jennings dominates Donegal

A huge weight has now been lifted off of Garry Jennings' and Neil Doherty's shoulders, after the new pairing dominated the 41st running of the Donegal International Rally, Ireland's premier rally.

Garry Jennings

Jennings lead from the outset, winning SS1 by 3.7 secs over Darragh O'Riordan. He really demoralised the opposition when he won Sunday's opener, the Glen stage, by 15 secs over O'Riordan. Amazingly, this performance came in wet conditions when Jennings, and most of the other competitors, were on slicks.

Jennings' Donegal glory also marks the Subaru Impreza S14's first win on Irish tarmac, after it's troublesome début in Galway. On smooth European tarmac, the S14 has had moderate success, but not on the unique Irish roads until Jennings' Donegal win.

Seamus Leonard

His run to victory was not without trouble. Jennings' hit a bank hard on SS11, injuring his arm and wrist. No serious damage was done to the Impreza, just some bodywork damage as well as taking off a wing mirror, which Jennings' said was “four grand's worth!”. Even with this moment, he impressed throughout the weekend, and his hired Impreza certainly impressed his parter Kerry, who, when asked by her partner “will we sell the house?”, actually considered it!

Derek McGarrity

Seamus Leonard took a surprise second overall after O'Riordan got a closer look at the Donegal scenery than he would have wanted during the rally on SS18. He lost 7 mins in a ditch but managed to get back on the road, but then took the decision to retire from ninth place. Leonard was lucky to get away with a massive moment on the Fanad stage when his Impreza WRC ran wide and mounted a bank.

Third went to Derek McGarrity in his newly-aquired Subaru Impreza S12B, last years winning car in the hands of Tim McNulty. Local driver Donagh Kelly is still adjusting to his ex-PJ McDermott Impreza S11, but still took fourth.

Declan Boyle

Fifth went to a hugely impressive Darren Gass. Gass was pulled over on a road section by an Garda Síochána for an alleged speeding offence on the way to SS4. He hauled his older S10 Impreza back up the leaderboard to take fifth spot, and hold on to his lead in the ITRC Driver's Championship. His challenge was helped somewhat by Niall Maguire's Subaru failing on him on the final test.

Sam Moffett took sixth overall as well as first in Group N ahead of his brother Josh. Both driving identical Mitsubishi Lancer Evo's, the pair were never far apart throughout the rally. Sam eventually beat Josh by 17 secs. Martin Doherty took third in Group N and eighth overall.

Sam Moffett

Kevin O'Connor was first 2WD home in his Citroen C2 R2 Max, 39.2 secs ahead of the Renault Clio R3 of Joe McGonigle, in tenth.

Donegal pairing Declan & Brian Boyle won the National Rally by just 4.8 secs in their MK2 Escort. Second went to Manus Kelly, in Gary McPhillip's usual car, after a spectacular drive. Martin McGee took third, lucky to finish at all after he damaged a wheel on the final stage passing Niall Maguire's failed Subaru.

The Historic Section went to Andy Johnston. Driving his immaculate Vauxhall Chevette, he and co-driver Jim McSherry won by just 6.9 secs after two days of competition. Stephen McFerren was a further 4 mins 40 secs behind in third.

Andy Johnston

Damien Whoriskey won the Junior Rally in his Ford Escort by 25 secs over a trio of Toyota Corolla's, lead by Barry McLaughlin. Third went to Christopher McLaughlin, just under 2 mins behind.

Perhaps the most impressive story of the rally was of local driver David Ward. Piloting his Talbot Sunbeam in the rally, Ward's engine failed on the Friday of the rally. A purpose built competition engine is very hard to come by late at night mid-ways through a rally, never mind finding somewhere to fit it then fitting the unit itself.

Damien Whoriskey

So, Ward came up with a solution that few else would think of. He put up an ad on Done Deal searching for an engine for his Sunbeam. He then proceeded to buy a Suzuki Swift from a woman in Letterkenny for €250, remove the engine from the Swift, bolt on his set of twin Webers and drop it into his Sunbeam rally car! And he re-joined the rally on Saturday!

RIP Gareth Roberts

This won't be a report on the events of today's tragic Targa Florio Rally, and I don't believe there should be one, but instead will be a piece in memory of a hugely popular, widely respected and massively talented co-driver, Gareth Roberts.

Gareth was a rising star, one of the most popular and well-liked co-drivers I knew of. He was well deserved of the place he got alongside Craig Breen, another hugely talented young driver, when the duo tackled the first WRC Academy last season. The beginning of the year was fraught with bad luck, but they got what they deserved in the end, a final stage win in Wales, the final round of the series. They became the first WRC Academy Champions, and there was no crew more deserved of it.

This year saw Craig and Gareth step up to the S-WRC. The season could have hardly started more perfectly. Breen won the opening round of the S-WRC in Monte Carlo and took second place behind PG Andersson's works Proton in Sweden. After Portugal, they lead the Championship by 6 points over Hayden Paddon. Craig elected next weekend's New Zealand as his rally to miss.

Gareth trained as an electrician, and his career as co-driver began in 2004, and quickly became known for his skill as a co-driver and a maturity that far exceeded his years. His career really took off when he partnered kart racer turned-rally driver Craig Breen in 2009. In 2009 alone, the pair claimed both Fiesta Sport Trophy Championships in Ireland and in Britain, as well as the Fiesta Sport Trophy International. As well as those three Championships, they both won the Fiesta Sport Trophy International Shootout.

In 2010, the massively talented duo stepped up to S2000 machinery, campaigning a Ford Fiesta S2000 in the British Rally Championship and Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. He won his first BRC event on the Ulster Rally, and took second overall in the ITRC, taking the fight to the WRC-powered crews the whole way from start to finish.

Craig and Gareth on their way to 5th overall on the Circuit of Ireland 2012

2011 was his WRC Acedemy title year, and 2012 was to be the season that put the Irish/Welsh pairing on the map. With a full drive in the S-WRC, and selected drives in the IRC, they were on the up. It was only a matter of time before they hit the big time, in a works car in the WRC. And what an impact they would have made.

Tributes poured in from the moment the news broke. They came in from far & wide, with tributes from Mikko Hirvonen, Giandomenico Basso, Malcolm Wilson, Matthew Wilson, Pirelli's Paul Hembery, and former fellow WRC Acedemy competitor Alastair Fisher. Thousands of tributes were paid to Gareth on the social media website Facebook. A Facebook page was set up in memory of Gareth, and has received over 1,000 'likes' within a few hours.

Giandomenico Basso, who was visibly affected by the events of today, said: “These are things that should not happen; one of those terrible, chance things that is very hard to believe. I’ve really not got any words to say how I am feeling at the moment. It’s a horrible situation we are all faced with together and I am so sad and sorry. That’s all really.”

IRC Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas said: From the start of this year, together with Craig Breen, Gareth has put in some excellent performances and the crew really got themselves noticed. There’s no doubt in my mind that these performances would have got even better. At this terrible time, I’m thinking very much of Gareth’s family.” He also added that “the Targa Florio is an event where many great champions have left us in the past, and sadly this has happened again”.

Alastair Fisher said: “I cannot believe what’s happened. I’m totally devastated. My thoughts are with Gareth’s family and of course Craig.”

Craig himself paid this tribute to Gareth after taking the WRC academy title in Wales last year, barely seven months prior to the tragedy.

“He’s kept my feet on the ground this weekend, which is not an easy job. Having to leave service for the last three stages knowing there was no possibility other than to win them all was very difficult. But he’s really kept me on the straight and narrow so it’s all credit to him. He’s the littlest Welsh wizard but the best of them for sure.” he said.

I didn't know Gareth personally, but I knew of him within rallying. I met him twice, once as an autograph hunter and another as a photographer. Both times will leave a lasting impression on me, his calm approach to everything caught me off guard both times. I first heard of the accident as I walked through the service park of the Donegal International Rally today, and it only hit home when I opened my computer to see the literally thousands of tributes being paid to Gareth, showing how well known and respected he was. When reading the tributes paid to Gareth, I can't help but feel slightly emotional as I know a near certain World Champion co-driver has now left us.

GRN would like to send our most sincere condolences to Gareth's family, and we also keep Craig in our thoughts as well at this difficult time.

RIP Gareth, you will be missed.

Faultless Jennings leads in Donegal

At the end of Day 1 in Donegal, Garry Jennings leads the 2012 Donegal International Rally by 15.9 secs over Darragh O'Riordan.

Jennings made a scorching start in his hired Subaru Impreza S14 WRC, and held the lead throughout the day. Slowly extending his lead throughout the day, Jennings has quickly got to grips with the Banbury supercar. His only gripe was his launch control failed at the start of SS6.

Darragh O'Riordan has a consistent day, holding down second by a margin of 17.4 secs over Seamus Leonard. Leonard, a former Group N winner here in Donegal, is 33.3 secs off of Jenning's pace.

Derek McGarrity, Niall Maguire and Donagh Kelly round out the Top 6. Kelly joked at the end of SS3 that “the car is fine but the driver would want to a bit better!”. A SS2 stall for McGarrity seems to have thrown him out of balance as he is 56.6 secs off the lead. Aaron MacHale, sporting a Global Rally News sticker on the bonnet, sits seventh after launch control problems dropped him time. He is currently 1 min 34.7 secs off of Jenning's scorching pace.

The Donegal crew of Declan and Brian Boyle will lead the National Rally overnight. He commands a 33 sec lead over Manus Kelly, who is driving Gary McPhilips usual car. Scottish visitor Calum Duffy holds an incredibly impressive third place.

Daniel McKenna lead the National Rally after SS1, and did so up until SS4, when differential failure intervened and put him out of the rally. Frank Kelly, another Global Rally News sponsored car, held joint second after SS1, but his engine dropped a valve on SS2. That caused terminal engine damage and put him out of the rally for good. David Bogie's glorious MG Metro 6R4 was running well up to SS5, belching flame out of the twin exhausts all day long. However, he took a wheel off on SS6 and put him out for the day. Reports say he will return under SupeRally tomorrow.

In the Group N battle, the Moffett brothers lead the pack of Mitsubishi Lancers. Sam Moffett leads the way by 24.6 secs over brother Josh. Martin Doherty is 35 secs behind in third.

Kieran Daly leads the Citroen Racing Trophy, in 16^th overall. He's ahead of Kevin O'Connor, who's 2.3 secs back, and David Carney.

Tomorrow will see the introduction of the Historic section. GRN's logo's can be seen on the Ford Escort MK2 of Gary Owens/Denver Rafferty and the Mini Cooper of William Todd/Aaron Johnston.

Garry Jennings, Aaron MacHale, Joe McGonigle (Renault Clio, 19^th), Brian Quigley (Honda Civic, 33^rd), Gary Owens and William Todd are all sporting GRN logos for the Donegal International Rally. Frank Kelly was also sporting two logo's, but sadly his rally ended with an engine problem.

For all the crews still in the rally, and especially the crews sporting GRN stickers, all we can say is...

Best of luck lads!

Countdown to the Donegal International Rally!

Excitement and anticipation continues to build with only a matter of days until the only remaining 3 day rally in Ireland, the Donegal International Rally.

The rally will get under way on Friday morning at 11:20 am when the competitors will be waved off of the start line at An Grianán Theatre. Last year, World Rally legend Markku Alén waved the crews off, before taking off to watch the stages.

After the start ramp, the crews will head off into the stages. The Gortree stage begins the rally, and with fast straights followed by treacherously sharp corners, the crews had better be wide awake and on full alert. 8 stages will run on Friday, interspersed with 2 service stops.

Day 2 of the rally begins on Saturday at 9:53 am. The surviving competitors will head north, towards Fanad Head. Today sees the infamous and terrifying Fanad and Knockalla stages being run. Running alongside the coast, the route makes for spectacular scenery for the spectators to indulge in between cars. However, the equally spectacular roads will require the drivers' full attention, unless they wish to get a closer look at the scenery. The Historic Section joins the rally today, and will run on the final day, too.

The final day, run on Father's Day, sees a shorter but no less testing six stages facing the crews who have survived both days. The beautiful Atlantic Drive stage is Sunday's biggest stage (notoriety wise), with the second run closing the rally. The Junior Section will join the rally on the Sunday. The cars that have survived the tough, demanding 22 Donegal stages are expected back to the Finish Ramp outside the Mount Errigal Hotel, also Rally HQ, at 5:01 pm.

Darren Gass will lead the 130-strong entry away at No. 1 seed from the ramp on Friday morning in his Subaru Impreza S10. He will be followed by Darragh O'Riordan, Garry Jennings, the returning Mark Higgins, Derek McGarrity, Niall Maguire, Donagh Kelly, Seamus Leonard (a former Group N winner here in Donegal) and Aaron MacHale in one of the family Ford Focus WRC's.

Some drivers have different than usual machinery for the rally, with Garry Jennings having rented out Peter Lloyds Subaru Impreza S14 for the rally, Joe McGonigle has bought Tommy Doyle's Renault Clio, Manus Kelly is out in Gary McPhillips' MK2 Escort and Derek McGarrity having bought Tim McNulty's Impreza S12B. Rumours suggest that 'Big Tim' has called a halt to his rallying exploits after having sold the car. Speculation also suggests that Mark Higgins, the man who lead the legend that is Sebastian Loeb by over 40 secs at one point 5 years ago, is driving McGarrity's MINI John Cooper Works WRC, but he is down on on the entry list as driving a Subaru. Only scrutiny on Thursday evening will tell what everyone is driving.

David Bogie is back this year in the glorious MG Metro 6R4, and will face stiff opposition from the usual brigade of MK2 Escort's. Top Escort seed is Daniel McKenna, but he is chased by over 20 other MK2's. Over from Britain is tarmac specialist, Simon Mauger, who is up against it in his MK2. Calum Duffy is also over from the Isle of Mull.

Sam Moffett heads the scrap over Group N honours, chased by Conor Harvey, Pat Kirk and Trevor Bustard.

A 15 entry-strong Historic Rally kicks in on Saturday, as well as the 11-strong Junior Rally which comes in on the Sunday. Gary Owens, sporting Global Rally News logos, will start at H6 in his historic-spec MK2. We wish him all the luck and hope to see the Global Rally News logos on the finish ramp on Sunday evening in first place!

Even with the recession that has all but crippled the country, the rally is expected to take in over €25m into the local economy, as well as taking in over 50,000 rally spectators. With these figures, it isn't hard to see why the Donegal International Rally is still seen as the biggest attraction in the North West.

Competition time!!!

Global Rally News is proud to announce that we will run a competition for all our Facebook fans!

Everyone who has 'liked' our page will be entered into a free draw to win a SIGNED photo of either Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy or Darren Gass/Enda Sherry from the Donegal International Rally!

All you have to do is 'like' www.facebook.com/globalrallynews and you'll be automatically entered into the draw. The winner will be announced on Thursday evening (June 14th)!

Loeb nets Acropolis number 3

The Acropolis Rally in Greece has always been a rally of attrition, an event where survival meant more than speed. If a driver tried to push, they would usually end up minus a wheel, stuck a puncture or a broken suspension unit.

And nothing changed with this year's rally. If Sebastian Loeb even tried to win the rally on the Friday (as he usually can and does) he would risk doing as he did in 2009, crashing out spectacularly. Or knocking a wheel off.

“This rally was so long and difficult. We had some fortune in the morning, but in general we had to fight really hard. It was really good. I tried to always keep my rhythm and do what I felt. I tried to manage the car and the tyres. I believe that everybody has done a great rally, Mikko, Petter and Jari-Matti.” said Loeb.

So all he had to do was take it easy, drive around the rocks and he would be fine? Not really, seeing as he had an on form Petter Solberg (a former winner) and a returning Jari-Matti Latvala to contend with. Team-mate Mikko Hirvonen is always a threat on gravel, but chances are he would have been told to let Loeb win and not risk causing a crash, or damaging his team-mate's chances of a ninth title.

During Day 1, no driver stood out as a clear leader. Okay, Loeb extended his lead up to 10 secs at one point, but by the end of the day, it was only 6.5 secs over Jari-Matti Latvala. Latvala, sporting a prodigious amount of padding under his HANS device thanks to his collarbone injury. The other works Ford of Petter Solberg held third, 17.7 secs behind after set-up issues cost him time. But, when the mud came, Solberg was in a class of his own.

Loeb still lead after Day 2, by just over 10 secs ahead of Petter Solberg's Ford. Jari-Matti Latvala's rally went horribly awry when a slow puncture lead to a broken wheel and no brakes on one wheel. This left him nearly 5 mins off the lead but still in a good points-scoring position. Mikko Hirvonen held third, but was still slightly off the pace throughout the two days, nearly 2 mins off the lad.

Rain is an unusual occurrence on the Acropolis Rally, but it came in force this year. It turned stages to mud baths, which Petter Solberg revelled in. He chopped Loeb's lead in half throughout the treacherous stages. It set up a possible thriller of a day for Sunday, with Solberg having to take 2 secs per stage out of Loeb over the 5 stages of the day. A pair of 19 km and 11 km tests would help this no end.

However, the very first stage turned the fight for the rally lead on it's head. Solberg went wide on a long, fast left-hander, clouting a bank very hard on the right-hand stage of the road. The Fiesta RS WRC bounced across the road and collected a tree, tearing a rear wheel off. Rally over for the Norwegian.

Nevertheless, Solberg didn't regret the decision to push, saying: "I don't regret the way I drove; I had to take the chance. We have to push to try and beat Loeb, we're here to win and not to come second. It would have been much easier to sit back and settle for second, but we're not going to get anything if we do that."

In a cruel twist of fate, Loeb suffered a puncture 3 km into the second Aghii Theodori stage. In typical Sebastian Loeb style, cool, calm and collected, he and co-driver Daniel Elena elected to stop and change the tyre. They did so in 90 secs, getting under way with a 40 sec gap still over team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.

Completing the (nearly) perfect rally for Loeb, he won the Power Stage. Hirvonen claimed second, with Latvala in third.

Amazingly, Latvala doubted his own speed going into the rally. Those fears were put to bed when he went fastest on 10 of the rallies 22 stages. Third is an amazing comeback, and could have even won should his puncture not scuppered those hopes.

He said: “It was really great to be back on speed – of course I had some doubts,” said the factory Ford driver. “The boys were doing 500 kilometres in Argentina and I missed those. I did some [pacenote] practice with Miikka [Anttila] in Finland, and luckily we had the test, but of course we had doubts. It was great to see the speed was there.”

Suspension failure couldn't even stop Valeriy Gorban from winning the P-WRC class in his Mentos-sponsored Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Subhan Aska took second, 3 mins 17 secs off the lead, having a couple of overshoots and spins throughout the rally. Third went to Ricardo Trivino, suffering from multiple mechanical failures.

“This was our first win in PWRC and it is a great result which I didn’t expect after the problems on Friday. It was a really interesting rally and a difficult rally for the car but we are really sad for Nicolas when he retired because we had really close stage times.” an elated Gorban said.

Elfyn Evans took his first WRC Academy win in Greece, powering to a dominating 2 mins 15 secs win over the identical Ford Fiesta R2 Alastair Fisher. Fisher rolled his car on SS11, losing time with the initial roll and the subsequent damage to his windscreen. Nevertheless, he still finished ahead of Brendan Reeves took a fine third, his first podium in the class.

“This is the roughest rally I’ve ever done and it’s great to be here at the finish. After the problems I had in Portugal it was important to get as many points as possible for stage wins but at the same time you have to look at the overall picture of the rally as well, which is why we didn’t push in the last two.” said Evans.

The Acropolis Rally claimed many victims in the Academy class. Pontus Tidemand went out with driveshaft failure, as did Ashley-Haigh Smith. Joao Silva's fuel tank sustained damage and put him out on SS12, and Fredrick Ahlin rolled out SS11. Timo van de Marel was forced to SupeRally after going out on SS4.

Cronin gunning for title No. 3

Keith Cronin showed that he is right back on form by taking a second win in the 2012 British Rally Championship.

Jarkko Nikara lead after the first two stages, which were spectator stages through Duns Town Centre. He pulled out a lead of 1.9 secs ahead of Cronin in second place. Callum Black was running third after the two spectator stages, pleased to be near the lead in his newly acquired Citroen DS3. However, being only 1.2 miles in length, these counted for little in the overall results. The proper stages would begin on Saturday morning with the infamous Abbey St. Bathans test.

Cronin went into SS3 like a man possessed, wiping 3 secs from the Finn and going into a 1.1 sec lead. As a testiment to the pace of the leading pair, Peter Taylor, who acquired third after Callum Black lost over a minute on the test, was over half a minute off the lead.

The Abbey St. Bathans test claimed a number of victims, but none more spectacular than Aaron Newby. Newby's car was launched into a series of rolls, brought on by an awkward landing after a fast jump. Both crew were fine, albeit a bit shaken, but they went no further.

Cronin began to extend his lead when Nikara's gearbox began to act up. It cost the Finn piles of time, allowing Tom Cave up into second place. After SS7, Nikara found himself down in seventh.

But the rally leader himself was in big trouble. Cronin's brake pedal broke during the stage, but his sheer talent and a good dose of luck kept him out of the Scottish greenery. A make-do fix was employed by he and co-driver Marshall Clarke to get them back to service. Afterwards the pair sensibly backed off, but they still commanded a lead of over 40 secs to second place.

Nikara's rally came to an end when his problematic gearbox finally failed on SS9. By this time he was over 11 mins off the lead. By the end of the day, Cronin lead by nearly a minute over Tom Cave in second. Jonny Greer was a further minute behind in third. Peter Taylor, Elfyn Evans and Jukka Korhonen rounded out the Top 6. Korhonen was in his first tarmac rally, impressing in his little Skoda Fabia R2.

On Sunday morning the crews were greeted with a dark, ominous sky. Rain had not been present throughout Saturday, but not for Sunday. As the slick-shod leading cars headed into SS11, Bothwell 1, the heavens opened. And they closed equally as quickly. This lead to some rather strange stage times.

Cronin's brake pedal re-broke and cost them half a minute and a trip to the scenery. 3 stages remained, and with the brake pedal fixed properly, he decided to put the foot to the floor and took back almost 45 secs in 3 stages. Tom Cave took hung onto second and Jonny Greer did likewise to third, 2 mins 32 secs off the lead.

Elfyn Evans took his fourth R2 class win from four starts in the class, continuing his dominance of the class. Jukka Korhonen took second in class, gaining speed as the rally progressed. Splitting the R2 cars in the overall standings were Osian Pryce and Mark Donnelly in fifth and sixth place. Matthew Cathcart took eighth overall and third in R2. Callum Black and Chris Ingram rounded out the Top 10.

The tough, demanding nature of the Jim Clark Rally stages took their toll on the crews, with 8 of the International field succumbing to the strain. Jussi Kumpumaki ended up in a ditch, Niko-Pekka Nieminen crashed through a fence and Nick Allen also crashed out of the rally. Jarkko Nikara suffered a gearbox failure, Peter Taylor's suspension broke on the penultimate test and driveshaft failure greeted Garry Pearson on SS13.

Euan Thorburn did the double in his Ford Focus WRC by taking wins in both the National Rally, run over Saturday's stages, and the Reivers Rally, run over the remaining tests. Simon Moore won the Challenge Rally while Steve Bannister took a commanding win in the Historic Rally section.

A 6 strong field started the Jim Clark Land Rover Rally, a regular feature of the only closed-road rally in the BRC. The rally is run with specially prepared Land Rovers, and always provides a spectacle. Indeed, tackling Abbey St. Bathans in a jeep which is over a foot off of the ground would be surely a memorable achievement! Alan Parmore won the rally by over a minute and a half in his Land Rover Freelander.