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.
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