Scottish Borders: JR Motorsports event summary

Early exit signals disappointment for JR Motorsports team

* Good start comes to an end when team is sidelined on stage two.

This weekend's Jim Clark Rally, round three of the MSA British Rally Championship, should have seen the JRM Motorsports team bidding for another podium finish, but an encounter with bank, followed by an engine problem, signalled early retirement for David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae.

With this being the first asphalt rally of the season, the team carried out a pre-event test and were delighted with the performance of their Evolution X in tarmac specification and were therefore all set to continue from where they left off in round two when David and Kevin finished third.

The rally began with an impressive ceremonial start in Edinburgh's FountainPark on Friday evening, followed by six stages before the overnight halt. The first, a 7.8-mile run through Bothwell, went well for David and Kevin, who emerged third of the BRC runners, just a few seconds behind the leaders.

With the car working well, David felt confident to maintain the pace for stage two, the now infamous Abbey St. Bathans. However, on a down-hill section going into a tightening right-hander the back of the car stepped out and clipped a bank, the impact removing a wheel and causing too much damage to continue.

After returning to the service area, the JRM team worked through the night to repair the car in readiness for Saturday morning. Although too far back to make an impression on the leaders, a points score was not out of the question, but as David and Kevin went to start the first stage, the bad luck continued as the car's engine stopped and wouldn't start.

To the surprise of the crew it was found that a con-rod had snapped, the cause of the problem yet to be established.

"I wasn't pushing that hard when we went off', said a disappointed David. "One minute we were rallying, the next we were stopped having hit the bank. We then thought we might be able to score a few points running under the SupeRally rules which allow you to start the next day, but then when the engine went as well, we couldn't believe our luck. We'll just have to wait until the next round to prove what the car can do on tarmac."

The overall rally was won by Eugene Donnelly, with Mark Higgins first and Keith Cronin second in the British Rally Championship event.

Round four of the MSA British Rally Championship takes place on July 9th, 10th & 11th, when the team contests the Rally Isle of Man.

-credit: jrm