Scottish Borders: Series event summary

Higgins holds on to win BRC Jim Clark Rally

Another cracking MSA British Rally Championship counter ended this Saturday in Kelso, with Mark Higgins and Bryan Thomas hanging on to win the Jim Clark International Rally after seventeen nail-biting stages.

Higgins' record-breaking fifth BRC victory on Borders asphalt came after Championship leader Keith Cronin suffered a puncture on Friday night, but his comeback from a two minute deficit was very nearly successful, as Higgins struggled with a car that was intermittently on three cylinders and without an effective centre differential.

The gap was down to 2.6 seconds at the service before the final loop of four stages, where Pirelli TEG Sport's temporary repair to the differential's electronics worked. This allowed Higgins to not only stop the haemorrhage of time, but take a handful of seconds back from Cronin who spun, adding to Higgins' advantage.

As the crews headed for the new Duns town centre stage, everyone held their breath, but only a catastrophe could have stopped Higgins, his title hopes rekindled by an eventual 11.4 second winning margin. Cronin still leads the BRC, but the gap is down to just two points with Higgins' home Rally Isle of Man next.

British Teams' Rally Championship

2008 Pirelli Star Driver Adam Gould took a fine first podium with Seb Marshall, the Bristol youngster certain hat even more improvement is possible in the Pirelli TEG Sport-run prize Impreza. Team principal Lynn Newby was delighted with the result which puts the Carnforth outfit in the lead of the MSA British Rally Championship British Teams' Rally Championship.

Pirelli Star Driver

Revolution Wheels rally team crew Euan Thorburn & Claire Mole were gutted to have a driveshaft break on the penultimate stage, forcing them to crawl round in front of the youngster's home town crowd in Duns and dropping them behind Gould but just ahead of Alastair Fisher and Barry McNulty [AUDIO]. The disappointment was soon forgotten though, as his excellent pace throughout the weekend earned him the third place in the 2009 Pirelli Star Driver final.

BRC Classes

Rally 3

In the classes, Finnish duo Matti Rantanen and Mikko Markkula drove an excellent first complete tarmac event to win Rally 3 in their distinctive yellow Renault Clio. Their only problem was a power deficit to the similar car of Tom Walster, who took second despite early set-up problems.

Rally 2/Citroen Racing Trophy/British Junior Rally Championship

Rally 2 and victory in the Citroen Racing Trophy went to Irishman Marty McCormack and co-driver Phil Clarke, taking a cheque for 3000 Euros for their troubles in the unmarked C2R2 Max. McCormack now leads the MSA British Junior Rally Championship too, Craig Breen retiring on Saturday. Their event went without incident, unlike runner up Jason Pritchard/Andrew Edwards who nearly didn't start after hitting a post in the pre-start car park.

Rally 1/Swift Sport Cup

Rally 1 and the Swift Sport Cup were won by another local driver, Gordon Nichol with co-driver Emma Morrison. Their opposition was decimated after all the other crews hit trouble, although only two retired. This did not detract from excellent stage times from the dominant Scot.

You can catch the action from the BRC's Jim Clark International Rally tonight at 19.00 on Sky Sport 2.

-credit: brc