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Defending ANCRO Champion Marcus Dodd got the season off to
a great start by claiming an unprecedented sixth victory on the Bournemouth
based Rallye Sunseeker which comprised the opening round of the 2008
MSA Pirelli Gravel
Rally Championship.
Driving the HPM Motorsport Hyundai Accent
WRC along with co driver Andrew Bargery, with whom he won last year’s event
also, the local ace overcame clutch problems last night and a broken
paddle-shift late this afternoon to take a deserved victory some 43 seconds
ahead of the Peugeot Cosworth of Andrew
Burton.
Burton and co driver Shelley
Rogerson had problems of their own with a broken exhaust manifold on the final
loop of stages, but despite this Burton was delighted to record only his second ever finish on the
event and the result has given him a good start to his championship
challenge.
Third went the way of Irish newcomer Stephen
Moore who, along with co driver Tony McHugh, brought their ex Henning Solberg
Ford Focus WRC home ahead of Jon Ingram and co driver Ian Allsop who were left
disputing a one minute time penalty, incurred for a jump start last night, at
the finish.
Isle of
Wight driver Will Nicholls and co
driver Nick Broom claimed fifth in their Subaru WRC with Scotsmen David Bogie
and co driver Kevin Rae claiming Group N and Mitsubishi Evolution Challenge
honours in sixth place overall.
Daniel Barry beat off fellow Mitsubishi
drivers Sebastian Ling and Nik Elsmore for seventh position with Richard
Cathcart also in a Mitsubishi completing the top
ten.
“I broke the
paddle-shift before the last two stages but it just made me drive harder. We’ve had a good battle with Andy and I’m
delighted to win my local rally for a sixth time in total and to make it two
wins out of two in the past two years”
said Dodd, who revealed he may not contest further rounds of the ANCRO organised
series depending on budget restrictions and the possibility of his car being
hired out.
The next round of the 2008
MSA
Pirelli Gravel Rally Championship takes place on April 5th with the
Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally based in
Jedburgh.
Provisional Final
Classification
1, Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery (Hyundai
Accent WRC) 58:09.8
2, Andrew Burton/Shelley Rogerson (Peugeot
Cosworth) 58:52.9
3, Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus
WRC) 59:31.2
4, Jon Ingram/Ian Allsop (Subaru Impreza
WRC) 1:00:01.2
5, Will Nicholls/Nick Broom (Subaru Impreza
WRC) 1:00:08.4
6, David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Mitsubishi)
1:01:21.3
7, Daniel Barry/Mark Bowens (Mitsubishi)
1:01:30.3
8, Sebastian Ling/Aled Rees (Mitsubishi)
1:01:35.3
9, Nik Elsmore/Paul Wakeley (Mitsubishi)
1:01:36.7
10, Richard Cathcart/Martin Brady
(Mitsubishi) 1:01:43.7
Provisional Championship Standings (after
Round 1)
1, Marcus Dodd (Hyundai Accent WRC)
25pts
2, Andrew Burton (Peugeot Cosworth)
22pts
3, Stephen Moore (Ford Focus WRC)
20pts
4, Jon Ingram (Subaru Impreza WRC)
19pts
5, Will Nicholls (Subaru Impreza WRC)
18pts
6, David Bogie (Mitsubishi)
17pts
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