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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