Mark Higgins wins Jim Clark International Rally
Mark Higgins reduced the British Rally Championship lead of Irish driver Keith Cronin in a close battle on the asphalt roads in south-east Scotland, but only just... Cronin’s Group N Mitsubishi punctured early on in the two-day rally and he spent the rest of the event trying to catch Higgins, closing to within 2.6 seconds before the final group of stages. Higgins meanwhile had been suffering differential and misfiring problems, and only in the late stages was his old Group N Subaru Impreza made to work better. He finally gained maximum points from this event by 11.4 seconds. Points total after three of the six championship events is Cronin 58, Higgins 56 and Alistair Fisher 41. Class wins were taken by Matti Rantanen, (Renault Clio), Martin McCormack (Citroen C2 R2 Max) and Gordon Nichol (Suzuki Swift Sport). The fastest cars on the event were the World Rally Cars driven by Irish Tarmac championship drivers. The overall event was won by Irish driver Eugene Donnelly in a Skoda Fabia who beat Tim McNulty – Subaru. Highlight of the event was a special stage run in the streets of Duns.

Snijers for Ypres
Patrick Snijers is confirmed as driver of the Rene Georges run VW Polo S2000, as teammate for Francois Duval, on the Ypres Westhoek Rally. Snijers who lost his driving licence after a recce speeding offence returned to the sport on the first full day of the Wallonie Rally. He regained his licence from the Police at midnight, after the short opening day, during which his codriver was obliged to drive the car!

Wallenwein in WRC
22 year old German driver Mark Wallenwein is entering four world championship rallies as part of a proposed system in which entries on events in Italy, Poland, Finland and Spain are exchanged for entries in the Deutschland Rally. Mark is the third generation rally driver in his family, his grandfather started competition 40 years ago and drove his last event at the age of 76. Mark’s elder brother Sandro finished second in the 2008 German championship.

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