Round 8: Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, 1 October

Euan Thorburn fared best amid atrocious conditions to win the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally and clinch second place in final championship standings.

Thorburn and Mike Faulkner ended the season tied for second place on 167 points each. Based on the best six of eight rounds, they also share the same number of first, second, and third place finishes. However, Thorburn secures the runner-up spot thanks to his second place on the opening round, where Faulkner finished fourth.

"I'm obviously very happy to have ended the season on a high, and on this of all events," said Thorburn. "Today has been really tough out on the stages - they were very muddy and slippery in places, the first one in particular. But it was the same for all the crews; we just made the best of it."

Results1 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 49m04.8s2 Shaun Sinclair / Chris Hamill (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 49m14.4s3 Mike Faulkner / Peter Foy (Mitsubishi Evo 6) 49m59.6sFinal championship positions (provisional)1 David Bogie – 175 points (CHAMPION)2 Euan Thorburn – 1673 Mike Faulkner – 1674 Robbie Head – 1525 Donnie Macdonald – 122