All to play for in Kielder as Hankook GRC heads to Scotland

After an exciting and dramatic opening round at the Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth, round two of the hotly-contested 2007 Hankook MSA Gravel Rally Championship takes place next weekend when competitors descend on the Scottish town of Jedburgh for the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally.

With sponsorship from global performance tyre manufacturer Hankook this season, all the major contenders are back for round two of the ANCRO-organised National series as well as some interlopers from the ultra-competitive Scottish Rally Championship who are bound to throw a spanner in the works.

Winner on his local event in Bournemouth last month, Marcus Dodd and co driver Andrew Bargery return to the Borders as not only championship leaders, but as winners of last year’s event which was held in the snow and ice and the Hyundai Accent WRC pairing will be looking to consolidate their hold on the series in car number one.

Second placed Steve Perez and Claire Mole will be hoping they can get the better of the competition in their Ford Focus WRC but the 2004 champion will be up against his successor in 2005 Paul Bird, who along with co driver Andy Richardson, returns to the event in their Subaru WRC after missing it last year. The Cumbrian pairing are third in the Hankook GRC standings but recently won the Malcolm Wilson Rally by beating Perez so expect some fireworks!

Irishman Stephen Harron and co driver Sean Mullally will be hoping to get some points on the board after crashing out of Rallye Sunseeker in their Subaru and so too will be another pair of former champions Roger Duckworth and Mark Broomfield who also non-scored on the opening round in their Subaru.

Vying for overall honours, although not registered for the Hankook GRC, will be leaders of the County Saab Scottish Rally Championship, Gary and Gordon Adam in their Subaru and they along with ex ANCRO competitors Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Subaru) and Paul Benn/Richard Cooke (Ford Focus) all of whom are expected to be in the mix.

Already the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is shaping up to be a classic and once again, battle will resume in Kielder Forest between the leading runners. Ulstermen Phillip and Simon Morrow took the win in Bournemouth ahead of former double British Champion Jonny Milner and co driver Ian Windress but the crew to watch could well be Scottish teenager David Bogie, who along with Manx co driver Rob Fagg will be contesting his local event.

Another Scotsman in the shape of Jock Armstrong and co driver Kirsty Riddick leads the Subaru Group N Trophy and there is healthy competition among the 108 entries in the recently announced HPM Motorsport 2WD Challenge as well as the exciting new VK1400 Challenge, all of which will see competitors chasing such lucrative prizes as an all expenses paid drive in Marcus Dodd’s Hyundai WRC and the chance to go ice testing with Steve Perez’s team in Norway.

The action gets underway from Jedburgh town centre at 08.30 on Saturday morning followed by around 70 miles of stages in the infamous Northern reaches of Europe’s largest man made forest before cars return at around 17.30 to acclaim the winners.

Further information is available from the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally official website on www.bordercountiesrally.co.uk  and further Information is available at the Hankook GRC Championship Website: www.gravelrally.co.uk

Registration details are available by contacting Championship Registrar Val Thompson as follows:  Tel:        01530 231446 Email:    ancro@valthompson.co.uk

2007 Calendar23/24 February Rallye Sunseeker (Bournemouth)24 March  Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally (Jedburgh)11/12 May  RBS International Manx Rally (Douglas)2 June   Severn Valley Stages Rally (Builth Wells)21 July  Swansea Bay National Rally (Swansea)2 September  Killarney Forest Stages Rally (Killarney)20 October  Bulldog Rally (Oswestry)