Disappointment turns into development for JR Motorsports

MSA British Rally Championship Round Four Report Rally Isle of Man – 10th & 11th July 2009

JR Motorsports retain second place in British Team’s Championship.First-day time loss results in positive outcome.Team gather invaluable data from Manx mileage.Bogie remains positive about rest of season.

Round four of the MSA British Rally Championship, the Rally Isle of Man, was not the rally it should have been for the JR Motorsports team. Initially, David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae started well, but then lost over 20 minutes when they got their car wedged between two Manx banks on the fourth of the event’s 20 stages.

However, with the opportunity to challenge for the lead over and the pressure of competition removed, David and Kevin continued for the remainder of the event and were able to gather invaluable technical data for the new Evo X. Also, by bringing the car back to the finish, JR Motorsports retained second place in the British Team’s Championship.

The Rally Isle of Man represented the second asphalt rally of the season and, with a total of 180 competitive miles split into12 stages on Friday and a further eight on Saturday, added to the arduous nature of the island’s roads, the event is regarded as one of the toughest in the BRC calendar.

Following the first DNF of the year in round three, the team were aiming – above all else – to record a finish this time round. With this in mind, David and Kevin opted for a cautious start and were therefore reasonably pleased to be well within the top ten after three stages.

Then, as David turned into a right-hander after a down-hill section on stage four, he felt the back of the car step out and came to a halt with the front of the Mitsubishi against a bank. Unfortunately, the back of the car was similarly positioned and to the young Scot’s surprise, the car was stuck fast.

Try as he might to extricate the Lancer, there was no moving it and the stage had to be stopped until a tractor could be found to pull the it out. With no damage other than a squashed exhaust, which caused a brief loss of power, David and Kevin were able to continue and ended the first day in all but last place.

With hope of a possible podium now out of the equation, the team decided that the rest of the weekend would be best spent as an extended test and went on to try a variety of different set-ups and experiiments. It also gave David the valuable opportunity of seat-time in the Evo X on tarmac roads and he even set a number of top-five stage times in the process.

His and the team’s efforts did not go unrewarded either, as they ended the event in 20th overall and collected points towards the British Team’s Championship and retained their second place in this category. Their performance also saw David hold seventh in the Driver’s and Kevin sixth in the Co-driver’s standings.

“It wasn’t the weekend I was hoping for, but at least the car is in one piece and we were able to drive the whole event, which is great experience”, said David. “I was happy with the times we were setting, even though I was taking it easy. We’ll therefore go to Ulster with a well set-up car and the confidence to know I’ll be able to push right from the start. Also, with the way the BRC points are structured, there’s a still a chance to get into the top three of the Driver’s Championship before the end of the season.”

The Rally Isle of Man was won for a recorded-breaking fifth time by Mark Higgins, after an event-long battle with Keith Cronin. Having each recorded two first and two second places this season, they now jointly lead the championship.

The fifth and penultimate round of the MSA British Rally Championship is the Todds Leap Ulster International Rally on 21st & 22nd August, which this year moves to its new base in Antrim and sees a different route in store.

JR Motorsports’ 2009 British Rally Championship campaign is supported by: Oakbank Services, exe-tc competition suspension, Lico, Opie Oils, PPG Transmissions and Carbonetics Clutches.

British Rally Championship positions after round four

Drivers1  Keith Cronin  76 Pts1 Mark Higgins  76 Pts3 Alistair Fisher 57 Pts4 Dave Weston Jnr  26 Pts5 Jonny Greer  38 Pts5 Martin McCormack 38 Pts7 David Bogie 33 Pts8 Adam Gould 31 Pts8 Tom Walster 31 Pts10 Euan Thorburn 30 Pts

TeamsTEG Sport Pirelli  114 PtsJRM Lico 83 PtsRevolution Wheels 64 Pts