Pritchard had led the Citroen C2R2 Cup class from the very beginning, facing competition from first Martin McCormack and then from round one winner Andrew Hockridge. Jason is still recovering from a broken ankle but drove a sensible rally, and controlled the pace from the front. His list of awards was mighty impressive. Not only did the 20 year old take the class R2 award but, as he is registered for the Irish championship, he was also classified as third overall in that series, behind Higgins and Boland.
Hockridge was building his confidence back up after a high speed crash during testing, and was also adjusting to a new co-driver in the form of Rich Mills. Despite this his second place in class has elevated him back into the Citroen C2R2 Cup championship lead.
In Class R1 it was once again all about the Suzuki’s and again it appeared that no one wanted to take the victory. Round one winner Gordon Nichol was the first casualty, crashing out in style on Thursday night. Mark Gamble then powered away into the lead with a string of stunning stage times on Friday, before putting his Swift off on Saturday morning. The enthusiastic spectators managed to push the car backwards into a wall in their efforts to get him going again.
This time loss had gifted the lead to Ross Forde. But then he crashed out, at the same bend as Nichol, allowing Gamble back into the lead. Despite driving a full stage with his bonnet up against his windscreen Mark eventually returned to Douglas as the victor.
With the championship now reaching the halfway mark, and with dropped scores to come into play, it is still very close at the top.
Next up is the Ulster Rally, the final tarmac rally of the year, which runs from August 22-23. Last year Wilks suffered a variety of mechanical problems, but you can be sure that Mitsubishi will be keen to rekindle their championship attack...
