Poole driver Marcus Dodd's hopes of lifting another MSA National Gravel Rally Championship title are over for another season. The Flitewise.com backed driver was jointly leading the Park Systems Rally in South West Scotland until an untimely engine failure left the Hyundai Accent WRC stranded at the side of the road.
Dodd had a simple task prior to the event - the recent winner of the Swansea Bay Rally knew that he and Hove based co-driver Andrew Bargery had to win in Scotland in order to remain in the hunt for title honours. The Newton Stewart based event offered 50 miles of testing stages in classic forests such as Glentrool, where punctures traditionally decided who succeeded and who failed on the rally.
Dry conditions would greet the crews on Saturday morning, and the opening 19 mile stage would provide a stern test. Series rival Barry Johnson was hit by punctures early on, dropping two minutes. Norwegian ace Andreas Mikkelsen slipped off the road and retired, and Dodd stopped the clocks with fastest time. Joining him on that time to the tenth of a second was championship rival Craig Middleton, who also put in a spirited first stage performance in his similar Hyundai Accent WRC.
Moving to the second stage of the rally, Dodd was keen to push on to try and eek out an advantage over Middleton. Sadly, he had pull off from the stage at the second junction, with an engine problem. Dodd had no option but to retire from the rally, losing any remaining chance of taking the title in the process. For Dodd, it was a disappointing end to a season where he had consistently shown himself to be one of the championship's fastest drivers.
![Marcus Dodd [Pic credit: Geoff Mayes Images / www.geoffmayesimages.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/246923.jpg)
