Gordon Nichol won the inaugural round of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup on the Pirelli International Rally last weekend - despite having incurred penalties on the first leg when he stopped to help a fellow Swift Cup runner change a puncture.
Six Swift Sport R1 cars started the rally on the Friday evening with the first four stages being run in the dark through Kershop Forest. With prevailing high winds and rain showers the crews needed maximum concentration in order to survive conditions described by many seasoned drivers as the roughest they had ever encountered on the event.
Young Nick Rowland was the first car to hit trouble when he arrived at the end of stage 1 with an over-heating engine and no battery charge having lost his alternator belt. He was forced to retire and to re-enter under SupeRally rules the next day.
Danish Junior champion Niki Bjerg meanwhile was setting some stunning times and leading the pack despite never having driven on gravel or at night previously. He was closely followed by the trio of Ross Forde, Gordon Nichol and late entry Mark Gamble, who was driving a left hand drive car for the very first time.
Niki eventually fell back on the last of the night's stages when he suffered a double puncture, leaving Mark as the overnight leader.
Bringing up the rear was
Evo Magazine journalist Henry Catchpole, who gained some respectable times despite taking up rallying only three months ago. He was a very relieved man to reach the service area near Carlisle on only his fifth rally.
Saturday saw all six teams ready to tackle the remaining 10 stages some of which were now becoming very rutted with large rocks appearing through the surface. By mid-morning a fierce battle was ensuing between Bjerg, Forde, Gamble and Nichol with only 30 seconds separating the crews.
Gamble had maintained his lead and some impressive stage times only to be cruelly forced out at the first service of the day with a damaged fuel tank and fuel pump.
