Shaken, but fortunately unscathed, Barry, Greer and Jonathan Sparks all reported heart-stopping visits to ditches in SS2, whilst Daniel Sigurdarson was just pleased to be competing, having spent the last three weeks in the UK, rather than his native Iceland, in order to rebuild his car after a big accident on the RBSI Manx Rally.
The most frustrating start was reserved for Miles Johnston, a problem with his car's rear differential, followed by a broken drive-shaft, causing him considerable time loss in the opening stages.
The third stage was to prove to be decisive: Not far from the start Cronin spun backwards into the scenery, squashing his car's exhaust pipe, which resulted in a loss of power throughout the 18-mile run through Radnor Forest. However, things were worse for McCance, who dropped his car into a ditch half way through the stage, bringing his rally to an abrupt halt.
In contrast, SS3 could not have gone better for Bogie who posted a time 14 seconds faster than the rest of the Evo Challenge field and catapulted himself into the lead by 10 seconds, ahead of Cathcart, Barry and Cronin - who had now dropped to fourth.
Four stages and a further 33 miles remained following the second service halt of the day. Now on a charge, Cronin won the first, which moved him back up to second place ahead of Barry and Cathcart, the three of them separated by less than one second!
Cronin also went on to win the next two, so that when cars lined-up to start the seventh and final stage, there was just four seconds between him and Bogie. Cathcart followed eight seconds later, a slender 0.1 second ahead of Barry who was getting worried about his car's engine temperature. It was shaping up to be a final stage show-down.
In full-attack mode, Bogie blasted through the 15 miles of Crychan Main only to find his car's temperature starting to rise as he reached the end of the stage. For Cronin it was his last hope to take the lead, but it was not to be, as his engine lost power, most likely a result of the restricted exhaust flow earlier in the day.
