by Geoff Mayes


Mark Higgins came from behind to win the 2006 Jim Clark International Rally after tying with Rory Galligan on stage times after 140 miles of some of the closest rallying seen in a very long time.

After the opening round of the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship some sceptics wondered if the strong start would continue through to round two. Well after the frantic on stage action from this weekend most of those sceptics will have been proved wrong. Even having to essentially play second fiddle to the Irish boys in their World Rally Cars didn't stop the BRC contenders from putting on a sterling show.

The opening 12.7 mile stage saw Guy Wilks top the times for the first time this year, going 1.5 seconds quicker than Mark Higgins and proving in the process that the Super 1600 cars can be a viable competitor to the Group N Mitsubishis and Subaru's. The fight for third was between Rory Galligan and Roman Kresta, with Galligan having gone 2.3 seconds faster than the M-Sport test driver.

Stage 2 saw Galligan go quickest, 1.5 seconds quicker than Higgins whilst Wilks struggled in the slightly damp conditions and could only manage 11th quickest over the stage.

Stage 3 was the first run around the short spectator stage called Langton Park and Galligan once more went quicker than Higgins - but only by a mere 1 second meaning he was now tied with Mark Higgins as the cars headed back to first service. Guy Wilks was still third overall and only a further 3 seconds behind.

With the same three stages run again conditions were expected to be a bit more tricky as over 150 cars had been through the stages, resulting in a lot of gravel having been pulled onto the roads in some places. Galligan and Wilks set equally fastest time over the second running of Abbey St Bathans, a full 8 seconds quicker than on their first run through. Higgins was third, dropping nearly 4 seconds to the pair ahead.

Galligan then went a whole 6 seconds faster over the next stage to enter the second running of Langton with a 9 second lead over Higgins and Wilks, who were tied for second. However an over exuberant exit from the Langton Ford saw him spin, costing him most of his lead and meant the rally returned to Kelso at the end of day one with Galligan leading Mark Higgins by the slim margin of 0.7 seconds. Third overall was still Guy Wilks, he was now 10 seconds behind the leaders but another 10 ahead of Ryan Champion, who led the chasing pack.

Day two began with a charge from Gwyndaf Evans, who kick started the days proceedings with a time 1.3 seconds faster than Galligan's, and 2.5 quicker than Higgins.

Stage 8, Whiteadder, featured possibly the longest river crossing in the whole championship. Apart from a few unusual lines through the ford most of the top contenders got through cleanly. However Roman Kresta endured a frustrating time when his car drowned in the ford, costing him over 4 minutes and any chance of a top result.