Marty McCormack and Barney Mitchell won the 2017 Roger Albert Clark Rally (10-13 November) after four days, 270 stage miles and 29 special stages in the forests of Wales, Northumberland and Scotland.
The Northern Irish crew battled hard with leaders Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke over the first two days and moved ahead when Pritchard was sidelined by a broken halfshaft. Once ahead, McCormack continued his stunning pace to win by 1m44s from fellow former winners Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis while Roger Chilman and Bryan Thomas turned in a star performance on unfamiliar stages for third after leading overall during the opening day in Wales. The concurrent Open Rally was won convincingly by the Ford Escort Mk2 of David Hutchinson and Jeff Garnett.
Britain’s biggest and toughest rally made a triumphant return after a break of three years and drew a fantastic response from competitors, service crews, marshals and spectators. The incredible atmosphere of camaraderie and adventure made this the stand-out rally of the season and each of the finishers was elated to complete the rally.
A total of 91 crews started from Brightwells in Leominster on Friday morning and a remarkable tally of 61 finished at Kielder Waterside on Monday afternoon. In between were heroic tales of crews working miracles to keep cars running.
Spectators turned out in their thousands, including for the opening pair of stages at Shelsley Walsh on Friday morning when the rally made history by running cars competitively both up and down the hill for the first time. With many fans out in the forests across four days, the overall standard of spectator behaviour was very good.
McCormack drove a superb rally to repeat his 2012 victory and was elated with the result as he drove his Ford Escort Mk2 in the British forests for the first time in four years. However, he paid tribute to Pritchard’s outstanding drive over the first two days.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic,” said McCormack. “It’s been a massive event and Colin Heppenstall and the team have done a fantastic job.” It was not all plain-sailing for McCormack, however, as his Ford Escort Mk2 needed two new clutches and two gearbox changes during the rally.
Source: Racecar