ARC / RD4 / JIM CLARK RALLY 2024
11/06/2024WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW SCOTT & NIGEL PRATT (BLACK MOUNTAINS MEDIA)
Following a dramatic double-header at the Manx Rally, the 2024 Motorsport UK ProTyres Asphalt Rally Championship would return to action for Round 4 in the Scottish Borders at the Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally (May 24/25).
From the town of Duns in the county of Berwickshire, Scotland, the Jim Clark Rally is affectionately named after the 1963 & 65 Formula One Champion and would once again offer up a challenging two-day, 86-mile Asphalt rally across 14 stages.
First run in 1970, this iconic event which was initially organised by the Berwick & District Motor Club but is now under the Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club, aims to support the Jim Clark Trust (formed in 2015) and the Jim Clark Museum itself in Duns town centre. The rally has dipped its toes in and out of the UK’s National Asphalt Championship as far back as the late nineteen nineties and has been a mainstay for the series in more recent times.
Last year James Ford & Neil Shanks took the Asphalt Championship honours in their Citroen C3 Rally2 car and would return this year to defend their crown. However, the pair would line up against stiff competition in this hotly contested series, namely that of Championship leaders coming into the event James Williams & Ross Whittock, who arrived in Duns on a high off the back of their Manx double-win.
Williams & Whittock weren’t the only protagonists vying for glory at the Jim Clark, 2023 title Champs Callum Black & Jack Morton had a bit of a torrid time last time out on the Manx. Although they recovered from an opening stage mistake on day one to score some points, their second day did fare a lot worse, retiring from the event and falling victim to a failing 30p oil hose clip. Black & Morton really had to make the Jim Clark count or else they could be seeing that fight for their second title start to slowly fade away, they would therefore be searching for a win to keep their fight alive.
Manx runner-up Steve Wood was back as was third-place finisher Hugh Hunter, perhaps it would have been a big ask for either of them to improve on their Manx podium results here, but a target of repeating it would more than suffice. Usually suspects Mark Kelly & Neil Roskell would, however, be hoping for better this time around. Having both walked away from the Manx with less-than-ideal results, they would be looking to score well on the Jim Clark. They would face some extra runners and riders this time around, who came in the form of a couple of Scots, a returning Hugh Brunton and David Henderson were the ones to watch.
LEG 1 | STAGES 1-6
The opening leg of the rally would cover forty miles over six stages (three of which repeated), it had rained during the day and would begin in the evening with the return of one of the event’s most iconic stages. A short but sharp blast through the fan’s favourite Langton Mill where the famous water splash would greet the crews, signalled the start of another intense battle out on the stages.
Photo: Callum Black & Jack Morton | Source: Asphalt Rally Championship
Callum Black & Jack Morton would be the ones to show their intent on this opening test; “We have to win really”, Black stated, “We just had to get through that one, you can lose it all but not gain too much”. At less than 2 miles, the pair would begin their event in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 setting off with a heavy right foot and taking the opening stage win by 1.1 seconds over the Citroen C3 Rally2 of a slightly flustered-looking James Ford & Neil Shanks.
Photos: James Williams & Ross Whittock | James Ford & Neil Shanks | Source: Asphalt Rally Championship
Williams & Whittock in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 was a further second off the pace in third but a re-fueling issue had given the Championship leaders a bit of a shaky start, which in turn caused them to arrive late to the first stage.
“That’s not an ideal start to our rally, we started way too far back and we had problems before we started. It was lethal in there, just glad I put on a cross tyre combination because we at least had some grip, Elliott Payne had spun in the water splash and I nearly wiped him out.”
James Williams
The highly regarded Abbey St Bathans test would follow, and the longer 10-mile stage would allow the crews to stretch their legs out a bit. Here is where James Ford & Neil Shanks began to really show their hand early on; the Citroen C3 was flying and performing well up against the Rally2 spec machines from Ford and Hyundai. The pair would pull out 1.5 seconds here over Black & Morton, putting them in the lead of the Asphalt field. But behind that battle for the lead, Williams & Whittock appeared to be struggling to match their pace and were over 18 seconds off the mark. The stage would also claim the first victim of the rally in Mark Kelly, whos Skoda Fabia R5 car suffered a mechanical issue with the input shaft to the gearbox coming loose.
Photo: James Ford & Niel Shanks | By Andrew Scott
Black & Morton already knew that they really had to get ahead of Ford & Shanks and gave it a bit of a push in Blackadder, alas their efforts weren’t quite good enough with Ford nipping the stage by the small margin of just 0.6 seconds. After the opening loop of three, the battle for the lead of the rally between Ford and Black was close at just 1.6 seconds, with Williams the best of the rest at nearly 20 seconds off the pace.
Photos: Callum Black & Jack Morton – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media) | James Ford & Neil Shanks – By Andrew Scott
Neil Roskell with Dai Roberts beside him calling the notes was enjoying the stages in his Ford Fiesta Rally2, they were only just about on top of the battle for the fourth spot, with a slender 0.3-second advantage over Scotsman David Henderson & Chris Lee, who rounded out the top five Asphalt crews.
Outside of the top 5, another returning Scot to the championship, Hugh Brunton was pushing his Skoda Fabia Rally2 EVO around the stages with an air of confidence about the cockpit. Brunton & Co-Driver Drew Sturrock were in the middle of a skirmish with Steve Woods & Kenny Hull and were holding P6 ahead of Wood’s Citroen C3 Rally2, with 4.3 separating them after the first loop of three.
Photos: Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock – By Andrew Scott | Steve Wood & Kenny Hull – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Brunton would however return to the repeated Langton Mill stage, like the ford itself, overflowing with that confidence. Picking up his first Asphalt stage win here “That was good, it was fun”, he remarked, yet at the same raising a concern that the following Abbey stage could potentially be where the time might drop off “Will try and get to the end of tonight, try to not lose too much time on Abbey and then push on the last one”.
As the darkness descended, it was clear that the goal for the majority was simply to get through these three night stages and focus on the following day where the meat of the rally would be had. Black was more confident with those stages the following day (in the daylight) and would end the evening holding second, although the gap to the rally lead had grown to 24.7 seconds.
Williams, who so far believed that the rally was “just not working for me”, and had lost P3 in the last stage of the day (Blackadder). It wasn’t ideal but he still had some fighting talk left in him “It’s tough but we gotta keep fighting, it’s a long day tomorrow, so watch out we’re coming for you”.
Photos: James Williams & Ross Whittock – By Andrew Scott | David Henderson & Chris Lee – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Meanwhile, there were some transmission gremlins for the Fiesta of Henderson. “I had a bit of a problem in service and we had to change a drive shaft”, these night stages were now perhaps not just a question of getting through but more of a, can the car hold up? for him. “Hopefully it’s not too much of a big deal and we can make it to the end of the loop.” Luckily for the Scotsman, it held up and he was even able to push on, taking the final podium place away from Williams in the last stage of the day.
Photos: Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts | Steve Wood & Kenny Hull | David Henderson & Chris Lee | By Andrew Scott
Roskell was clearly not interested in times and didn’t want anyone spoiling his fun, however, he would drop from fifth to sixth on the final test of the day (Blackadder 2) promoting Steve Woods & Kenny Hull, who rounded out the top 5 Asphalt crews on day one.
At the end of the opening day, James Ford & Neil Shanks had done the business thus far, having built up a decent overnight lead of 24.7 seconds over Black & Morton; would it be too early to set their sights on the win already? After all, it is a long rally, they would still face a further 47 miles across eight more formidable stages but it was more than a good start and a decent time to go on and defend.
Photo: James Ford & Neil Shanks | By Andrew Scott
Aled Wyne Morgans alongside Ian Taylor, would end the opening leg of the rally leading the two-wheel drive field in their MKII Ford Escort. They were locked in a battle with Manx 2WD winner Darren Atkinson, who had Harry Stubbs along for the ride this time out. Morgans & Taylor had edged a gap of 4.1 seconds across the six stages but really wanted to “Just get tonight out of the way and have a bit of a push on tomorrow”. Atkinson on the other hand, didn’t think that he was doing well “We knew the car behind was gonna catch us so we moved over because we didn’t want to ruin his rally, I’m not making excuses but I didn’t drive my best”.
Photo: Aled Wyne Morgans & Ian Taylor | By Andrew Scott
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #11 J.FORD / N.SHANKS | 34:43.0 |
| 2 | #8 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | +24.7 |
| 3 | #12 D.HENDERSON / C.LEES | +1:29.4 |
| 4 | #7 J.WILLIAMS / R.WHITTOCK | +3.8 |
| 5 | #25 S.WOOD / K.HULL | +16.7 |
LEG 2 | STAGES 7-14
The crews would catch their breath and go again for the second leg of the rally the next morning. Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock began the day again topping the timing sheets for the third pass of the Langton Mill test. Rally leader James Ford appeared to initially be still showing Callum Black who the Jim Clark Boss was, up until SS8 Edrom that was, where Black decided that he was gonna have to begin to make strides. Black & Morton clawed back just 1.8 seconds to Ford & Shanks in Edrom, which wasn’t going to make much of a dent in itself.
Photo: Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
However, Black would carry on that charge into SS9 Ayton, following it up with another stage win and again in SS10 Fogo, re-gaining a further 2.6 and 1.2 seconds respectively, but the lead was still some 20 seconds away. The morning loop had seen Black & Morton’s performance increase a notch, but was it perhaps too late and the rally was already lost the day before? James Ford & Neil Shanks continued to hold the lead and were sitting comfortably at the top with a margin of 20 seconds heading into the final loop of four stages.
Photos: James Ford & Neil Shanks | David Henderson & Chris Lees | By Andrew Scott
David Henderson & Chris Lees had seemingly put those transmission gremlins the night before firmly behind them and continued to hold the final podium place. In a bit of a no man’s land, they were unlikely to catch Black in front and had a sizable gap of over a minute to their nearest competitor behind them, so it was just a case of holding position and seeing it through.
Photo: James Williams & Ross Whittock | By Andrew Scott
After three solid rounds, the rally would end after SS7 for the Championship hopefuls James Williams & Ross Whittock. The power steering would fail on the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car, forcing them to retire and bringing an end to their strong run of results. Their first DNF hurt and would also see them toppled from the top of the Championship standings at the Jim Clark.
Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts would leapfrog Steve Woods & Kenny Hull in SS8 Edrom (who would also retire then from the rally in SS9) and would assume fourth place ahead of Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock who would round out the top 5 Asphalt crews after the morning loop of four stages.
Photos: Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts – By Andrew Scott | Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock – By Andrew Scott | Darren Atkinson & Harry Stubbs – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Darren Atkinson would finally get his eye in and was able to overhaul Aled Wyn Morgans & Ian Taylor over the morning loop for the lead of the two-wheel drives, with Mathew Dance & Jason Davis also slipstreaming them into second.
With the final loop of four stages remaining, Ford & Shanks would once again return to top the timing sheets on the final pass of the Langton Mill test, but Black & Morton would continue to apply the pressure through the afternoon, just in case anything untoward would happen.
Ultimately James Ford & Neil Shanks would remain both calm and firmly in control of the rally in their Citroen C3 Rally2, heading into the final stage of the event with 16.1 seconds in their back pockets. The pair would sign off their Jim Clark Rally with the final stage win, crossing the finish line back in Duns with a margin of 17.8 seconds to take to the top step of the Protyres Asphalt Rally Championship podium, recreating their 2023 victory in style.
Photo: James Ford & Neil Shanks | By Andrew Scott
“Class weekend at the Jim Clark Rally, 4th on the national and the Protyre win with James Ford. After a big push on Saturday, we just missed the podium when the last stage masters Euan (Thorburn) & Paul (Beaton) pipped us with the fastest time on the last stage. Massive thanks to everyone involved in putting the weekend on, it’s a huge undertaking to put an event of this scale together. Fantastic to get the longer events back, a proper challenge of a weekend”
Neil Shanks (Co-Driver to James Ford)
Alas, Black & Morton could do no more and for the second time this year would have to settle for being the bridesmaids. Despite a strong push, the gap was too much of an ask and the pair would finish some 17.8 seconds down to take second place on the Protyres Asphalt podium. Despite heading into the event with the mindset of only a win will do, and with the points earned for second, don’t write off their Championship hopes just yet as they leave Duns holding P6 in the standings.
Photo: Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andrew Scott
David Henderson & Chris Lees would round out the Asphalt podium having overcome the transmission issues that they experienced on the opening night of the rally. However, their result wouldn’t have too much of an impact on the overall Championship standings, given it was their first appearance of the year.
Photo: David Henderson & Chris Lee | By Andrew Scott
The lead of the Championship would now fall to Simon Bowen & Chris Simkiss who piloted their Ford Fiesta S2000 through the lanes in fourth, ahead of Neil Roskel & Dai Roberts who rounded out the top 5 in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. After a troublesome Manx, Roskell remained determined to score well on the Jim Clark, his fifth place lands him fourth in the the standings and in the mix.
Darren Atkinson would repeat his Manx two-wheel drive winning performance in his Ford Escort MKII, with an impressive eighth overall of the Asphalt crews and leading a trio of MKII Escorts which would fill out the top 10. Co-Driven by Harry Stubbs, the pair would secure the honours over Gordon Morrison & Ian Parker by well over 1 minute and 17 seconds; with Mathew Dance & Jason Davis completing the top three two-wheel drive machinery. Atkinson’s strong performance across the opening three rounds would catapult him up to P3 in the Championship standings, proving that a modern Rally2/R5 spec machine is not always necessarily the only option to compete within this series.
Photo: Darren Atkinson & Harry Stubbs | By Andrew Scott
| POS | FINAL LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #11 J.FORD / N.SHANKS | 1:15:30.0 |
| 2 | #8 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | +17.8 |
| 3 | #12 D.HENDERSON / C.LEES | +2:06.0 |
| 4 | #28 S.BOWEN / C.SIMKISS | +1:46.0 |
| 5 | #16 N.ROSKELL / D.ROBERTS | +2:27.0 |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVERS TABLE | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SIMON BOWEN | 101 |
| 2 | JAMES WILLIAMS | 91 |
| 3 | DARREN ATKINSON | 90 |
| 4 | NEIL ROSKELL | 81 |
| 5 | STEVE WOOD | 78 |
NEXT TIME
The Motorsport UK, Protyres Asphalt Rally Championship remains up north and in Scotland but would side-step westwards to the Dunoon and Cowal Peninsular for the eighth running of the Argyll Rally (June 21/22). A firm favourite event in the series which provides another challenging two-day 75mile Asphalt event which will await the crews.
