Duggan gives Adam maiden BRC gravel victory
Rob Duggan showed the gravel prowess we were all expecting from him in Mid Wales by scoring his second Junior British Rally Championship victory in a row.
The Killarney man was always favoured on the Circuit of Ireland but he trailed Sindre Furuseth and eventual winner Gus Greensmith on the gravel opener on the Mid Wales event, despite impressing on last year’s Wales Rally GB.
It was a tough opening morning for all the Juniors, even for the leader at the service after two stages. Furuseth’s Renault Twingo topped the order but had a soft brake pedal through parts of The Shanks and all of The Forks. Duggan was second but struggling for feeling in the car and Greensmith had some expletives to describe his driving in the morning.
Mattias Adielsson (Vauxhall Adam) was caught out by a puncture on SS1 but his times didn’t reflect it. The Swede nearly ran out of tyres as he suffered three flats on one stage.
Roughside saw the two exponents from Mid Wales fall down the order. Furuseth stopped to change a puncture while Greensmith also suffered a deflated cover on his Ford Fiesta but pushed through to the end. Both drivers had hit exactly the same rock.
Duggan then led overnight, and despite his concerns with the car, he must have been happy with the times. The JBRC winner on the Circuit was on for two in a row, even with the Vauxhall Adam being unproven on gravel. A lead over a minute from Greensmith meant that, without issues, there wasn’t enough stage mileage for him to be caught.
Duggan asserted his authority, taking a stage win on SS6 to make it two wins in a row.
Furuseth took the other two and again impressed, with spectators unable to believe the speed the Norwegian was carrying through some of the Kielder corners. However, the stop for the puncture ruled him well out and he could only finish fifth.
Greensmith took second after a tough weekend, but his attention will soon have to shift to Portugal for the Drive DMACK Trophy in two weeks’ time. The Brit was excellent in Mid Wales and Carlisle will be forgotten quickly.
Adam Bustard rolled in Mid Wales, but made it two thirdplaced finishes from two in a strong weekend for he and Aaron Johnston.
In their similar Ford Fiesta R2T, Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson are still struggling with their car, which sounded more like a truck. More turbo issues were thought to be the problem. Despite struggling for power, they scored a first finish of the season. Evans was still disappointed but happy to finish the event.