NO WAY TO STOP THORBURN
But for a solitary runner-up finish in the Scottish Rally Championship, the 2019 season has been a perfect one for Euan Thorburn. The Scotsman, driving an ex-markko Martin Ford Focus WRC05 for the first time this year, was unbeatable on all the events he entered in the Gold Star class.
It wasn’t without its slight hiccups of course, but the way in which Thorburn routinely obliterated the opposition was something unseen in the BTRDA Rally Series for a long time.
Thorburn, a Gold Star champion in 2013, survived a misfire to begin the year with a narrow victory over Charlie Payne’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC on the Cambrian in February.
He doubled up on the Malcolm Wilson a month later but was made to sweat ahead of the final stage after more misfire problems on the road section.
Despite the obvious speed of the car and Thorburn’s ability to engineer a way round the seemingly hostile engine, all appeared a little unpredictable for the Duns local.
But once these issues began to disappear, Thorburn was even more dominant as his rivals’ title challenges began to fall by the wayside.
Two retirements in the opening two rounds all but nullified any chance 2017 champions Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson had of mounting a serious threat to Thorburn.
Still trying to adapt to a new driving style to get the most out of his Fiesta RS WRC, Petch eventually found form and proved as much with a run of five consecutive podium finishes to end the year a clear runner-up to Thorburn, who missed the final two events.
The only other car to win an event apart from Thorburn’s Focus was the Proton Iriz R5 of interloper Ollie Mellors, who won back-to-back on the Woodpecker and Trackrod rallies. Silver Star champion George Lepley claimed maximum points on the Woodpecker event after a sensational second place on his first outing in a Mitsubishi Lancer E10, which he followed up with a solid fifth place on the Trackrod.
Making his debut in an R5 this season was the 2017 ST Trophy champion Sam Bilham, after a year in the R2s. The Yorkshireman partnered with double British Rally champion Matt Edwards’ former co-driver, Patrick Walsh, and took a maiden podium with third on the Nicky Grist Stages.
“The step up from R2s is massive and I probably underestimated just how big it would be,” Bilham says. “It’s certainly been a challenging season but the support from Matt and Patrick all year really helped build confidence for that podium.”