Ray Cunningham and Jared Gill celebrate another victory! (Photo courtesy of Sideways Media)
On Sunday the 6th August, the Mini Sport Mini Cup Championship entered it’s fourth round of the season at Dundrennan Kirkcudbrightshire for the Solway Coast stages. Another well-known MOD venue, 17 Mini crews took to what proved to be quite a traitorous route in the rain spanning over 40 miles.
Ray Cunningham and Jared Gill leading the line-up.
(Photo courtesy of Sideways Media)
The real battle once again boiled down to Ray Cunningham and Jared Gill against Mini Sport sponsored Clive King and Anton Bird for the top spot, yet Cunningham/Gill were to once again be victorious – however consistent performers King/Bird are still leading the Championship on points, following on from an early win and use of their Joker card.
Although it was a great event and enjoyed by all, it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing for all with 2 of our Mini crews crashing out with damage, both in a massive pot hole that followed a crest, unfortunately resulting in a lot of misfortune including newcomer Richard Ford and Neil MacDonald ending up crashing in to a tree! Shane Gamble and Bob Ward were suffering with wheel bearing issues, luckily Mini Sport’s Rob Eastwood was on hand once again to get them back out on the track.
Notable mentions also to Andy Walkingshaw who undertook a complete gearbox rebuild on Friday night, only fitting the engine back in his car on Saturday afternoon! Also, mentions for the Snap-On award that went to Mini Girls Rally Team‘s Louise Thomas, with Stuart Hart and Cat Farrell, who had travelled all the way from Caerwent, winning the Yokohama prize.
Clive King and Anton Bird competing during the Solway Coast stages. (Photo courtesy of Sideways Media)
Simon Malins Championship Co-Ordinator of the HRCR went on to say that of the Isle of Man stages next month , “with competitors from the UK, Ireland and Japan it’s shaping up to be another classic event for the championship and Mini Cup.”
Congratulations to all the crews who competed, will we see a change at the top of the leaderboards during the Rally Isle of Man…? Only time will tell!
Results:
1st – Ray Cunningham/Jared Gill
2nd -Clive King/Anton Bird
3rd – Ian Clare/Antony Elkes
Full results can be found on the site here.
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