BCCC: Gould wins Forrest Lodge thriller

After two days of tough competition Martin Gould took victory on round three of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship by just two seconds from Steve Hiatt.

The event, held on gravel tracks and several quarry sections at the Forrest Lodge estate in South West Scotland, was initially led by Tim Dilworth. Having won the opening two rounds Dilworth looked to be heading for a third victory after beating his nearest rival by 28 seconds on the first run of the day. All was to change on run three though with Dilworth’s Peugeot 206 STi suffering a blown engine which put him out of the event, reigning champion Richard Kershaw taking over the lead.

Kershaw’s lead was short-lived, his GSR 206 Evo leaving the road at high speed on the fourth run after a brake disc shattered. With Hiatt’s Warrior Indy suffering a broken stub axle and brake disc after a puncture on run four it was Gould who took over the lead in his Matterserati and at the end of day one’s six runs he lead by 35 seconds.

The opening run of day two saw Gould and Hiatt evenly matched but a puncture for Gould on run eight saw him lose time and the lead changed once more. Gould fought back on run nine and going into the tenth and final run Gould and Hiatt were on exactly the same time.

Both crews set their fastest personal time of the weekend on the last run but it was Gould who took victory, completing run ten two seconds quicker than Hiatt.

"It’s been a really good weekend with some cracking racing," said Gould. "I would’ve been happy with second place but we managed to pull it out of the bag on the last run, we had to push as hard as we could without getting very silly."

Behind the leading two crews Dan Lofthouse claimed third place in his Proto LD4 with Justin Birchall and Carl Duffield rounding off the top five.

In the Trophy category Greg Morris took victory in his Bowler Wildcat with Adam Evans second.

British Cross Country Championship results – Round 3, Forrest Estate, Dalry, Castle Douglas

1. Martin Gould, Mattserati 1:20:46
2. Steve Hiatt, Warrior Indy 1:20:48
3. Dan Lofthouse, Lofthouse Proto LD4 1:25:53
4. Justin Birchall, Peugeot M206 Evo 1:28:36
5. Carl Duffield, AWD Proto 4x4 1:28:54
6. Karl Gudgeon, GSR Evo X 1:30:03
7. Martin Cox, Tornado Evo 1 Cosworth 1:31:50
8: Steve Smith, JRG Indy Focus M3 1:32:59
9. Mark Francis, Milner R4 1:33:29
10. Bob Seaman, Milner R5 1:33:32

Watch British Cross Country Championship highlights from Forrest Lodge in Special Stage Rally Review on Thursday 21 July at 6pm (BST) on Motors TV.


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