Dodd stars with Bulldog victory
Escort Cosworth driver Marcus Dodd scored his first national series win on last weekend’s Bulldog Rally, and announced his intention to contest both the Mobil 1 British and Mintex championships in 1998.
The 26-year-old rising star hopes to attract Ford’s help to run both an Escort WRC and a Formula 2 version after he dominated the Welsh event, despite the presence of the works Renault Meganes and Nissan's new British champion Mark Higgins.
Former Scottish champion Murray Grierson threatened Dodd for a while before his Subaru Impreza disappeared down a bank in Hafren on stage three. Higgins, who was tyre-testing the factory Sunny prior to the Network Q RAC Rally, took up the chase, but his engine expired at Sweet Lamb.
Northern Irish Champion Stephen Harron was second with Chris Mellors third. The Maxi Meganes of Robbie Head and Martin Rowe featured in the top 10 throughout, but chose not to hand in their timecards at the finish.
Steve Pinch clinched the Mintex Group N series by merely crossing the start ramp, while Guy Anderson won the Mintex Formula 2 crown despite retiring on stage three.
McShea storms to Nissan Micra title
Niall McShea won the 1997 Nissan Micra Challenge Performance Trophy following a storming drive to victory on the Bulldog National Rally in Wales last weekend.
McShea finished the series 14 points ahead of his closest rival Mark Fisher, although the latter endured a dreadful event, first losing a gearbox before blowing his engine on the final stage.
Michael O’Hara took advantage of the absence of showroom winner Paul Crossen, who graduated to the performance category, to win his class.
Jones steals last gasp Ford Ka crown
Gethin Jones made up for narrowly missing out on a Skoda Trophy prize-winning works drive last year by snatching the Ford Rally Ka Championship at the final round on the Bulldog Rally last weekend.
Jones won a fully prepared 1300cc Ka in an AUTOSPORT competition at the beginning of this year, and traded the series lead throughout the seven-round championship with Sweden’s Lars Goran Andersson.
A steady run to second was enough for Jones after the Swede suffered a driveshaft failure