BIRD SEALS RALLY TITLE
PAUL BIRD and Ian Windress won this year’s MSA National Gravel Rally Championship with victory on the Bulldog National Rally in mid-Wales last Saturday.
The Ford Focus WRC pairing (below) had an unusually trouble free run to a 13.5-second win over the Skoda Fabia WRC of Craig Middleton/Robin Hernaman.
Middleton led the event after the first stage before dropping back with turbo problems. The problem was righted at service, Middleton set two more fastest tests in the afternoon, he ran out of time to catch Bird for overall honours.
Barry Johnson and Stewart Merry (Subaru Impreza) were Bird's main title challengers heading into the event, but when they got stuck in fifth gear they were forced to settle for third place, ahead of Roger Duckworth and Mark Broomfield (Subaru Impreza).
