It was Cox who set the pace early on, taking a lead of 17 seconds on run one ahead of Ryan Cooke in his Milner LRM-1. Cox and Cooke exchanged fastest times for the first six runs and the scene was set for a close battle between the pair. Unfortunately for Cooke his car then suffered a burst radiator which forced him out of the event.
This promoted Moran to second in his AT 4x4 Challenger with Andy Powell in third. Despite a puncture late on day one Cox held an overnight lead of over two minutes after ten runs of the course.
A further seven runs took place on day two. Cox’s car had been consuming oil at an ever-increasing rate and at the end of the sixth run he was forced to stop as soon as he crossed the finish line as the engine was totally out of oil. The car was filled up again but the engine let go just after the start line of his final run and Cox had to be towed out of the course. The resultant maximum dropped him down the leaderboard and gave the win to Moran.
“It’s been a great weekend and it is a privilege to race at a venue usually used by our Armed Forces,” said Moran. “I feel sorry for Martin, he drove exceptionally well and deserved to win but it’s all about getting points and the result means I still have a chance of the championship.”
“The course was phenomenal with a good mix of fast, extremely fast and rough sections. The car performed well, our new gearbox was only finished on Thursday night and it has transformed the car. Thanks to Lofthouse Motorsport and Roland at ACR for all their work on it.”
Powell continued setting good times on day two to take second place in his Simmbugghini, his best ever racing result.
“I’m elated with second place, it’s a great result for us especially as we’re in a beam axle car rather than an independent. I enjoyed the course, it was certainly a tough test of man and machine. We had a lot of work to do on the car after the last round including fitting a new transfer box, it was touch and go whether we’d make it to Bovington but all the work has paid off.”
Mark Jacques was another driver achieving a personal best result, overcoming shaft problems on day one to finish in third.
Cox’s final run issues saw him drop to fourth ahead of Richard Green’s Tomcat. Paul Myers was 6th and the Isuzu of Jason Sharpe was 7th despite having to do some runs in two wheel drive after a driveshaft issue.
In 8th was Ian Bartlett who towed Cox for almost a full lap in his Tomcat. Birthday boy Steve Smith finished 9th after stopping twice with problems on day one while Paul Harris rounded off the top ten after a troublesome event in his GSR Maxilight, the car suffering from overheating.
In the Freelander Challenge Ian Linford took the win. Freelander newcomer Andrew Price was second. In third was the Race2Recovery crew of Grant White and Yanto Evans in their Dynamic Metals-supported car, the crew making history by becoming the first amputee pairing to enter and finish an event. Ian Letman was fourth despite rolling the car on day one.
Jon Damrel was once again victorious in the Clubman class in his Tornado.
BCCC results:
1. Mike Moran/Tony Coid (AT 4x4 Indy Challenger) 02:29:49
2. Andy Powell/Phil Ibbotson (Simmbugghini) 02:32:41
3. Mark Jacques/Simon Last (3M Challenger) 02:37:39
4. Martin Cox/Paul Carson (GSR 206 Evo 9) 02:38:15
5. Richard Green/Richard Griffiths (Tomcat 100) 02:43:22
6. Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 02:45:38
7. Jason Sharpe/Russell Sharpe (Isuzu D-Max) 02:51:01
8. Ian Bartlett/Gary Bartlett (Tomcat Tornado) 03:03:26
9. Steve Smith/John Griffiths (JRG Indy Clio V8) 03:14:43
10. Paul Harris/Mark Phelps (GSR Maxilight) 03:15:48
