Aberdeenshire’s Barry Clark clinched a stunning top 10 finish in only his second outing in the World Rally Championship. And the 25-year-old from Ellon, driving his Ford Focus RS WRC 07, was delighted with his performance in the Rally of Turkey.
“My main target was to stay out of trouble, not damage the car, get to the finish and see where we ended up,” the talented young Scot, the first to contest a round of the WRC since former world champ Colin McRae, said today.
“The conditions were very, very trickery and slippery with a huge amount of dust. But the car performed brilliantly and It’s terrific to get a top 10 outing in only my second WRC event.”
Clark, who finished just outside the top 10 on his WRC debut in the Rally of Jordan last month, began yesterday’s final three stages in 12th but capitalised on the errors of those in front of him to move through the field.
“We always knew the final three stages were going to be tough, so we set ourselves a pace which we knew would keep us competitive and still safeguard the car,” Clark continued.
“I’m chuffed to bits to get a top 10 place. Now my next target has to be to score my first drivers’ championship point by finishing in the top eight.”
Clark, last year’s Fiesta Sporting Trophy International Championship winner, will next be in action in the Rallye de France in Corsica, an event he has contested once before in 2006 and finishing seventh in the FSTi category. To wrap up the year he will contest the closing WRC round, Wales Rally GB, at which he has had three previous outings in 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Scandinavian duo Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, separated by just 7.9-seconds, finished 1-2 for Ford in the three-day Turkey event, with defending world champ Sebastien Loeb third. The Citroen driver now trails Hirvonen by three points in the title race.
JM