Aberdeenshire’s Barry Clark, contesting only his second World Rally Championship event, continued his education by completing the penultimate leg of the inaugural Rally of Turkey on the verge of clinching a top 10 finish.
The 25-year-old from Ellon, driving his Ford Focus RS WRC 07, starts tomorrow’s final three stages pushing the fellow Team Munchi Ford of Argentinian Frederico Villagra who currently holds 10th.
“We’ve had another good, solid day,” the North-east driver, who finished just outside the top 10 on his WRC debut in Jordan last month, admitted today. “My confidence is building with every stage we complete and hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.
“Obviously I’d love to get into the top 10, but it’s probably going to require one of the cars in front of us retiring if we’re to climb through the field. The gap to 10th is juts over four minutes.”
And while fellow Brit Malcolm Wilson, driving the Stobart Focus RS WRC 07, continued to battle through illness and hold seventh place, it’s the Ford of Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen who leads team-mate Jari Matti Latvala by 15.3 seconds.
The Ford duo took advantage of the difficulties experienced by the Citroen of overnight leader Sebastian Loeb. The defending world champ, running first on the slippery, gravel stages dropped time clearing the loose surface for those cars following behind.
JM