Alastair Fisher missed out on a podium finish in the British Rally Championship by two tenths of a second after finishing in fourth place on the final round in Poole.

With the exception of a victory on the Scottish Rally it had been a largely frustrating campaign for Alastair.  He had gone into the season hoping to become the first driver from Northern Ireland to win the British Championship and the Scottish win looked to have put him in a great position to achieve that, but he crashed out of the Ulster Rally on home territory and from that moment it was an uphill struggle for the Trillick driver.

After a steady start to Rally Sunseeker which had Alastair back in fifth position after two stages, he posted the fastest time on stage three to move up to third overall.  It was as high as he was able to climb all day however.  With Oisin Pryce surging ahead on his way to a third consecutive rally win Alastair was left to battle for second place in the championship.  Third place would have been enough to secure him the runners up spot but he entered the final stage of the rally in fourth, three and a half seconds adrift of Korhonen in third.  Alastair pushed hard on the final test, posting the second fastest time, but he fell an agonising 0.2 seconds shy of overhauling the new champion.  With the podium places so closely contested, his fourth overall finish was only good enough for fourth place in the final championship standings.

Jon Armstrong went into the event leading the Newcomers Trophy, but the Fiesta driver also had a frustrating finish to his Championship season when he retired on the third stage, losing out on the Newcomers Trophy having headed the standings from the first event of the season.  Jon looked on course for the award after two stages, sitting fourth in class just behind soon to be crowned Fiesta Sporting Trophy winner Daniel McKenna, but on the third stage he broke a driveshaft which put him out of the event and ended his hopes of trophy success.

Following the rally Jon Armstrong travelled to take part in the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout, but he again lost out to McKenna. The Pirelli Star Driver Scheme has been running since 2008 and each year it aims to support one driver as they take to the wheel of a fully-funded car for the duration of a British Rally Championship season. The competition was between six drivers selected for their outstanding performances during the season, with Jon selected for his performance on the Ulster Rally. During the two-day shootout, the finalists were assessed on their abilities to drive the car they used to compete on this year’s BRC on a two-mile stage at Sweet Lamb: the same complex that is used as a special stage on the FIA World Rally Championship.

The drivers were also tested on their driving skills, media awareness, event strategy, technical ability and future potential.