A fourth place finish for Marshall Clarke in Rally Italia Sardinia has elevated him to second in the WRC2 Championship standings. A steady run for the Enniskillen navigator and his Quatari driver Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari in their Ford Fiesta has lifted them up one place in the series and they sit just three points adrift of championship leader Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The pair already had a win under their belt this season after success at Rally Argentina and they were looking to improve on their fifth place finish in Portugal last month, but that looked unlikely during the opening stages of the event as a slow start saw them languishing in twelfth spot after the opening three stages. As the Friday stages wore on they started to pick up the pace however, and soon mounted a fightback.

By the end of a gruelling 18 hour day containing nine stages they had climbed back to sixth overall in WRC2 and looked on course for another good points haul.

They gained another place on Saturday, but picked up a puncture in the second half of the day. That cost them three minutes and dropped them from fifth to seventh, but they were not to be denied. On the final day they passed the two cars in front of them and benefitted for a retirement among the leaders to move into fourth.

Hard charging series leader Al-Attiyah was closing the gap behind them after recovering from an earlier accident, but he could not overhaul them before the final stage. The fourth pace finish leaves them well placed in the championship, but Marshall admits they do not expect to remain second as they will not return to the series for three months. “We are not doing the next three rallies so we will obviously drop down the standings,” he said. “We will see what way we are placed in September.”