Five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae won round two of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge last weekend, the Pirelli Historic Rally. McRae finished second in his class overall to seal the lead of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge jointly with Francois Delecour: the winner of the opening round on the Bulldog Rally in Wales last month.

McRae was competing on his first gravel event in three years, taking the place of regular Porsche Challenge competitor Andrew Barnes, who had prior commitments. The Scot spent one day testing the car before the start of the Pirelli Historic, which was held in the famous Kielder Forest complex with its rapid stages flanked by deep ditches.

After setting off at a cautious pace, McRae gradually increased his speed to compete with the class leaders. Despite the dry weather that made the roads very dusty and slippery, McRae stayed out of trouble throughout Saturday’s six stages to record a well-deserved result, co-driven by Pauline Gullick.

“I struggled a bit for pace at the beginning as I hadn’t competed for a while, but I really enjoyed it,” said McRae at the finish in Carlisle. “I’d almost forgotten just how much commitment you need in the Kielder stages: they are awesome but absolutely flat out all the time and you need total confidence if you’re going to do well. I really don’t have the confidence that I had when I was younger, but I definitely enjoyed myself! Driving a Porsche on roads like this is always a fantastic experience.”

John Lloyd, who finished second of the Challenge runners on the Bulldog Rally, put up strong opposition to McRae, running just behind the legendary Scot for most of the event. Lloyd and his co-driver Adrian Cavenagh felt that they could have gone quicker in the morning, but just as they were picking up their pace in the afternoon they were stopped in their tracks by a broken calliper with only two stages to go.

“It was a pity as we had made a few adjustments to the car at midday service that gave us a bit more confidence,” said Lloyd, who has previously competed with Tuthill Porsche on the East African Safari Rally. “I think we were all a bit surprised by the condition of the stages: it was much more slippery than we thought, which made the driving a big challenge.”

Despite not finishing the Pirelli Historic Rally, Lloyd maintains third place in the Porsche Challenge behind the two rally legends that top the table.

Tuthill Porsche director Richard Tuthill commented: “It’s great for us to have two huge names like Jimmy McRae and Francois Delecour leading our championship after two rounds, even though they’re guest drivers who aren’t doing the whole series. John Lloyd has done an absolutely great job on both rounds held so far, and I’m sure he’ll be challenging for the win again on our next outing.

The next round of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge is the Severn Valley Rally based in Builth Wells on Saturday 4 June.