Following a fierce battle throughout the event’s 12 stages in Kielder Forest, twice British Rally Champion Keith Cronin and his co-driver Marshall Clarke claimed victory on this weekend’s Pirelli International Rally. They crossed the finish line 17.2-seconds ahead of Jarkko Nikara/Petri Nikara, after swapping the lead with their Autosport Technology Citroën DS3 R3 team-mates on three separate occasions.

Cronin and Clarke’s victory means that this year’s three MSA British Rally Championship rounds have seen three different winners. And, with never more than eight seconds between them and their Finnish counterparts until the final stage, the outcome of the rally has once again underlined the closeness of competition generated by the BRC’s two-wheel-drive only formula, which has been introduced this year.

After gathering confidence throughout the rally following their big off in round two, round-one winners Mark Donnelly/Dai Roberts were delighted to claim third place in their Renault Clio R3. Following them home in fourth were Elfyn Evans/Phil Pugh, the Welsh pair posting times equal to that of the R3 category runners in their R2 Ford Fiesta, with their reward for such an impressive performance seeing them come away from the event as championship leaders.