Single Skoda beats the Fords in British opener

25 year old Swedish driver, Fredrik Ahlin, scored his second victory in the British championship when he won the Brick & Steel Border Counties forest Rally, the opening round in 2017, in a Skoda Fabia R5.  

Border Counties Rally winner Fredrik Ahlin in his Skoda.He beat a line of seven Ford Fiesta R5s headed by Welsh drivers Tom Cave and Osian Pryce, and Irishman Keith Cronin.  

Ahlin is grandson of Count Freddy Kottulinsky, winner of the inaugural Paris-Dakar and later an Audi works rally driver.

Also maintaining a family habit was the winner of the Junior category, 21 year old Norwegian Oscar Solberg, son of WRC driver Henning Solberg.  

Oscar was successful despite receiving an unfair notional time when a stage was stopped after two other Junior drivers completed the stage.  

This year the British championship has unrestricted tyre regulations with the top four finishing cars using latest generation DMack tyres, and four different tyre suppliers represented in the top eight.  

Initial rally leader was the Skoda of Scottish Champion, David Bogie, who then slipped irretrievably off the road.  

The Border Counties Rally was a late substitute event in the BRC, the first time the event had been in the series.
 
- Martin Holmes 

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