Second for Tom Cave after nail-biting finish to Jim Clark Rally

Welsh rally driver Tom Cave claimed second place on this weekend's Jim Clark Rally, the second round of the 2013 MSA British Rally Championship, after a nail-biting final stage showdown. The 21-year old, co-driven by Ieuan Thomas in their Morris Lubricants-supported Citroen DS3, mounted a monumental charge on the second day, cutting the deficit to the leader from 44.4s to just 0.1s as they entered the final stage of the event, only to finish in second place by a tantalising two seconds.

The second round of this year's BRC took the crews north to the Scottish Borders region and the event base at the Kelso racecourse. However, the town of Duns, birthplace of the event namesake, saw the start of the action, as crews tackled six stages, in two loops of three, beginning with the traditional town centre stage.

Tom and Ieuan set top five times on five of the first six stages, which ran into full darkness over the sealed Scottish lanes. The weather remained dry and as the crews returned to Kelso around midnight, Tom and Ieuan held third place, 44.4s behind Jukka Korhonen in the lead and Alastair Fisher, six seconds ahead.

However, it would be the first stage of the second day where the tide turned. Overnight rain was both heavier and more persistent than expected and the roads in the region were much wetter than drivers predicted. This led to a flurry of activity in the service park, as drivers and teams rushed to make the right tyre choice for the first two stages.

Tom and Ieuan opted for intermediate tyres all round, with other drivers feeling cut slicks might work better in the damp conditions. However, Tom's choice proved the right one.

The first of the day's stages was cancelled by the organisers on safety grounds so the day began with the 10.92-Mile Swinton stage, where Tom was fastest, 0.3s quicker than fellow Welshman Osian Pryce. However, most important was the gap to Korhonen and Fisher, with Tom leapfrogging Fisher and closing the gap to Korhonen to 11.2s in one stage.

Tom opted to remain on the intermediate tyres for the next loop of three stages, feeling that the softer rubber would work better on the damp but drying tarmac. His gamble paid off on the next stage, taking more time from the Finn but then, the compromise showed and Korhonen took more back as the roads dried. By the time they reached the mid-day service, the gap was 17.6 seconds.

A repeat of the previous three stages faced the crews after service and Tom made his intentions clear. He was second, third and fastest over the tests, to arrive at the final service of the event just 0.1s behind Korhonen, with one stage, and 10.92 miles, to go.

He pushed as hard as possible on the now-dry Swinton stage but wasn't able to best the Finn, who responded to the challenge and opened the overall gap to a tantalising two seconds by the end of the event.

Commenting, Tom said; "It's been a really good rally for us. The pace was very quick throughout the field and I'm really happy to finish second and with our pace.

"I knew that we would have to push from the start and for me, third was a good position to be after the first six stages last night, just behind Jukka [Korhonen] and Alastair [Fisher]. I also knew that with the damp roads this morning, we could potentially make up some time and we chose to use the intermediate tyres for the first two stages.

"As it turned out, we only ran one but I saw Jukka have a spin on the first corner, as I was waiting to start the stage and knew that if I kept it neat and tidy, we could make up some time. I was quite surprised to learn we had taken 30s out of him by the end of the stage, as well as passing Alastair, as it didn't feel that quick from inside the car.

"We had a good battle throughout the rest of the day and going into the last stage, I knew with a gap of just 0.1s, I had to give it everything. But he was just that bit quicker and took the win. To his credit, he was fast all weekend and I'm pleased to take second.

"Of course, it's also a great result for the Davies Motorsport team and for our partners Morris Lubricants. The car has been perfect all weekend and gave me the confidence I needed to be able to push as hard as I could."

Tom's next event will be in four week's time, on the Scottish Rally, as the series makes its return to gravel on the western side of Scotland, with the event making a welcome return to the BRC.