FOREST farmer Geoff Phelps and co-driver Andy Boswell were amongst the silverware at the end of a gruelling Border Counties Rally on the Scottish borders last weekend.

Their Cherry Rock-backed Escort RS1800 took 32nd overall and third in class as round two of the Scottish Rally Championship saw 80 crews line up in the beautiful town of Jedburgh,

The rally featured 48 miles of competition with the classic Tweed Valley Stages making a welcome return, although heavy rain in the weeks leading up to the event made the stages incredibly slippery.

Unfortunately for father and daughter crew Jeremy and Alex Harris, the conditions led to their downfall on stage 4 in Elibank when they slid off the road.

With no spectators around to retrieve the car, they couldn't continue in the Kilcot Garage, Gurney Family Butchers, Edge Networks, Country Construction-backed car, but thankfully there was no damage, so their focus will now turn to the Pirelli Welsh National Championship.

The overall winner of the event was Garry Pearson with Hannah McKillop on the notes in his Fiesta Rally 2, getting in some match practice ahead of another British Rally Championship campaign.

This weekend will also see Phillip Allen with Bream’s Craig Drew alongside debuting the new Auto Assist, SRT-run Toyota Yaris Rally 2 at Rally la Nucia in Spain.

The asphalt event is being used as part of their build up to another FIA European rally championship campaign, which will be followed by Rally la Llana in three weeks time.

Also looking ahead, the opening round of both the BTRDA and Welsh championships takes places in a few weeks at Rally North Wales.

The Welshpool-based event has already got a high quality entry. and will use the ultra-fast forest of Dyfnant for its bulk mileage and the little-used Aberhirnant also.