11 May 2025 / By DAVID FERGUSON
The early summer sun lit up the 2025 Border Counties Rally and ensured raised temperatures when controversy intervened in the shape of a steep time penalty for a dramatic finale.
Pictures courtesy of Ian Bell Rally Photography – more here.
Elliot Payne and co-driver Patrick Walsh (pictured above) came through to win the event in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, clocking 37 minutes and 43 seconds, to pip brother-and-sister Daniel Sigurðarson and Ásta Sigurðardóttir in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, by 36 seconds. Scott Macbeth and Dan Forsyth followed the Icelanders in their R5.
As well as another Pirelli 1-2-3 the finish was a triumph for cars prepared by well-known Borderer Dom Buckley with second and third both being cars prepared by Dom Buckley RSC, based in Kelso.
But that didn’t tell half the story of this dramatic rally contest run by the Hawick and Border car Club. Four-time Welsh Rally Champion Matthew Hirst has stepped up to the British Rally Championship this year with long-time co-driver Dear (below), and currently sit eighth. The Doncaster-based driver enjoyed a fantastic battle with Harrogate’s Payne and Walsh at the head of the Borders rally, trading stages through the Wauchope, Hyndlee and Craik forests after setting off from a Jedburgh bathed in sunshine.
But a rare ten-minute penalty then changed the outcome of the event. The penalty, which saw Hirst and Dear fall to 26th place overall, was given for “driving in a manner not compatible with good driving on the public road”. Further details have not been disclosed.
Hirst commented: “Regrettably, we have been handed a ten-minute penalty for, and I quote, ‘driving in a manner not compatible with good driving on the public road.’ I won’t be commenting further on the matter.
“However, congratulations to Elliot and Patrick on their win; a well-driven rally and a deserving result. Now to regroup, refocus, and come back fighting for the Jim Clark in two weeks’ time. Thanks to everyone for the support.”
