TWICE BTRDA Bronze Star champions Nigel and Karen Jenkins from Coleford kicked off their 2025 campaign with a well-earned second on the opening round, just two seconds off victory, reports PAUL WILLETTS.

The beautiful Lake District market town of Cockermouth played host again to the Malcolm Wilson Rally, as it attracted a top quality entry of 130 cars, its best for many years.

The event followed its usual format, opening with the Lake District stages of Hobcarton, Comb and Wythop, followed by two stages in Greystoke and two in the notoriously difficult Grizedale complex, where most of the mileage was.

The Forest of Dean duo opened up a narrow seven-second lead over Cwmbran rival Dylan Fowler-Bishop alongside Herefordshire co-driver Dan Evans in the Micra, with a similar car of Ashley Francis and Mark Ammonds not far behind.

Into the afternoon the battle raged fiercely with the top two swapping times, with Fowler-Bishop sneaking a four-second advantage going into the final Greystoke test.

The NJ Autos Vauxhall Nova then flew through the final stage to set the fastest 1400 time, but only shaved two seconds from Fowler-Bishop and Evans, leaving them just two seconds in arrears and 35th overall

Another crew in the silverware was fellow Forester Geoff Phelps with Clive Jones standing in for the unavailable Colin Jenkins in the Hartpury Farms-backed Escort RS1800, who had an excellent run to take a class win and 45th overall.

Ross-on-Wye co-driver Kevin Lane helped Ed James to 81st overall and sixth in class in the immaculate wide-tracked Nissan Micra Kit car.

At the head of field, two British Rally Championship front runners did battle and it was Scottish duo Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop who took a one-second win from Welsh driver Merion Evans and Dale Furniss in the Castrol-backed Toyota Yaris Rally 2.

The championship resumes in May with the fabulous Border Counties stages in the Scottish Borders.