Shipley driver Luke Pinder and Leeds-based co-pilot Peter Scott claimed a fine second place in the Swift Sport Cup at the Jim Clark International Rally.

The Colin Appleyard (Suzuki)-backed team had scored a major achievement in just making it to the start line.

Pinder had completely rebuilt his Swift Sport in the five-week gap between the Pirelli rally in April and the Jim Clark event.

The car suffered extensive but not structural panel damage on the Pirelli and Pinder had no choice but to start from scratch.

“It has been a long few weeks, with late finishes on top of a full days’ work in the family office removal company,” he said.

“We finished bolting it back together at 6pm on the evening before driving up to Kelso to start the race early the next morning morning.”

Despite a lack of sleep, Pinder came out fighting and was just a tenth of a second behind local driver Gordon Nichol after the first stage.

“I think that probably surprised a few people, given our spectacular exit from the Pirelli, as most people expected us to play ourselves in,” said Pinder.

“To be fair, I think second in the Swift Sport Cup is about as good as we could have hoped for, as prior to the shakedown we had not even driven the Swift on tarmac.

“The car did not give us any problems all race, except for losing the clutch on the penultimate stage and cooking the brakes during the night stages.

“We set six fastest stage time (the same as winner Nichol) and had an excellent scrap with Richard Sykes.”

Pinder is hoping for a more relaxed approach to the Manx International Rally in July.

He said: “The Manx is my favourite rally in the BRC and I look forward to continuing the battle with Richard (Sykes), Molly Taylor, Gordon Nichol and Manxman David Harrison on some of the best stages in the world.”