MacCrone fifth in Finlandposted in WRC04 | 08 | 2012

SCOTLAND'S MOST TALENTED young rally driver, 22-year-old John MacCrone from the Isle of Mull, finished fifth in the latest round of the World Rally Championship Academy in Finland.

Running over the same ultra-fast stages as the WRC Rally Finland, MacCrone backed up his fifth-place finish in the last round in Greece with another mature drive.

"I've got to be happy with that," MacCrone, co-driven in his Palletforce and Tunnocks-backed Ford Fiesta R2 by Glasgow's Stuart Loudon, admitted today.

"I set myself the target of a top five finish before the event started, so I'm pretty chuffed to finish fifth again, on my first year in the WRC Academy and first time in Finland."

See more official photos of John MacCrone in action in Finland

MacCrone bagged the top five position despite being forced to nurse his damaged car through one of the longest stages of the rally.

"We clattered a rock fairly heavily at high speed midway through the stage," MacCrone explained, "and the impact bent the car's front-left wishbone.

"After that we were forced to back-off and just get the car to the end of the stage. If it hadn't been for that, we'd probably have finished fourth."

The gruelling, three-day high-speed event was won by Elfyn Evans. The Welshman's second win in the opening three rounds moved him into the lead in the championship.

Euan Thorburn wins Speyside Stages in Elgin

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars

Jim McGill