A WEE COUNTY rally driver has said she is proud of her efforts this season despite narrowly missing out on the top spot.

Ashleigh Morris secured second place in her class in the prestigious Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship following a challenging 2018-19 season.

The rally star and co-driver Jamie finished second in Class B in their Ford Fiesta R200 after a gruelling season competing in contests across Scotland, England and Wales.

Despite missing out on the title, Ashleigh told Advertiser Sport of how proud she is of her second place finish after a hard season.

She said: “We’ve had a few disappointing rallies this season so it’s great that we’ve been able to finish second in class."

The team had a challenging start to the season at the first round at Oulton Park, having to retire after just one stage due to faults with the car’s clutch.

Ashleigh, who is from Dollar, and Jamie then had a steady run at round two at Cadwell Park before a horror accident at her home track in Knockhill just before the Christmas break, when they clipped a tyre which flipped the car and resulted in it rolling three times, ending their rally and significantly damaging the car.

After further ups and downs across the season, the team failed to get the conclusion they were hoping for after another spectacular crash sent their car through a fence, thus ending their championship hopes.

Ashleigh described the season as unfortunate but managed to look at some of the positives, saying: “Our pace has definitely improved this year but unfortunately a couple of mistakes and some mechanical issues meant we were unable to win our class.

“We’re looking forward to the awards dinner in June and we’ll be competing in several events over the summer in preparation for next season.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me this year; Jamie for doing a brilliant job on the notes; TnS Rally for looking after the car; and my family and friends for all their support.

“A massive thank you as well to our sponsors Cirrus Research and Real Systems Controls - we couldn’t have done it without them and are so grateful for their support.”