 The following year, he finished second of the Circuit of Ireland and the RAC Rally, then 4th at the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally with teammates Tom Nash and Neville Johnston in a Triumph 2.5 PI.Hopkirk elected to step away from full-time competition at the end of that year, coinciding with British Leyland head Lord Stokes' decision to close down BL's competition department.In 1977, with co-driver Taylor Mike, he took part once again in a revived edition of the London-Sydney Marathon, the Singapore Airlines London to Sydney Rally, this time driving a Citroën CX 2400, taking 3rd place overall in front of another CX driven by Claude Laurent and Jean-Claude Ogier... who had been rescued by Hopkirk and Nash in 1968.