The Results are in and the 2013 Championship Winner is...

Round 9, Cheviot Stages.

The final round of the 2013 championship, going into it at the head of the points table BUT with three other drivers still able to take the crown the pressure was on Damian to win a 4^th straight driver’s championship.

After a brief shakedown on the main road on Saturday evening just to make sure the new seat was in the correct position, only a minor adjustment was needed and the team was ready for battle to commence at 8.30am on Sunday morning.

“Bleak” would be a good word to describe the military ranges on Sunday morning, damp roads shrouded in mist were going to offer a stern challenge for all concerned. With co-driver Elliott Edmondson returning to the left hand seat after the last successful outing in Wexford, the Focus WRC set fastest times on the first five stages, catching car one through the fog on ss2 even with a one minute gap on the start line, after which they had built up over a minute's advantage. With the other championship contenders falling by the wayside, Stephen Simpson and John Indri both retiring with mechanical failures and Paul Bird being off the pace all day and sliding into a ditch on the last stage incurring a stage maximum, they completed the remaining eight stages and took the victory they deserved by 2 minutes 20 seconds.

Despite an unwarranted judicial enquiry instigated by Paul Bird and Aled Davies protesting at the finish, they were eventually declared the rightful winners even with a 2 minute time penalty and Damian took his well deserved place in the Championship history books as the only driver to win four consecutive titles.

Can Damian make it 5 in 2014…?

An epic battle - Four Drivers, One title!

All eyes are on the final race of the 2013 Get Connect Connected MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, taking place at the Otterburn Military Ranges in Northumberland. In what promises to be the most exciting climax yet, the UTS Cheviot Keith Knox Stages Rally will decide the final standings in the championship. The competition has been intense and astonishingly four drivers enter this final race with a shot at the title.

Over sixty entrants are lining up to compete in this stage, with 2012 winner John Indri taking pole position. Indri has replaced the Darrian T90 GTR, which has seen him stay in contention with the competition, with a Subaru Impreza S11. This is a brave move late on in the season, but as all the other contenders are in World Rally Cars, it could make the difference. He has also enlisted the services of Chelmsford driver Josh Davison for the event hoping his ‘local’ knowledge will pay dividends.

Damian Cole in his Ford Focus WRC starts behind Indri, but arrives in Northumberland as the Championship leader and has his sights set on a record-breaking fourth consecutive title.

Meanwhile Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Subaru Impreza WRC) and Paul Bird (Ford

Focus WRC) also have designs on the Championship. Simpson was the 2007 Asphalt

Champion and both he and Walsh have previously won events on Otterburn, while Bird’s

tally so far this year includes outright wins on both the Manx National and ALMC Stages

Rallies. Plus a second overall on the recent Patriot Stages at Caerwent, despite it being his first visit to the venue.

With so many competitors in with a chance at the title, an epic struggle for supremacy is set to unfold. It is not quite a winner takes all scenario, but it would certainly not harm their title chances.

Many other teams are bidding to settle individual scores, beat personal bests and increase points tallies, and to finish as strongly as they can in the final stage of the championship. The Championship this year has been a fantastic spectacle, and the fierce competition coming into the final stage shows the high performance levels that the drivers have been competing at.

From an entry of 60, twenty-two crews on the UTS Cheviot Keith Knox Stages are registered

for the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. The first car leaves the start of the UTS Cheviot Keith Knox Stages Rally on the Ranges at 8.30am on Sunday 20th October and, thirteen stages and 92 competitive miles later, arrives back at the finish at the Otterburn Castle Country House Hotel (Rally HQ) at 4.30pm that afternoon.

For further details of the REIS – Get Connected MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, please

contact the Championship Coordinator :

Andrew Haill – 

Tel : 0121 313 1416

E-mail : andrew.haill@btconnect.com

Web: www.asphaltrallying.wordpress.com

Round 9 (Final) : UTS CHEVIOT KEITH KNOX STAGES RALLY (20th October)

Race Report: Round 7, Wexford Stages Rally.

For our first post on the blog we have a race report from the Wexford Stages Rally, we will have a lot more news and updates on the team and championship to come.

After the disappointment with the non-finish on the Mewla, the pressure was really on for a good result in Southern Ireland on this event. Another new co-driver joined the Get Connected/Accident Advice Solicitors team, coming highly recommended by John Stone after recently completing the Mewla in 4^th overall in the Skoda Fabia WRC, 19 year old Elliott Edmondson from Milton Keynes paired up with Damian for the first time.

A slightly hesitant start, including an overshoot at a crossroads on ss1, saw the team arrive in first service after ss2 already 46s down on local crew James and James Stafford in their Darrian T90 GTR. More importantly though, the Focus WRC was leading the championship registered crews, in front of the two main rivals, Paul Bird and Stephen Simpson.

Setting fastest time on ss3 now Damian was confident in Elliott’s pacenote delivery and third fastest time in ss4, second service was reached 47s behind Stafford BUT 22s in front of Bird and 58s in front of Simpson. Stage 5 saw Bird’s retirement from the event after suffering a puncture and the team ended Day 1 54s behind Stafford and 54s in front of Simpson.

These positions remained the same throughout the six stages on Day 2, fastest times on ss7, 8 and 9 only saw the Focus decrease the Darrian’s lead by 4s but increased the gap to Simpson to 1 min 38s. The decision was made at last service after ss10 to back off, settle for 2^nd overall and maximum championship points and cruise through the last two stages.

 

With two rounds of the championship remaining and both Damian and Steve Simpson dropping Round 8, the Patriot Stages in Caerwent to comply with championship rules, the championship will be settled on the Cheviot Stages on Otterburn in October. With 1.25 points being awarded on this round, Damian’s 4 point lead going into the last round could be overhauled, Paul Bird can compete on the Patriot Stages so a strong result there will help his bid for championship honours.

An exciting finale is on the cards….