COLE GOES TO NEWCASTLE – AND WINS!
Posted: August 12, 2011 7:42 PM
Damian Cole was supposed to be on a family holiday in Devon at the time of the Tyneside Stages Rally (July 31), but when you’re increasingly well placed to win the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship for the second year in a row, you don’t let a little matter like that prevent you from getting behind the wheel! The effort brought due reward too, with Cole and co-driver James Morgan winning the event outright in their Ford Focus WRC and becoming the first pairing of 2011 to achieve two maximum scores.
Putting his Kumho tarmac rally tyres to optimum use, Cole enjoyed a day-long battle with last year’s Tyneside winners Simon Mauger and Brian Cammack, and such was the closeness of the fight that the teams were level pegging after five of the nine stages. However, the Otterburn Ranges took their toll and Mauger’s venerable MKII escort suffered a driveshaft failure during the penultimate test, leaving Cole to cruise to victory and further extend his championship lead with three rounds remaining.
Among others relying on Kumho rubber were the popular RAF Typhoon Rally Team of Chris Daykin and Dan Megannity. They arrived lying second in class for the championship, despite missing rounds due to key team members being on overseas operations, and left in the same position following another very solid performance in their Group N Subaru Impreza. The next round of the series is the Mewla National Rally that will take place on Sunday August 28.
Said Kumho’s European Competition Manager Steve Thompson,
“I’m sure Damian will enjoy his holiday all the more for winning the Tyneside rally and simultaneously lengthening his lead in the series. We look forward to joining forces with him again at the next event.”
Photos
Posted: August 7, 2011 7:23 PM
REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship - COLE’S HOLIDAY BOOST!
Posted: August 7, 2011 7:10 PM
REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship leader Damian Cole delayed joining his family in Devon for a holiday by a couple of days to travel up to the Otterburn Ranges for the Tyneside Stages – and win it! He and co-driver James Morgan became the first registered crew to take a second maximum score this season after a day-long battle with the Ford Escort MkII of 2010 Tyneside winner Simon Mauger and Brian Cammack went the way of the Ford Focus WRC pair.
Nine stages on the Otterburn Military Ranges formed the meat of the sixth round of the REIS Championship event and, after five of them, Cole and Mauger were absolutely level on times. Then disaster struck! On the penultimate stage, Mauger’s Escort suffered a driveshaft failure and, although it was able to limp to the stop line, almost a minute was lost to its rival. Some frantic work by the service crew saw the Escort mobile again and a fastest time on the last stage moved it back up to 3rd overall as the cars arrived at the finish at Otterburn Leisure Centre. There was to be no repeat of last year’s fairytale – but it was not for wont of trying! In addition to the event awards for their podium finish, they also took top Millington Escort Challenge points on the day and are comfortable leaders, both in class and overall.
Having missed the recent trip to Ireland while their Darrian T90 GTR was repaired following an off on Rally of the Midlands, John Indri and Dave Engwell led the event after the first couple of stages and were never slower than sixth fastest
throughout the day. An eventual 4th overall moves Indri back up to 3rd in the Championship standings, behind Cole and Mauger.
Andy Davison and Mike Curry squeezed every ounce of power out of their ageing BMW M3 to finish 5th overall and, for his determination, the driver was awarded the John Horton Motorsport Management ‘Star Drive’ on the event. Rounding off the Top Six, and also putting in a virtuoso performance, were Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead in their Renault Clio R3.
Following a coming-together with a very stout tree on the ALMC Stages, David Hardie/John McCulloch had spent a ‘busy’ couple of weeks organising the restoration of their Subaru Impreza to its usual pristine condition. The car was finally completed the day before the rally but the effort proved worthwhile with a class win and 7th overall being just rewards.
We haven’t seen much of former BTRDA Rally Series winners Adrian Spencer/ Mark Hewitt so far this season but, returning after a break, they gradually moved up the order in their Subaru Impreza. A turbo pipe came adrift on the opening stage, leaving them down in 40th place, but getting to grips with the car and the rally saw them move up thirty places by the finish to squeeze into the Top Ten.
Ditto Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter... Their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5 has been absent from a Championship round since the Manx Telecom Rally in early May but they, too, recorded a much-needed finish, just ahead of Richard Clews’ Group N Impreza which was another to take a comfortable class win in the north-east.
Graham Coffey/David Gamblin had ‘one of those days’ and a problem on the fourth stage, which cost seven minutes, put their Subaru Impreza WRC down to 18th in the final results. Take those seven minutes away and a Top Five place would have been possible – ho hum!...
Kev Monaghan/Chris Purvis’ Pirtek Vauxhall Corsa finished 20th which, but for a loss of water, might well have been higher. Tommi Graham arrived in Otterburn with a broken foot, sustained while playing cricket (no comment!...), and had had a
cortisone injection to quell the pain! He and Mike Bailey soldiered on, despite damaging their Escort’s rear suspension on one of the famous Otterburn yumps, to bring their Escort MkII to a finish and 1st in the Millington Escort Challenge up to 2100cc class.
The Typhoon Rally Team of Chris Daykin and Dan Megannity have been ‘distracted’ by work commitments this season but made a welcome visit to Otterburn with their Group N Impreza. They finished ahead of fellow RAF MSA member Phil Bruce whose Peugeot 206 was a mere one second in front of Jim Sharp/Amy Mackinnon whose own Impreza was having a day to forget!
Geoff Glover/Bob Brown were another crew to have been missing for several events but their always immaculate Vauxhall Astra RWD finished one place in front of the Peugeot 205 of Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett. Michael & Josh Davison (Proton Satria) and Kev Harbour/Dave Tortoishell (Peugeot 205) also survived the rigours of a dry day on the Ranges to post finishes and gain more valuable class points in the REIS Championship.
30 registered crews started the Tyneside Stages – a 40% increase on 2010 – but, as is ever the case, there were an ever-increasing number of tales of woe as the event unfolded! John Stone, whose Skoda Fabia WRC is still in bits after its engine blow-up on Rally of the Midlands, hired a Group N Lancer EVO9 for the day, but turbo failure on the opening stage reduced him to the rank of spectator. With his Impreza WRC also grounded with an engine problem, Steve Simpson had resorted to his 2007 Championship-winning Hyundai Accent WRC, but the loss of a wheel on SS6 also put him and Patrick Walsh out of the running.
Chris and Katherine Singer’s Citroen Saxo S1600 also went on to three wheels while Roger Donnan’s miserable spell continued with another DNF in his Ford Puma S1600. Championship newcomer Mark Borthwick’s Lancer EVO6 succumbed to a misfire and stunt-driver Paul Swift rolled his Escort on the opening stage. No – it wasn’t part of the act!..
Tim Daltry’s rally ended when his Peugeot 205’s engine cried ‘enough’, with Paul Culverwell/Jo Saddington switching their RWD version off before similar happened when all the oil came out. Mark Mason’s rally came to an end when the BMW in which he was co-driving suffered loose wheel studs and late entry James Ford waved goodbye to a possible Group N win when he rolled his Impreza with two stages to go.
The next round of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship is the Eventsigns Mewla Rally on Sunday 28th August. In the meantime, Motors TV will be broadcasting footage from the ALMC Stages at 22.35 on Saturday 13th August and similar from the Tyneside Stages a fortnight later at the same time on 27th August.
Full Results
Posted: August 3, 2011 12:05 PM
Results by:
Seeded Entry List
Posted: July 23, 2011 7:35 PM
1 Simon Mauger/Brian Cammack (Ford Escort Mk11) [B12]
2 Stephen Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Subaru Impreza WRC) [A8]
3 Damian Cole/James Morgan (Ford Focus WRC) [A8]
4 Graham Coffey/David Gamblin (Subaru Impreza WRC) [A8]
6 John Indri/Dave Engwell (DARRIAN T90 GTR) [B12]
7 George Mackey/Ken Bills (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [B13]
8 Michael Glendinning/Jack Morton (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
9 David Turnbull/Paul Hughes (Subaru Impreza WRC) [A8]
10 Mark I'Anson/Alec Cooper (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [B13]
11 David Hardie/John McCulloch (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
12 Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) [B13]
14 Simon Chapman/Tony Graham (MG Metro 6R4) [B13]
16 Darren Atkinson/Phil Sandham (Ford Escort Mk11) [B12]
17 Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby (Ford Escort) [H]
19 Roger Kilty/Lynette Banks (Ford Escort RS1800) [H]
20 Barry Lindsay/Michael Lindsay (Peugeot 106 Gti) [B10]
21 Peter Taylor/Andrew Roughead (Renault Clio R3) [A7]
22 Richard Clews/Andy Wynn (Subaru Imprezza) [N4]
23 Chris Haigh/Sally Peacock (Ford Escort) [B11]
24 Adrian Spencer/Mark Hewitt (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
25 Jack Rowe/Alex Lee (ford fiesta R2) [A6]
26 Chris Grieve/Paul Makepeace (Peugeot 106) [B10]
27 Christopher Singer/Katherine Singer (CITROEN SAXO S1600) [B10]
28 Alistair Hutchinson/Andrew David Hutchinson (Renault Clio LPG) [B11]
29 Martin Elsdon/John Frew (Subaru Impreza Impreza N12) [B13]
30 Roger Donnan/TBA (Ford Puma) [A6]
31 Andy Davison/Mike Curry (BMW M3) [B12]
32 Mark Borthwick/Ian Wozencroft (Mitsubishi Evo 6) [B13]
33 Ian Watson/Mike Dickson (Ford Escort Mk2) [B12]
34 Ross Fernie/John Young (subaru impreza) [B13]
35 Andy Bird/Tom Spencer (Vauxhall Chevette) [B11]
36 Kev Monaghan/Chris Purvis (VAUXHALL S1600 CORSA B) [B10]
37 Tommi Graham/Mike Bailey (Ford Escort) [B11]
39 Paul Swift/David Cox (Ford Escort Mk2) [B12]
40 Ken Brown/Alan Brown (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
41 Des Campbell/Alex Orr (Peugeot 206 Cup Car) [B10]
42 Gareth White/Callum Atkinson (Citroen C2R2 Max) [A6]
43 Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead (Ford Escort Mk1 RS2000) [H]
44 Alex McClelland/Brian McClelland (VAUXHALL CHEVETTE HSR) [B11]
45 Chris McCallum/Peter McCallum (Ford Escort MK2) [B11]
46 Bill Lymburn/Stuart Hastings (Ford Escort Mk2) [B12]
47 Derek Belbin/tba (ford escort mk2) [H]
48 William Jarman/Mark Fisher (Ford Escort Cosworth) [B13]
49 Edward Todd/Andy Brown (GTM Coupe) [B11]
50 Geoffrey Harkness/Caroline Lodge (Vauxhall Corsa) [B10]
51 Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett (Peugeot 205 GTI) [B10]
52 Dave Seed/Mick Morpeth (Ford Escort G4) [B11]
53 Craig Teasdale/Duncan Lilwall (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
54 Tim Daltry/Paul Ohren-Bird (PEUGEOT 204GTI) [B11]
55 David Coulson/John Coulson (BMW 320iS) [B11]
56 Phil Bruce/Gav Wright (Peugeot 206) [A6]
57 Micheal Davidson/John Coates (peugeot 205) [B10]
58 Paul Culverwell/Jo Saddington (Peugeot 205 RWD) [B10]
59 Geof Glover/Bob Brown (Vauxhall Astra(RWD)) [B11]
60 Christopher Daykin/Daniel Megannity (Subaru Impreza) [N4]
61 David Marshall/Chris Hudson (Mazda 323 4x4) [B13]
62 Simon Stewart/Doud Levee (Vauxhall Corsa) [B9]
63 Fred Davidson/Plug Pulleyn (misubishi evo 6) [B13]
64 Russ Radford/Graeme Bell (Ford Escort) [B11]
65 Chris Haw/Russell Smith (Peugeot 309) [B11]
66 Chris Anderson/Chris Thirling (Ford Fiesta) [B11]
67 Michael Davison/Josh Davison (Proton Satria Compact) [B10]
68 Andrew Plunkett/Paul Firth (Honda Civic) [B10]
69 Patrick Messer/Natalie Messer (Peugeot 205 XS) [B9]
70 Michael Deans/John Straughan (Mitsubishi Colt 1.4 GLi) [B9]
71 Kevin Harbour/Dave Tortoishell (Peugeot 205 GTi) [B10]
72 Gerald Braithwaite/Richard Cooke (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus) [H]
73 Richard Felgate/Mark Mason (BMW 325i) [B12]
74 Ian Copping/Dave Rowley (Ford Fiesta RWD) [B11]
75 Sean Robson/Iain Robson (Peugeot 205 GTI) [B10]
76 Peter Humphrey/Dougie Humphrey (Opel Kadett) [H]
77 Adrian Stewart/Richard Simmonds (Morris Mini Cooper S) [H]
78 Gavin Spencer/Colin Tombs (Vauxhall Nova) [B9]
79 James Thomson/Alison Woodcock (Peugeot 206) [B10]
80 Jeff Malthouse/Graham Malthouse (Peugeot 205 Gti) [B11]
81 Malcolm Holdsworth/Richard Holdsworth (Honda civic) [B10]
82 Colin Stockil/Sarah Craven (Peugeot 205) [B10]
83 Phillip Coulby/Audrey Smith (Skoda Felicia) [B9]
84 Jim Sharp/Amy Mackinnon (subaru impreza) [B13]
85 James Ford/Neil Colman (Subaru Impreza N11 Impreza N11) [N4]
86 Phil Morton/Jo-Emma Hind (Fiat X/19 Prototipo) [B9]
87 Tommy Heard/Rob Dawson (Subaru Impreza) [B13]
Entries Received
Posted: June 14, 2011 11:20 AM
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