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LinksCoracle Stages - 22 Jul 12
Posted: July 24, 2012 2:25 PM - 2840 Hits
The Bill Gwynne Rallyschool Coracle Stages
Three-for-three for Tom Cave on Coracle Stages
Posted: July 24, 2012 2:25 PM
Welsh rally driver Tom Cave took the win on last weekend's Coracle Stages Rally and with it, his third win on the event in as many years. Cave, and co-driver Craig Parry, led the event from the second stage and eventually reached the finish with a winning margin of 44 seconds.
The Coracle Stages will always be a special event for 20 year-old Tom - it was the rally on which he achieved his first outright win in his Group N Subaru Impreza in 2010. And last weekend, he claimed his third outright win on the event in a row, hot off the back of his recent first International rally win outside the UK, on the Rally of Thailand, driving for the PROTON Motorsports team.
Tom was contesting the eight-stage event, based at the Sweet Lamb Rally Complex in Wales, at the wheel of his Subaru, now modified to BTRDA B13 specification. Prepared and run by Davies Motorsport Services, as is his British Rally Championship Citroen DS3 R3, he and Craig began the event seeded as car No. 1, following last year's win.
However, there was an early scare, as Tom didn't listen to a pace note correctly and over-shot a junction. Luckily, he was able to rejoin the road and only lost 10 seconds in the process. He and Craig claimed the second-fastest time on the opening stage, three seconds slower than the winner and upped the game for the second.
By the end of the five-mile stage two, they were fastest by 12 seconds and realised that a good result was once again possible if they pushed hard and controlled the pace from the front. They subsequently went on to win the remainder of the stages that made up the event, reaching the finish ramp first overall, first in the Welsh Championship and first under 23 driver.
A delighted Tom said;
"It was fantastic to get a third win on the event this year. Other than the mistake on the first stage, everything was perfect - the car, the conditions and the whole event.
"I wasn't listening properly on the first stage, misheard a note and overshot a junction. We dropped some time - around 10 seconds - as we got back on to the road and at the end of the stage, I saw that we were only three seconds slower than the winner.
"We pushed on the next one to see where the pace was and won that by 12 seconds, so I knew we had a good chance of another win, as long as I didn't make any more mistakes. We went on to win each of the seven stages that made up the rest of the rally and took the win. I am really pleased for the whole team - it's a great result for all of us."
Tom's next event will be the Todd's Leap Ulster Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the 2012 MSA British Rally Championship, in which Tom currently holds the joint series lead. The event takes place on 17 and 18 August in County Antrim and is the final asphalt round of the 2012 series.
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