Gould takes the title as Cooke grabs a win

Bcccwalters Arena

Organiser: Marches 4x4 When: November 5/6 Where: Walters Arena, Glynneath Championship: MSA British Cross Country Championship; Freelander Challenge; BCC Trophy Stages: 14 Starters: 38

Ryan Cooke took victory at a dramatic final round of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship with Martin Gould wrapping up the title win.

With four wins already this season Gould required one more finish in his Buxton 4x4 Rivet to take the championship crown. His weekend got off to a bad start when his car stopped on the recce lap after an alternator problem and he suffered further problems on run one with a faulty clutch master cylinder. Meanwhile Justin Birchall, who was in line to win the championship if Gould failed to finish, was forced out of the event with a damaged engine.

Colin Gould, in his Clio V8, led the BCCC crews throughout day one with Cooke taking his Milner LRM-1 to second ahead of Richard Coleby’s Polaris. A broken balljoint ended Gould’s hopes of victory on day two and Cooke continued to show consistent pace to take the win.

“I’m really, really chuffed with the victory,” said Cooke. “It’s been a long time coming and it’s taken a lot of hard work by everyone involved in the team. It was a great event and, other than a driveshaft problem, the car has been trouble-free. Consistency has paid off and, for once, lady luck was on our side.”

With Coleby in second it was Martin Gould who finished third to win the championship. “After the problems at the start of the event we dropped our pace to try and ensure we got the finish we needed,” he said. “It’s great to win the title.”