DAMIAN COLE DOMINATES OVER OTTERBURN
Organiser: Whickham & District MC/ Hadrian Motor Sports Club When: October 22 Where: Otterburn Training Area, Lincolnshire Championships: North of England Tarmacadam Rally Championship; HRCR ‘Old Stager’ Asphalt Rally Championship; Mini Cup and Junior Mini Cup; HRCR Northern Historic Asphalt Championship; ANCC Stage Rally Championship; Border Rally Challenge Starters: 61 Stages: 14.
Damian Cole and Den Golding staged a dominant display in their Ford Fiesta RS WRC on Sunday’s Cheviot Stages Rally.
They finished almost a minute clear of the Subaru Impreza of David Hardie and John Mcculloch, who just held off the Proton Satria of David Tinn and Giles Dykes by 11 seconds at the end of 60 miles of tortuous Tarmac on the Mod’s Otterburn Ranges.
Although mainly dry, the stages were ‘green’ and slippery for the first runs, but when the sun poked out from behind the grey overcast skies in the afternoon, conditions dried out and speeds duly rose.
There was no catching the man at the front, although after four stages it initially looked as though Cole was holding seventh place overall.
“It’s alright,” said Cole. “They gave us a wrong minute. They know about it.” And so it proved, shortly afterwards, he was reinstated to the top of the leaderboard, and there he stayed.
Over the first four stages, John Stone had been holding second place ahead of Hardie, but in the fifth test, the Fiesta S2500 Millington showed signs of overheating and Stone pulled over and retired. Hardie inherited the spot ahead of Tinn.
Gordon Morrison’s fourth place in his Subaru was mighty impressive.
The Subarus of Adrian Spencer and Peter Stephenson rounded off the top six, although Spencer was lucky emerging from the second loop of stages with a front nearside wing missing. His explanation? “Somebody left a huge bale in a stupid place!” He was of course referring to a chicane marker.
Tristan Pye retired his Subaru when the car lost drive and Bob Grant was out with a gearbox malfunction in his Hyundai WRC.
Top two-wheel-drive runner was Mark Jasper in seventh overall in his Escort Mk2, although a puzzling intermittent misfire over the last four stages was giving cause for concern. Greg Mcknight was initially leading Jasper in his Mk2, but started to drop back with serious brake fade and then had to retire when the rear axle link bar mountings started to break up.
Stevie Irwin had to content himself with a class win in his 1600cc Vauxhall Nova after losing out on the North of England Tarmacadam Championship title. He and Rob Snowden started the day’s event one point apart. All Snowden had to do in his Escort Mk2 was finish ahead of Irwin and the title was his. Even so, it was still close, Snowden finished 12th and Irwin 13th. Neil Prior clinched third place in his Subaru finishing 19th.
In the 1400cc class, Stephen Bethwaite took the win by half-a-minute from James Thomson. Bethwaite was fortunate to finish when the tie-bar bearings on the front brackets broke making the Vauxhall Nova snatch at inopportune moments, but still managed to keep out of the clutches of the Thomson Nova.
There was a whole horde of Minis taking part in the Mini Sport Cup, with Ray Cunningham and Jared Gill in their Austin Cooper S clinching the title with a storming 17th place overall on their first ever visit to Otterburn. Results 1 Damian Cole/ Den Golding (Ford Fiesta WRC) 55m 07s; 2 David Hardie/john Mcculloch (Subaru Impreza) +59s; 3 David Tinn/ Giles Dykes (Proton Satria); 4 Gordon Morrison/ Calum Macpherson (Subaru Impreza); 5 Adrian Spencer/ Matt Daniels (Subaru Impreza WRC S11); 6 Peter M Stephenson/ Patrick Walsh (Subaru P2000 WRC); 7 Mark Jasper/ Don Whyatt (Ford Escort Mk2); 8 Ross Brusby/ Sam Collis (Ford Escort Mk2); 9 Liam Harkness/ Harry Marchbank (Subaru Impreza); 10 Murray Grierson/ Mark Grierson (Subaru Impreza)
Class winners: Stephen Bethwaite/ann Forster (Vauxhall Nova); Stevie Irwin/ Ian Middleton (Nova); Brusby/ Collis; Jasper/ Whyatt; Cole/ Golding; Ray Cunningham/jared Gill (Austin Cooper S); Clive King/anton Bird (Austin Cooper S); Nigel Hart/ Lyndon Moulton (Mini Cooper).