Giddings defeats tordoff after battle
With main ST Trophy title rival Ewan Tindall pulling out of the event a week prior with gearbox damage, Welshman James Giddings didn’t need to even turn up in Yorkshire last weekend.
But the champion capped off a successful season with a rally-long battle with another rival – Mathew Tordoff – to score his third win of the season in style.
Giddings headed Tordoff by over nine seconds after the first stage at Cropton, before Tordoff fought back in the next at Gale Rigg. Tordoff then survived a high-speed spin on SS3 which cost the High Wycombe driver a chance to jump into the lead ahead of service.
“I came over a three-left over crest into an immediate square right, and I only saw the square right as I was coming over the crest, so I went off on one of the five rights,” said Tordoff.
A big push from Giddings and co-driver Sion Cunniff extended the gap to nearly seven seconds but the duo lost power steering early into the final stage (the 13-mile Langdale test). Impressively, they managed to extend their lead to 10.3 seconds by the finish to end the season on a high.
“It’s been a really good day, we took it a bit steady at the start because we were a bit unsure of the grip levels,” Giddings said.
“There was no real need to push as we’ve won the championship already, we just needed to get to the finish for the sponsors, which are local.”