ASPHALT KING COLE IMPRESSED WITH NEW SKODA AFTER TEST OUTING
Multiple title-winner pleased with new purchase after initial miles in R5-spec machine
By Luke Barry
Six-time Asphalt champion Damian Cole got a first taste of his new Skoda Fabia R5 recently at the Bont testing venue in Wales.
Cole was joined by the likes of Hugh Hunter, Michael O’Brien, Neil Weaver and Richard Wells at the test and told MN he did “quite a bit” of running in his new steed.
He said: “There were people watching, and obviously I didn’t see the Skoda going [because he was in it], but pulling out of the tight square-right by the service area and going up the hill, Michael O’Brien’s Focus [WRC] looked fast but everybody said the Skoda looked quicker.
“[Dale Bowen, co-driver], he’d been in a Skoda with a 34mm restrictor before because he’d been in Ian Bainbridge’s but only on gravel and obviously on gravel you get a lot of wheelspin but he said on Tarmac my Skoda felt as quick as a World car.”
Asked if he found it difficult to adjust from a World Rally
Car to an R5 like some have previously, Cole said: “It’s very easy to drive, much smoother, much more stable than the Fiesta WRC. [There’s no] darting all over the road, you’re not having to fight it all of the time. We didn’t alter anything on it at all, it was just spot on and just everything seems to work as it should.”
Cole will mount another title assault in the Asphalt Championship this season when it gets underway with the Mewla Rally on August 29.