NO STOPPING THE COLES ON THE CAERWENT BATTLE
Damian Cole was in a class of his own as he mastered the mixed conditions in his Skoda Fabia R5+ on his way to an emphatic win on the Patriot Stages.
Partnered by his daughter Charly, Cole was quickest on the slippery opening stage and, as the roads dried during the day, he was fastest on all of the remaining tests at Caerwent MOD Training Area to complete a comfortable victory.
Initially, Thomas Cooper and Paul Williams were Cole’s nearest challenger before being forced to retire their Mitsubishi Lancer from second place with front differential problems, while electrical problems eliminated Welsh Championship leader Wayne Jones’ Darrian GTR from third position and Richard Merriman retired his classleading Darrian T90 with a broken driveshaft.
Drive of the day was surely that of Daniel and Keith Jones who were seeded at number 44.
After replacing a broken brake disc on their Renault Clio after the first stage, the pair were problem free on the rest of the event and went on to take a superb second overall on only their second visit to the venue.
In the battle for third, numberone seeds Kev Carr and Chris
Pippin had a good run on the later stages in their Ford Escort Mk2, overtaking Oliver Davies and Jack Bowen in a similar car on the penultimate test to secure the final podium position.
Also moving up the order on the final stages were Darrell Taylor and Dylan Thomas who took a class-winning fifth place in their Ford Fiesta R5, while Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones dropped a place on the final stage, but still won their class after a great run in their Peugeot 207 S1600.
In the Formula 1000 Junior event, Sam Mason and James Seymour enjoyed the slippery early stages on their way to a 51s win in their Suzuki Alto.
Results
Organiser: Forresters Car Club When: October 2 Where: Caerwent Championships: Welsh National Tarmacadam Championship; CMSG Stage Rally Championship; ASWMC Stage Rally Championship; AWMMC Heart of England Rally Championship; Formula 1000s; IPS Rally Challenge. Stages: 6 Starters: 92.
1 Damian Cole/Charly Cole (Skoda Fabia R5+) 1h05m58s; 2 Daniel Jones/Keith Jones (Renault Clio) +3m06s; 3 Kev Carr/Chris Pippin (Ford Escort Mk2); 4 Oliver Davies/Jack Bowen (Ford Escort Mk 2); 5 Darrell Taylor/Dylan Thomas (Ford Fiesta R5); 6 Malcolm Jones/ Rhys Jones (Peugeot 207 S1600); 7 Dave Roberts/Nigel Perkins (Ford Escort Mk2); 8 Paul Morgan/Robbie Pugh (Honda Civic); 9 Paul Walker/Geraint Thomas (Ford Escort Mk2); 10 James Davies/Fiona Crump (Proton Satria GTi). Class winners: Dominic Hodge/Mathew Faulkner (Nissan Micra); Malcom Jones/Rhys Jones; Daniel Jones/Keith Jones; Steve Wilks/ Adam Wilks (Ford Escort Mk 2); Carr/Pippin; Taylor/Thomas; Lee Sparrowhawk/Samuel Myers (Subaru Impreza).