Nicholls celebrates second successive Tempest Rally win
A jubilant Will Nicholls is celebrating his second successive Tempest Rally win, a result which also secured him top honours in the inaugural BRC Rallymasters Championship.
The 46 year old from the Isle of Wight was delighted with the double victory on what is effectively his home event.
Nicholls led from the second of the 15 high speed tests and finished with a comfortable lead of more than two minutes over his closest contenders.
Together with co-driver Nick Broom he guided his Subaru Impreza WRC to success on the one day event held on forest and Ministry of Defence land around the rally base of Aldershot.
“Winning last year was great but to win again this year and tie up the Rallymasters here on the Tempest is the real icing on the cake,’’ said Will.
“The team has been working all year towards winning the championship so everyone is delighted to secure the title on the final round.’’
Second overall were Phil Morgan and Martin Douglas in another Subaru with Martyn England and his brother Ian rounding up the top three in the event which was held on the Hampshire/Surrey borders.
It was third placed Martyn England who set the pace on the first stage of the event with the fastest time and the Evo 8 driver was consistently quick over the 15 stages. But once Will moved ahead he was never troubled and cruised to victory.
In addition to the main event, the Tempest Rally also hosted the Clubmans Rally, won by Michael O’Brien and Matthew Pearce, the Stars of the Future in which Robert Barrett and Dave Hammond were the top finishers and the Landrover Challenge where Alan Paramore and Pete Evans were the fastest contenders.
“Once again we had a tremendous day of rallying based here in Aldershot,’’ said rally manager Barry Guess. “We had some of the country’s top crews taking part and thousands of spectators who were wowed by the dramatic action.’’
The Rushmoor arena was once again the focus of action with three spectator stages, the service area and a rally show – a formula which has proved hugely successful in taking rallying as close as possible to a town centre.
“The Tempest has become a great date in the motorsport calendar and we are delighted that this year’s event again created tremendous interest among competitors and spectators,’’ said Barry. “We have a great team behind the event and planning for next year’s event will soon be underway.’’
Tempest Rally top 10 finishers
1 Will Nicholls/Nick Boom 1:13:37.3
2 Phil Morgan/Martin Douglas 1:15:42.3
3 Martyn England/Ian England 1:15:46.0
4 Alun Cookson/Julian Wilkinson 1:17:12.6
5 Justin Dale/Craig Parry 1:17:15.2
6 Peter Egerton/Andrew Bargery 1:17:15.3
7 Wug Utting/Max Utting 1:18:32.0
8 Mick Harris/Ben Garrod 1:19:40.8
9 Rob Collard/James Sunderland 1:20:39.2
10 Trevor Martin/Ray Cleghorn 1:20:43.7
