Tom Cave said he was delighted at finishing the opening round of the 2011 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship in second place. He and co-driver Craig Parry enjoyed a rally-long battle with reigning Scottish champion David Bogie on Rallye Sunseeker, at the wheel of their JRM-run Mitsubishi Lancer EvolutionX and claimed three stage wins en route.
Heavy overnight rain made conditions very tricky for the four wheel-drive crews, running behind both the historic and two wheel-drive fields on the road. Consequently, many found it particularly difficult picking the right braking point in the muddy roads, already cut up by the cars ahead.
Tom started the day with a second-fastest time and followed it immediately with a stage win. He then took two more second-fastest times, to arrive at the first of the event's two services in second place, just 2.9sec behind Bogie. He then took another win on the first of the middle three stages but was held up on the second, when he was forced to avoid spectators in the road, warning him of Jason Pritchard's stricken car ahead of him. He therefore slipped to 12.2 seconds adrift of Bogie by the second service of the day.
He took another stage win on the first of the final four stages, closing the gap to Bogie to a tantalising 8.5secs with just two stages to go. However, with 15 miles of exceptionally slippery and rough gravel roads ahead, he elected to back off to ensure that he and Craig reached the finish of the event in second place, opening his account in the 2011 BRC in near-perfect style.
Commenting at the finish of the event, Tom said; "I'm really happy with today. I've really enjoyed the event and it's a pretty much a perfect start to the BRC season for us. "The first loop this morning was good, despite a huge moment on the first stage and understeer in the car. It wouldn't turn in well on the fast corners but I think the others were suffering the same, so I guess it was just slippier than we anticipated.
"We made a few changes to the car in the first service and it felt better on the second loop but we lost a bit of time, and our concentration, when we arrived at the corner where Jason [Pritchard] had gone off. There were spectators stood around the car, on the line we would have taken through the corner and we had to go straight on to avoid them, then reverse back on to the stage.
"On the final loop, it felt really good and we managed to take a little time back from David but then, he was basically too quick for us and I decided to back off to safeguard second place. It was too good a result to risk. "It's a perfect start to the season for us - I couldn't have hoped for anything better. The notes from Craig were working really well, the JRM car felt very good and it all came together.
"And the next round, the Bulldog, is my home event, so hopefully we can have a good result there to keep the momentum going."
There will be little breathing space for Tom and Craig though, as they travel to Cumbria next weekend, to compete on the Malcolm Wilson Rally, the next round of the BTRDA series on Saturday 5 March. They will then return to Wales to compete on the Mid-Wales Stages rally on Sunday 6 March, assuming his Subaru Impreza N10 finishes the Malcolm Wilson intact.
