Round 4: Rally of the Midlands, 17-18 May

Simon Mauger and co-driver Brian Cammack won the Trinity Hyundai Rally of the Midlands in their Ford Escort MkII.

The pair finished just seven seconds clear of reigning champion Damian Cole and co-driver James Morgan, though Cole’s second place means that he now leads the 2011 title race from Mauger.

Many of the series front-runners endured an event to forget, with the number of retirements equalling the number of finishers; erstwhile championship leader John Stone dropped out after his Skoda Fabia WRC’s engine blew up, with oil escaping onto the hot turbo and catching fire.

Results (Championship competitors emboldened)1 Simon Mauger / Brian Cammack (Ford Escort MkII) 1h21m49s2 Damian Cole / James Morgan (Ford Focus WRC) 1h21m56s3 Eian Pritchard / Steve McPhee (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h23m12s

Championship positions (provisional)after Round 41 Damian Cole – 69 points2 Simon Mauger – 643 John Stone – 564 David Hardie – 49= John Indri – 49