ound 6: Tyneside Stages Rally, 31 July

An outright win on the Tyneside Stages Rally strengthened Damian Cole’s claim to a second successive REIS MSA Asphalt Championship title. With James Morgan reading the notes on the event which took place on the Otterburn Ranges, Cole’s Ford Focus WRC ran out the winner by almost half a minute.

For much of the day, it had been nip-and-tuck with 2010 Tyneside Stages winner Simon Mauger in his Ford Escort MkII, the pair sharing identical penalties after both the fourth and fifth of the nine stages. However, disaster struck on the penultimate stage when one of the Escort’s driveshafts broke. The car limped back to service where the offending item was hastily changed but, although Mauger went on to set fastest time on the final stage, the damage had already been done.

Next event: Eventsigns Mewla Rally, 28th August.

Results:

1  Damian Cole/James Morgan (Ford Focus WRC)       1h14m04s

2  Dave Turnbull/Paul Hughes (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h14m29s

3  Simon Mauger/Brian Cammack (Ford Escort)            1h14m38s

4  John Indri/Dave Engwell   (Darrian T90 GTR)            1h14m53s

5  Andy Davison/Mike Curry  (BMW M3)                        1h16m56s

6  Peter Taylor/Andrew Roughead  (Renault Clio R3)    1h17m00s

 Championship Points:

1 Cole 116

2 Mauger 106

3 Indri 69

4 David Hardie 66

5 John Stone 56

6 Steve Simpson 47