Damian Cole and navigator Craig Drew has won the ALMC Stages after a rally-long scrap with local driver Michael Barrable.
Leading from the start, Barrable dominated the rally until he dropped 15 secs on SS8, allowing Damian Cole to take the lead. Cole stayed in 1st until the end of the rally.
“It was very tricky all day with the weather and we had a problem with the car towards the end with the throttle. I switched the engine off for 10m before the last stage to let it cool down. Then the engine stopped at the end of the stage but everything went well and the Patterson notes were perfect. We have 4 maximum scores now in the championship.” said Cole at the finish.
A downhearted Barrable said: “We dropped time on the last 3 stages with the fly by wire throttle. It was a new unit from M-Sport but it was one of those things, they can last for 5 miles or 500 miles. If we hadn’t had the misfire earlier we would have had a bit of a buffer. It was still a great event”
MK2 Escort driver Simon Mauger drove a faultless rally to be rewarded with third o/a. He said: “We did our best. The conditions were against us. Typically I went for a softer tyre for the final loop and the roads were dry. Your Patterson notes worked really well for us. We really enjoyed the day and it was only the 2nd time Ashley has co-driven for me”.
In the Irish Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, Sam Moffett scored maximum points with eighth. Second and third went to Brendan Cumisky and Geoff McMahon, respectively.
John Stone retired his Skoda Fabia WRC with turbo problems. Mark Jasper followed suit in his MG Metro 6R4 after damaging a wheel. Jasper will be present in Lurgan Park in the MG Metro 6R4 Challenge. Fellow retiree David Kynaston exited the rally with the finish in sight. The engine failed completely in the Audi A3 Quattro. The A3 then proceeded to catch fire, but this was extinguished quickly.
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