RAC Rally

A hard fought battle, in challenging conditions, saw Matt Edwards & Paul Morris (Escort MkII) go head to head with Matthew Robinson & Sam Collis (Escort MkII) for an event long battle which captivated all who witnessed it. Both went well in the opening stages of Friday night and it was Edwards who held a 58 second lead over Robinson. Catching slower crews had been an issue and probably hampered Robinson by half a minute more than Edwards, but both were set up for 2 further days of battle, including an off, mechanical issues, an epic comeback and a post event exclusion for one of the crews.

Premier Rally

Robert Swann & Darren Garrod (Impreza WRC) made it 4 in a row on the Premier with a comfortable win of over a minute. Fastest stage times on all 6 stages were all the confirmation needed. The battle for 2nd, however, went down to the wire with Arron Newby & Rob Fagg (Impreza) edging out Karl & Guy Simmons (Impreza WRC) by just a single second. Simmons had snatched 2nd on the 4th stage but then dropped time on stage 5 before setting a blistering time on stage 6, going 2 seconds quicker than Newby. It was not enough however.

Wales Rally GB

An excellent couple of days out on Wales Rally GB saw us take in Gartheiniog and Dyfnant. With the championship all sewn up it would be a pure battle with no sub plots. Ultimately Sébastien Ogier & Julien Ingrassia (Polo WRC) won by just over 37 seconds from Mikko Hirvonen & Jarmo Lehtinen (Fiesta WRC) with Mads Østberg & Jonas Andersson (DS3 WRC) a further 26 seconds back. Going in to day 2 Ogier was under pressure from Jari-Matti Latvala but when the Finn put his Polo WRC off Ogier held a comfrotable lead he could then manage to his 8th win of the season.

Cheviot Keith Knox Rally

With a no show from Steve Simpson the 2014 REIS MSA Asphalt title was as good as Damian Cole’s. Starting out at car 1 after taking victory last year, Cole (Focus WRC) dominated the event setting fastest stage times on all but one stage and a final victory margin of almost a minute, (co-driven by James Morgan). Even if Simpson had entered and beaten him, Cole would still have been champion with this still measured drive. In 2nd place, and the only other stage winner, was  Simon Mauger (Escort MkII) with Ashley Trimble on the maps. Unable to catch Cole they had a rather lonely rally as John Stone & Matthew Whattam (Fabia WRC) were a minute further back. The final step on the podium was enough to see Stone finish runner-up in the championship to Cole.

Malton Forest Rally

Our first visit to the Malton Forest Rally but on familiar stages to us. A relatively small took the stages but there was good variety too. After just missing out on the win in 2013 Stephen Petch & Michael Wilkinson (Fiesta R5+) took victory by 8 seconds, after setting the fastest or joint fastest stage time on 5 of the 6 stages. Charlie Payne & Andrew Roughead (Fiesta) briefly led after setting the fastest time on the 3rd stage, but 2nd overall was not a bad return on a quiet rallying year. Competing the podium, almost a minute back, were Peter Stephenson & Ian Windress (Focus WRC) who had been consistently setting 3rd & 4th fastest stage times all event.