Mewla Rally

A misty and damp Epynt saw the finale of the 2015 Asphalt Rally Championship. Simon Mauger was already champion and through a regulation quirk could lose the championship if he entered the last round, so it was down to Damian Cole & Jack Morton (Fiesta WRC) and Steve Simpson & Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) to fight it out for victory. Simpson struck first, Cole then hit back before Simpson took stage 3 and a 5 second lead. Simpson was then fastest on 5 of the remaining stages, (and joint fastest on another), to take victory by 23 seconds from Cole. John Indri & Peter James (Impreza WRC) were almost a minute and thirty seconds further back in third place.

Revolution Series – Round 1, Derby

Back to cycling once more and early season indoors action as the riders descended on the recently built Derby velodrome, to kick off the 2015/6 Revolution Series. This one had a bit more to offer than usual though as in the build-up to the Rio Olympics this was an early opportunity to start building up valuable UCI qualification points and it showed. The highlight was always set to be the madison which would see Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish reunited for the event they last rode together, on their way to the 2008 World Championship. They did not fail to deliver!

King of Wales

Another new one for us as we took in the King of Wales at Walters, down in South Wales. The crews had a testing 21.5km circuit to tackle, which they had to complete 6 times in the 9 hour time limit. Only 7 crews did this and it was Nicolas Montador & Olivier Varet (WSR V8 Rover) who held the overnight lead by just under 16 minutes. Filipe Guimanaes & Geraldo Sampaio (Off Road Armoury LS3) were next up just two minutes ahead of Rob Butler & Paul Lunstrom (Off Road Armoury LS3) in the Ultra 4 class.

Tyneside Stages Rally

In fitting with 2015 to date, Otterburn saw a mixture of damp, windy and sunny conditions which made for a challenging day on the military ranges. Our vantage point on stage 2 saw almost all of the top crews clip a wet wooden bridge mid-stage until Richard Sykes & Emma Morrison (DS3 R3T) made a considerably larger impact blocking the stage and halting the stage. Simon Mauger & Jonathan Hawkins (Metro 4M4) were fastest on two stages to lead Damian Cole & Jack Morton (Fiesta WRC) by just two seconds. Steve Simpson & Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) closed in from 3rd on the 2nd loop of stages with fastest times until a puncture on stage 6 saw them fall down the standings.