Ford Parts Cheviot Rally

It was a pleasure to be up on the Otterburn ranges again and it was good news that the Cheviot was running again, after being cancelled in 2015. With the title sewn up Damian Cole & Paul Morris wheeled out the Escort MkII for a change and were not helped by the damp conditions early on. David Tinn & Giles Dykes (Satria Neo) made the most of 4WD and ran away to a 50 second lead by the end of the 2nd loop of stages. With the stages drying from there on in they extended their lead to over a minute before easing back on the final two loops to take victory by 70 seconds.

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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.

Cheviot Keith Knox Rally

In a sleep starved weekend we saw our 2nd four way title fight decided on the Otterburn Ranges. After a foggy start Damian Cole & Elliott Edmondson (Focus WRC) made a flying start and gained over half a minute on their title rivals. With mixed conditions they continued to build on this and following the retirement of Steve Simpson & Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) with a cracked gearbox casing after stage 5, a 4th title looked assured. Paul Bird & Aled Davies (Focus WRC) were struggling after steering issues on the first two loops whilst John Indri & Josh Davison (Darrian T90 GTR) were struggling to keep pace in the slippery conditions.

Cheviot Keith Knox Rally

With the championship decided on the previous round and the Tour of Mull the previous weekend, anyone could forgive the Cheviot Keith Knox Rally for not having a great entry. 2011 Champions Damian Cole & James Morgan (Focus WRC) were out to gain more experience of stages they do not know very well, along with building on what had been a great result on the Tyneside. Steve Simpson & Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) set the initial pace from Michael Glendinning & Paul Hughes (Impreza) and remained the top two until the end of stage 7. Cole had started out steady and through stage 7 starting carving time out of the top two. Stage 8 saw Glendinning retire and Cole blasted past Simpson into a lead he would hold until the end. Simpson ultimately finished 21 seconds behind Cole. Having a good run a long way from home back in third were John Indri & Dave Engwell (Darrian T90 GTR).

Cheviot & Keith Knox Stages

After an absence of two years we returned to Otterburn for the Cheviot & Keith Knox Stages. It was an excellent return even if the entries were down due to a date clash with Mull. With the championship decided long ago this rally was all about who wanted to win it and after 10 stages, (following the cancellation of SS5), John Stone & Patrick Walsh (Fabia WRC) took victory by just 3 seconds from Michael Glendinning & Alastair Roughead (Impreza). Glendinning had the lead by a second but Stone was charging back after dropping time early on. Completign the podium were John Indri & John Harland (Darrian T90 GTR) making their first visit to the ranges.