Damian Cole scored a sensational record-equalling sixth Old Forge Garage Mewla Rally victory in his Fiesta WRC in 2019 (Sunday 25 August) – which was also a 23rd rally victory equalling record on the Epynt military range.
Co-driven by Paul Spooner, who had guided him to his first Mewla Rally win in 2008, Damian set a blistering early pace in his Get Connected/Energizer-backed Ford hard on the opening loops of stages to establish a good lead.
A quick spin on the grass in the German Village illustrated how hard he was pushing, yet by the mid-day service Damian has established a healthy 29 second lead.
He was then able to consolidated his advantage, maintaining that exact margin until finally allowing himself to ease off on the final loop of three stages. With all the hard work executed to perfection, Damian’s record-equalling 19 second win was confirmed at the podium celebrations at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd.
“It’s an honour to have now won as many Mewla rallies as John Price, and to have won as many rallies on Epynt as John as well,” said Damian.
“I never thought that when I started rallying and John was winning everything, that one day I’d equal his record.
“The car was faultless all day. We’d done a lot of work on the car’s set-up and the Fiesta WRC is now so much easier to drive. We’d also re-mapped the throttle as well, so it’s not so aggressive as soon as you touch the pedal, and that made a big difference because the car was so much better in all the chicanes and tight corners.
“We were fastest or joint fastest most of the day, which allowed us to back off on the last loop because by then we had a twenty-nine second lead and there was no point trying to be a hero.”