Rally-Driver.com: Chris Moore wins Fiesta SportingTrophy UK championship

Chris Moore wins Fiesta SportingTrophy UK championship
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Julian on 23 October, 2006 12:00:00
 
Chris Moore has won the first VK Vodka Kick backed Fiesta SportingTrophy UK
championship  - and the Fiesta ST road car and entry for Wales Rally GB that
goes with it – after a thrilling season conclusion on the Bulldog
Clubmans Rally based around Oswestry, an event won by Simon Hughes.
Moore was locked in a fierce title battle with rival George Thomas which was
only decided on the final stage of the 45 mile event. Just one stage before
Moore had thought his title chances were gone after an off, losing the 31
year-old fireman 10 seconds.
But it was the final stage where Moore’s luck held – and Thomas
saw his luck run out. A difficult corner was to prove to be the 20 year-old
student from Hereford’s undoing, and Moore saw his title rival stood at
the side of the road as he continued his charge.
The Innovation Motorsports driver still had to take second place in the rally
to ensure he took the title, and this he was to achieve by a mere 0.8 seconds
from a hard-charging Kevin Davies.
Through this, the rally win was taken by Simon Hughes, who drove strongly
throughout the day. Hughes has been quick all season, and also wins the Castrol
Award for Stage Wins, with 16 fastest stages set over the year. Hughes was the
first two wheel drive car home in the Clubmans Rally and headed four Fiesta STs
finishing inside the top ten.
The day had started with neither of the title protagonists or the rally winner
fastest out of the blocks. Halfords employee Tom Walster was half a second
faster than Thomas to head the field at the end of the first outing.  Walster
also went on to set the fastest time on the final test, giving him the Castrol
Hard Charger Award for the day.
The second stage saw Chris Moore to the fore, the Geordie going three seconds
faster than Hughes to take the rally lead by just over a second heading into the
mid-way service of the four stage event.
Stage three proved treacherous for Moore with his off taking him past a pile of
logs and depositing him stalled in the middle of another stage. He was able to
restart and get back on course, but given the closeness of the competition he
thought his title chances were ruined.
That was until he saw George Thomas stood at the side of the road of the final
stage just before a corner where Moore’s co-driver, Richard  Edwards, had
rolled two years previously. With Thomas now unable to score, Moore still had to
get the points for second place to secure the title.
The final stage was Walster’s in terms of fastest time, but Moore did
enough to keep the superb charge of Kevin Davies up the order at bay. Davies
left the midway service in fifth place and made back 16 seconds on the
opposition to finish in third.
Fourth spot was Walsters but fifth in the results was Barry Clark, the Stobart
VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver in the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally
Championship contesting this event as a one-off. Clark was faster than winner
Hughes on three of the four stages, but was off the pace on the second stage
which dropped him down the order.
Sixth was taken by Adam Gould who also won the award for most improved driver
during the course of the season. Every Fiesta ST save for that of Thomas made it
home, a testament to the strength and reliability of the cars at the end of the
first season of the highly popular championship which has already announced its
calendar for 2007.
But at the end of the day Chris Moore had the most to celebrate. His
championship prize haul includes a new Fiesta ST road car, an entry on Wales
Rally GB thanks to Welsh Technium, the VK Prize Drive - a rally contested in the
VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus RS WRC 05, an entry to The Apprentice shoot out for the
chance to work at M-Sport and shakedown the WRC and S1600 cars and free entries
to all ANCRO rounds next season.
Fiesta SportingTrophy UK competitors will next be seen out in action in
Britain’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB, on
December 1-3 where they will be competing alongside drivers in the Fiesta
SportingTrophy International.
Driver Quotes
Simon Hughes #73
It’s nice to show we can win rallies as well as win stages and
that’s our second Fiesta win of the year. We went a bit steady on the
first stage, probably too steady and dropped too much time from being cautious.
On the second stage we pushed on more and it was good. It was very close going
in to the afternoon and we pushed fairly hard.
Chris Moore #71
It’s fantastic to win and it hasn’t sunk in yet. We were full
lightweight spec for this rally. No toolkit, no oil, no water, no food,
we’ve never had so little in the car. On the first stage we lost some
time as we tried going uphill with the handbrake on! I clicked the handbrake off
and it was fine again but I was furious with myself. The second stage was fine
although half way through we thought we weren’t going fast enough, but
the times said otherwise.
On the third stage we went long at a corner blocked with logs and ended up
stalled in the middle of another stage. Fortunately we got the car restarted,
but I thought we’d lost it then. I couldn’t believe it when we saw
George at the side of the road, it must have been so hard for him. Next stop now
is Wales Rally GB, although I have to sort a car as mine’s already hired
out!
Kevin Davies #72
It’s been tidy. The stages weren’t slippery, even where the
looked like they might be and I thought I’d have to back off. Everything
has been going well and I’ve enjoyed it. The second stage was quite rough
and I wanted to go faster. In the afternoon we went from fifth to third, thank
you very much! To make 16 seconds back was nice and tidy.
Tom Walster #84
There were no problems and we seem to have been keeping the pace on all of the
stages apart from the third one. We dropped a load of time there and I’m
not sure why exactly. On the last stage we were in it and went in the ditch a
couple of times, once in front of my fan club with their ‘Tommi’
banner! I really wanted to help George Thomas in his title bid but fair play to
Chris Moore, he’s done a great job all year.
Barry Clark #75
I was struggling with the notes, it’s been so long since I used
organisers notes rather than my own or since I did a rally without a recce.
Because of that I was over-driving in the morning, getting the car sideways and
cooking the brakes. The afternoon was much better and we were second fastest
both times. This was just a one-off for me in the FST UK and its definitely a
different mindset.
Adam Gould #88
The first stage was pretty crap for us, we just couldn’t get a rhythm.
The second stage was a lot better until we nearly lost it when we came in to a
left hander 30 mph too fast. It was a real heart-thumper, but not so bad for me
as it was on the co-driver’s side! It was good to get to the end with the
car in one piece although I think I should have gone better on this one.
George Thomas #70
The first stage felt fine then the second one was quite rough. It felt like the
car wasn’t pulling properly, but maybe I was changing up too early. I was
slightly on the back foot but I put in a good fight for it in the afternoon. It
was a silly mistake when we went off and we would have won the rally otherwise.
I’m gutted.
More at: http://www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk