THE POPULAR JIM CLARK RALLY RESULTED IN MORE SUCCESS FOR KUMHO’S BUSY COMPETITION DEPARTMENT

News from Kumho

The reigning REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Champion, Damian Cole, has put his campaign for the 2011 title back on track with a win in the third round of this year’s series – the Jim Clark National Rally (May 27/28). Having finished second in the opening round but failing to finish the last one, he now sits joint fourth overall with 47 points and six events remaining.

After 120 stage miles the Ford Focus WRC of Cole and new co-driver James Morgan emerged victorious by just 5.2 seconds from the Subaru Impreza WRC of Steve Simpson and Patrick Walsh. Intermittent heavy rain showers made the going very tricky at times and tyre choice was a crucial element, as always – a regular Kumho runner, Cole’s triumphant Ford Focus was shod with Kumho C03 rally covers throughout. The next event in the Series is the Rally of The Midlands on June 18/19.

Former champion returns in style

Another Kumho runner on the Jim Clark Rally was former National Rally Champion and Flixton mushroom farmer David Mann, who with Caerphilly co-driver Alun Cook was contesting the International section of the event (the fourth round of the Dulux Trade British Championship) in a Subaru Impreza – his first experience of Britain’s premier rally series in over a decade. The pair achieved impressive progress, notching up half a dozen top 10 stage times en route to finishing eighth overall.

Equally quick to comment on the challenging weather conditions, Mann said, “There was an occasion where we put intermediate tyres on and the weather immediately dried up, so switched to slicks and it started to rain!” He spoke highly of his Impreza’s Kumho C03 tyres, however, which kept him on the road throughout the 16 high-speed stages – a notable achievement in itself in a rally where less than a third of the entry made it to the finish.

Conspicuous by its prominent Kumho branding, Mann’s Subaru was also the only top competitor not running on Pirelli rubber - a requirement of the Series. Rather than score championship points, the team’s priority was, however, to use the event as a shakedown for the Ypres Rally round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge later this month, where they will once again be competing on Kumho tyres.

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