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ABERGAVENNY rally driver Damian Cole is looking to dispel the ghosts of 2007 when he returns to the Welsh Rally in Brecon in his Hyundai tomorrow.

Cole, 37, won the tarmac race by a huge seven-minute margin in 2003 but last year was forced to retire, when in second place, when his car was diagnosed with a water pump failure.

Also well-poised for an assault on the British Trials and Rally Drivers Association title this summer after a second-place finish in the Exmoor National Park last weekend, he said: "This race takes place on the Ministry of Defence roads up at Epynt. We won there in 2003 and we're going there looking to win again.

"It's only a one-off race but it's sponsored by Robert Davies Partnership in Newport so that's why we go there. I don't expect to win by as much as in 2003, but I've got my co-driver back and just one second is enough."

Cole is managing director of local mobile phone retailer Get Connected and has been rallying for close to 20 years. He and his co-driver Paul Morris started out on tarmac, where Cole won eight races, but he has yet to finish top of the podium since the switch to gravel.

But he and Morris were convincing in finishing runners up on the fourth stage of the gravelled BTRDA series in their Hyundai Accent WRC last weekend.

Cole added: "I've been involved in the BTRDA for four or five years but the Somerset Stage was our first race back together for two years, and a solid performance that we can build on.

"We originally went over to gravel just because we fancied the change. I wanted to test myself because there's not many drivers who succeed on both road and gravel."

In 2006 Cole finished the nine-round series in third and followed that up with second overall last year. After a second in Somerset he and Morris are back in fourth for 2008 - but are still well-poised for the Championship.

Cole explained: "Only the top six races count, and we only came 16th in round two this year. You don't get a clear picture of the standings until some of those poor results, like that one, are dropped."

Second in Somerset was an improvement on the pairs' third in 2007 at the same event. It leaves Cole fourth, on 101 points, behind early leaders Will Nicholls (115), Michael O'Brien (108) and Hugh Hunter (105) in the overall drivers' standings.

There are now five rounds to go, with the next in Sherwood Forest on June 14 and the last culminating on November 1 in Llandudno.

7:22am Saturday 3rd May 2008

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