A BLOWN engine on Stage Four of the Cambrian Rally put paid to Damian Cole's title ambitions during the final round of the nine event BTRDA Gold Star rally championship.
Driving the Get Connected Hyundai Accent WRC, the Welsh rally champion knew that nothing less than an outright win would guarantee him the crown, but he was unable to find the pace that had secured him two wins and three podium finishes during a highly successful season.
"We had to win to take the title and had completely altered the suspension set-up from Proflex to Reiger dampers in the hope of gaining an extra few seconds a stage," explains Cole. "It didn't work, we struggled with the handling and the blown engine just put us out of our misery slightly earlier!"
As a result of the retirement, Cole finished the season in third place overall behind Will Nicholls' Subaru Impreza WRC, with Hugh Hunter securing the championship title in the Ford Focus WRC.
It's now back to the day job for Cole as managing director of Abergavenny-based Get Connected before he starts to plan his 2009 BTRDA campaign.