By Paul Evans

Matt Edwards has retained his British Rally Championship crown, beating rival Tom Cave to the title after a controlled drive on the Galloway Hills Rally.

Co-driven by Patrick Walsh, Edwards came into the title showdown only needing a seventh-place finish or better to become the first double champion in almost a decade. Packing his Pirelli-supported Ford Fiesta R5 with a raft of spares, the M-Sport star cautiously set off into the eight stage event just looking for a trouble-free finish.

Meanwhile Cave and co-driver Dale Bowen had to win the event to bring themselves back into title contention. They set fastest time on all eight stages in their Michelin-shod Hyundai i20 R5 to win the battle in Scotland, but Edwards won the war – threading his way through the gravel tests to bring his Fiesta home third overall, which was more than enough to seal back-to-back titles.

“I went into the last stage just wanting it to be over and it was a tough event for us to drive, as we had to make sure we got to that finish line,” said Edwards. “M-Sport, Patrick [Walsh] and the whole team have made it all perfect for me and to have everything come together again is really sweet. I hope Tom [Cave] takes it as a compliment, but to beat him this year is really special and to enjoy this season long fight was great for the championship and to beat him on pace, I am really chuffed. It’s just unbelievable!”

“We had a really good day in the car, clean sweep of stage wins and we came out fighting which is what we had to do to try and win the championship and take the fight to Matt,” added Cave. “Congratulations to him and Patrick, but we did all we could today and Dale [Bowen] did a fantastic job. I have had too many bridesmaid moments and naturally we are gutted but to round out the year with a win is a great feeling, especially in some great stages up here in Scotland and it’s been a very enjoyable year!”

Jonny Greer, partnered by Carmarthenshire co-driver Dai Roberts, finished second in a Fiesta R5, splitting the championship contenders and scoring his first BRC for three years.

Newcastle Emlyn’s James Williams missed out on a chance to win 60,000 euros after a wheel hub sheered on his EDSL-ran Ford Fiesta R2 and he went into a ditch on a fast forth gear corner.

British Rally Championship – overall driver standings
1. Matt Edwards….111pts
2. Tom Cave….98pts
3. Josh McErlean….42pts
4. David Bogie….41pts
5. William Creighton….35pts