Last weekend’s DMACK Carlisle Stages marked another successful event for our region.

Based in Carlisle and incorporating speed tests in the Kershope and Newcastleton forests, the rally attracted more than 100 competitors to Cumbria with stages that are fast becoming some of the country’s most popular.

The event took place last Saturday and 111 competitors took to the start line at the H &H Auction Mart in Rosehill ahead of five competitive stages.

The weather remained largely dry, making for a perfect day’s rallying through the fast and flowing roads.

Matt Edwards took an early lead behind the wheel of his DMACK-clad Ford Fiesta R5 – an impressive achievement considering he’d only racked up 20 kilometres of testing before the event, in a car he had no previous experience of.

But when Edwards slid off the road, the event belonged to Desi Henry who piloted his Skoda Fabia R5 home to a 38 second advantage ahead of the highest placed local driver, Smithfield’s Peter Taylor, in second place.

“We’re delighted to hear that last weekend’s event was such a success,” said DMACK Managing Director Dick Cormack. “The organisers did a great job and the rally is going from strength to strength. Needless to say, we have high aspirations for the event in the future.”

Further afield, Cumbrian teams were also impressing on the world stage as both the DMACK and M-Sport World Rally Teams took to the abrasive stages of Rally Italia Sardegna – the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

Flying the flag for DMACK, Ott Tänak equalled the tyre manufacturer’s best WRC result.

Battling for the early lead, he showcased the improved pace of DMACK’s recently upgraded gravel tyre – setting the second fastest time, just 0.3 seconds adrift of the lead, on the opening speed test.

When Friday’s action headed east of rally base in Alghero, he struggled a little with durability on the ultra-abrasive roads but still managed to finish the day safely inside the top-10.

The Estonian then resumed his charge on Saturday. Setting leading times throughout the morning loop, he scored DMACK’s second fastest stage time of the season as he blasted through a 22.39 kilometre stage to finish 1.3 seconds faster than his nearest rival. By the end of the day he’d moved

up four places into the top-five.

Maintaining that throughout Sunday’s final four stages, Tänak finished fifth overall, just ahead of M-Sport’s latest protégé, Eric Camilli, who put in a sensational performance behind the wheel of his Fiesta RS WRC.

Repaying the Cockermouth-based team’s faith in his natural speed and ability, the Frenchman delivered a consistent string of highly impressive and competitive stage times to truly demonstrate his potential as a future rally winner.

Were it not for an unfortunate technical issue on Friday morning which cost him four minutes to the leading pack, Camilli would have been battling for his first WRC podium on only the 12th gravel rally of his career.

Setting six top-three stage times, the Frenchman also made history by securing his first WRC stage victory through the first pass of the Power Stage on Sunday morning and is only expected to improve as the season continues.

Despite missing out on the chance to fight for the podium, M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, was considerably impressed with his latest signing.

“It’s hard not to think about what could have been this weekend as we had the pace to challenge for the podium. It’s been something of a missed opportunity for us, but I have to admit, Éric’s performance really has made up for the initial disappointment!

“I have been extremely impressed with him. He hasn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. He’s shown consistent, competitive speed and his stage victory this morning was exceptional and fully deserved. I’m sure it will be the first of many.

“We knew he was capable of this kind of performance, but we never expected it to come so soon. He has bounced back brilliantly and the level of progression over the last three events is way beyond anything I have ever witnessed before. He has the potential to go very far indeed.”

But it was on the Norwegian round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship that Cumbrian engineering truly made its mark – M-Sport’s latest creation, the Ford Focus RS RX, claiming an historic and dominant victory courtesy of Andreas Bakkerud.

It only took five races for M-Sport’s latest challenger to make it to the top of the podium, and Bakkerud did so in perfect fashion – becoming the first man in history to win all four heats over the course of a race weekend before going on to win both his Semi Final and the Final.

“From the beginning, the goal was for the Focus RS RX to be competitive and to win,” said Malcolm Wilson OBE.

“To have a win after only five races is incredible. This is a brand new car and some elements are still being fine-tuned so a victory as dominant as this one just goes to prove the dedication and engineering expertise of our hardworking engineers, mechanics, and designers.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished, and are looking forward to some more fantastic results as the season progresses.”