HEREFORD’S Damian Cole, racing the Get Connected Hyundai Accent WRC, moved to within three points of the BTRDA Gold Star title with a third-place finish in the Plains Rally, the penultimate event of the season.

It was not quite enough to move Cole ahead of Will Nicholls, whose Championship lead was reduced to just two points having failed to finish in his Subaru Impreza WRC.

The class was won by Hugh Hunter in a Ford Focus WRC who is now firmly in contention in third place, one point behind Cole going into the title-deciding Cambrian Rally.

With only three points separating the three leading drivers, Cole knows that nothing less than a top-two finish will secure him the coveted Gold Star crown when the cars line up on November 1 for the Cambrian Rally, based in Llandudno and organised by the North Wales Car Club.