Ulster double secures title for Sykes (From Dudley News)

Ulster double secures title for Sykes

1:00pm Thursday 23rd August 2012 in Local Sport

STOURBRIDGE rally ace Richard Sykes clinched the BRC Challenge title after a spectacular double win in Northern Ireland last weekend.

Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor knew a strong performance in the Ulster challenge event would put them in a strong position.

But victories in both rallys meant they actually secured the title with a round to spare.

Sykes said: “It’s fantastic.

“We were disappointed not to have won the Jim Clark earlier in the year, as we were feeling good on that event.

“But the season has pretty much gone to plan, the car’s reliability has been brilliant and I’ve had my fair share of mechanical issues in my time, so it’s nice to have a good clean season.”

The Citroën C2R2 Max pair headed to Ulster 10 points behind championship leader James Watt and went for broke early on.

Simon Moore and Emma Morrison led after two stages but dramatically crashed out on the notorious Torr Head stage, leaving the door open for Sykes, though it needed a drive of total commitment in order to take advantage.

And he delivered, snatching victory on round five on Friday before winning every stage on round six on Saturday.

Without Moore to contend with, Sykes had to battle to keep tarmac ace Richard Archer in his ex-works S1600 Opel Corsa and young hotshot, Jon Armstrong, behind him.