by Geoff Mayes
Welshman Sebastian Ling competed in dominant fashion by winning the production class on the Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais last weekend, a round of the highly competitive French Rally Championship.
Ling, along with his co-driver Aled Rees, last competed on the Raven's Rock Rally Ireland back in July, and following the summer break were looking forward to contesting the Rallye Le Touquet in their SW Motorsports built Evo 9.
The three-day rally, based in Le Touquet, featured a high entry of world rally cars as well as a strong manufacturer presence in the smaller categories. This high level of competition did not hamper Ling however, who opened an early lead on Friday night.
With changeable weather conditions on offer for Saturday, Ling's Kumho shod-Mitsubishi was the class of the field and ended the second day lying an incredible sixth overall.
Even a fuel pump problem, which slowed the Pro-Dent and Phillip Ling Estates backed Mitsubishi on Sunday, only caused minimal time loss and Ling returned to finish first in the Group N class and eleventh overall.
“This is a brilliant result for us,” said Ling. “We really enjoyed the rally. The stages were great.
“When the rain came down on Saturday I had so much confidence in my Kumho tyres that I was able to drive with full commitment. It was also good to run in the top ten overall for most of the rally.”
Ling and Rees are now looking forward to contesting further European rallies.
