Trophy trio confident for surface switch
German asphalt adds new element to Trophy title fight
De Mevius nets maiden Trophy win
Ghislain de Mevius scored his first Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy victory at ADAC Rallye Deutschland on Sunday to set up a four-way battle for the title at the final round in Spain.
The 26-year-old Belgian won 13 of the 21 asphalt speed tests in his Ford Fiesta R2 en route to a comfortable 1min 38.7sec victory. He became the fourth driver to win in four rounds and will go up against Marius Aasen, Max Vatanen and Tom Cave in October for the crown.
Cave offered the sternest challenge. But when he crashed on Friday afternoon, de Mevius was left in the clear to head home Mats van den Brand, who claimed his best Trophy finish and won five stages.
“When Cave went off it left us with a big lead so we backed off a little, but still managed to get quite a few fastest times. It was a new experience for me to learn how to manage the rally but it feels really great to have taken my first win and be back in the fight for the championship,” said de Mevius.
Vatanen finished third to leapfrog Cave into second in the points. Will Hudson banished the memories of three straight retirements by finishing fourth ahead of Aasen, who took fifth and retained the championship lead despite hitting a wall in the opening leg.
The Norwegian has a five point advantage over Vatanen. Cave is 12 points further back with de Mevius another nine points adrift.
Kevin van Deijne completed the top six, the Dutchman having been as high as third before crashing on Saturday afternoon. Gus Greensmith and Tim Novak retired.
The final round at RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada (22 - 25 October) is a mixed surface event and will be run as two rounds, with double points on offer.
