Déjà vu for Tom Cave approaching Rallye Sunseeker

There will be a sense of déjà vu for Welsh rally driver Tom Cave next weekend, as he approaches the finale of this year's MSA British Rally Championship, Rallye Sunseeker. The 21 year-old finds himself in exactly the same situation he faced at the finale of last year's series, second in the points table and needing a win, as well as bad luck for the leader, to clinch the title.

Tom's 2013 season has been a mixed one. While he and co-driver Ieuan Thomas have yet to win an event outright in their DMS Morris Lubricants Citroen DS3, a series of consistent podium results mean that they are tied in second place with Alastair Fisher as the last round of the series approaches. With series leader Jukka Korhonen 20 points ahead and 30 points available to the winner of the Sunseeker (regular points + 50%), it's all to play for on the final round.

Mathematically, to clinch the title, Tom needs to win the event and Korhonen to finish towards the bottom of the top ten, when dropped scores are taken into account. While Tom can directly influence the former, the latter is entirely out of his hands, just as it was last year, when he won the final round but lost the championship as the leader finished in the points.

The Sunseeker is this year's finale, as opposed to Rally Yorkshire which was last year's, and is a fitting end to what is widely regarded as one of the most closely-contested seasons in the BRC in recent years. Cave, Fisher and Korhonen have all traded stage times throughout the season and it is a tribute to the closeness of the competition that the title will be decided at the final round.

The Sunseeker, which was the first round of last year's series, is a fast-moving yet compact event, featuring ten stages over one day on smooth and flowing gravel tracks in and around the New Forest. It also features the famous Poole Quay ceremonial start on the evening of Friday 18 October as well as the podium celebrations at the end of the event on Saturday 19.

Commenting, Tom said; "It's quite strange to find myself in the same situation as last year; approaching the last event of the season, needing the win and also, the leader to have a problem or finish well down the order. It's a bit déjà vu...

"From our point of view, the strategy is simple - we need to win. Not only that, we need Jukka to finish well down the order to take the title. While we can go all out for the win, there's nothing we can do about Jukka, just hope that fate favours us on the day.

"We've all had our moments through the course of the year - some minor, some major and all it takes is luck to run out and things can change very quickly.

"Look at what happened to us in Ulster - leading before we got stuck in a ditch. We were lucky to come back and score points on the second day but if something similar happens to a crew on the Sunseeker, then it's all over - there's no way to get back on or get any lost time back again.

"So we will give it everything we have and cross our fingers a little too."

The event begins with the now-familiar ceremonial start on Poole Quay at 19.00hrs on Friday 18 October before ten stages and two services on Saturday 19 October, before the podium finish, again at Poole Quay, at around 17.50 on Saturday.