Following a day-long battle where the leading two crews were closely matched throughout, it was Damian Cole/Ian Davis who won the opening round of the J D Competition Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Championship, the Tour of Caerwent Rally in their Get Connected Škoda Fabia R5. They opened up a 10-second lead on the first stage ahead of Dave Willett/John Davies, driving a Ford Escort Mk2, only for Willett to reduce Cole’s advantage to just one second after the second of six special stages at the MOD site at Caerwent. Over the next three stages, the pair were never more than three seconds apart, with Cole setting fastest times on two of the three tests, before wrapping up victory with fastest time on the final stage to end the day 11 seconds ahead of Willett.