Wrexham's Jamie Edwards saw his chances of winning the Formula 1000 Gravel Rally Championship disappear just 2 miles into the first stage of the Cambrian Rally this weekend.  The 29 year old went off the road and landed his Nissan Micra 16v on two tree stumps, damaging the steering and bending the suspension on the Matador Tyres backed machine.  Together with Farnborough's Pam Hilton, Edwards had to win his category on the rally in order to claim the title, but the damage to the car was too severe to make it possible to continue.  Their impressive debut year together came to a grinding halt in front of family and friends just 4 miles into the 48 stage mile event, based in Llandudno.After winning two rounds in Mid Wales earlier in the season, Edwards had the chance to wrap up the title on the recent Bulldog Rally based in Oswestry, but a severe engine problem blighted his attempt to win the class that day, and a frustrated Jamie had to settle for 3rd behind rivals Tristan Dodd and Chris Shaw.  Heading into the final round on the Cambrian Rally, all three drivers could take the title, and Jamie decided that his best chance was to attack from the start.Treacherous weather greeted the crew as they entered the famous Penmachno stage near Betws-y-Coed, and Jamie was quickly into his stride as he pushed the Micra hard over the opening few corners.  Unfortunately the game plan was to collapse just 2 miles into the stage, as the Micra left the road after a tricky jump and sharp corner, and Edwards hit two tree stumps hidden in the grass.  Damage to the front left of the car was severe, and despite sterling work by marshals and spectators to extricate the car, over 10 minutes were lost, but Edwards regained the road.Sadly, the damage inflicted by the tree stumps meant that the car was not safe to drive, as it was pulling badly to the left, making it near impossible to negotiate the corners on the slippy gravel and muddy roads.  Jamie decided that the safest option was to retire at the next available junction in the stage, and a years toil and hard work had been reduced to nothing in the space of just a couple of miles.Edwards was understandably disappointed after being forced out so early in the day:'What can I say?  It was a bad mistake on my part, and I just got the jump wrong.  The road fell away very quickly to the left, and we didn't even land on the road - we just flew straight off into the undergrowth and hit the tree stump flush on the left front wheel.  It pushed the wheel back into the wheel arch, bending the wishbone and the steering, so it was just impossible to drive the car at anything more than 20 mph without it trying to turn sharp left.  I paid the penalty for trying too hard unfortunately.Obviously you have to consider safety at all times, and I didn't think it was safe to carry on with the car so badly damaged, so there was no option but to retire.  I'm bitterly disappointed, but at least we have shown that when things do go right for us, we can be extremely competitive and very hard to beat.  I must also say a big thank you to all the spectators and marshals who worked so hard to return us back to the stage after we had gone off.  Their determination was just amazing - I can't thank them enough for what they did.'The end result was that Tristan Dodd won the class on the day, winning the title in the process.  Chris Shaw survived a late roll on the event to finish second, and Jamie's retirement meant that he dropped down the points table to finish 3rd in the Championship, with co-driver Hilton doing slightly better, finishing runner up in the co-drivers championship.