Damian Cole is confident following his recent result on the Scottish Rally, he can put in some respectable times on the 2004 Rainworth Skoda Dukeries Rally and is hopeful of a strong finish on the Mansfield based event. Cole who only turned to loose surface rallying at the start of the year, is contesting both the Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship (BRC) and the British Trials and Rally Drivers Association (BTRDA) Series.

The O2 Get Connected! supported driver is encouraged by his pace, setting several top ten times on the BRC round in Scotland and finishing in seventeenth place, despite losing power steering on the Friday and a puncture causing an off road excursion on Saturday in his ACE Motorsport run Subaru Impreza World Rally Car.

"Setting several top ten stage times is encouraging for the amount of time I have spent on gravel. We would have finished further up the leader board had we not had our problems. We set some benchmarks at the start of the season and felt a top ten time may not be achieved until we turned some wheels on tarmac events in the BRC, so having surpassed our predictions already and improving on every rally I would like to be in with a chance of a respectable finish on the BTRDA round."

The former multiple Welsh Tarmac Champion will again team up with Blackwood co-driver, Den Golding. The Welsh pair contesting the BTRDA series throughout the year and are predicting a top ten placing.

"I am sure that with the characteristics of the rally, it should suit my driving style and without any major problems a top ten finish should be on the cards. I would like to think we can push inside the top five, but would be disappointed if we couldn't make the top ten.

The Rally will start and finish at Mansfield Civic Centre on Saturday 19th June 2004. The action gets underway at 8.30am, with the main competitive mileage taking place in and around Sherwood Forest.