LONGPARISH rally driver Justin Dale was celebrating last week after clinching the country's top rallying title.

After his triumph in the 2001 Formula Rally Championships - a new Championship which attracts top young drivers in1600cc cars - the 30-year-old Dale plans to defend his title next year, and hopefully move up the rallying ladder to tackle a number of World Championship events

"Winning this title puts my name in front of some influential people and by letting my driving do the talking I hope to be very busy next year," said a jubilant Dale.

He added that he was delighted to have won after such a closley fought batttle with Ford's works driver Martin Rowe by just two points but his achievement was taking a while to sink in.

Together with Manx co-driver Andrew Bargery, Dale piloted the works Peugeot106 GTi to an impressive run of victories but knew that he had to win the last event at Banbury to bring the trophy back to Longparish.

"The final round was a series of short, sharp stages and we knew that any little mistake would have cost us the championship," said Dale. "We led on the first stage but it was extremely tight and even going into the final of the 14 stages at Silverstone we could have lost the title.

"Its an amazing feeling to be champion and it hasn't really sunk in yet," he said. "The competition all season has been extremely close but to win on the final stage has meant an exciting contest for everyone involved.