Northallerton pair Kevin Franks and Craig Walley brushed off the cobwebs in style by taking a superb top five placing on last Sunday’s Lookout Stages Rally at Melbourne near York. The duo hadn’t competed together since last summer but it didn’t take long for the Ford Escort pair to get into their stride before ending the Trackrod Motor Club event with a class win.

Guisborough’s Dave Hornbrook and co-driver Phil Hewson took eighth overall in their Mitsubishi Lancer whilst a career best performance saw Leeming Bar driver Dave Johnstone and Pickhill co-driver Bruce Lindsay take 12th overall and second in class in their Peugeot 205.

Saltburn driver Kev Hullah and co-driver Chris Harding form Marske brought their VW Golf home in 16th place overall and fifth in class, just being pipped by George Hewick and Mick Johnson from Pickhill in their Ford Escort Mk 2. Consett pair Jimmy and Al Knox ended up 22nd in their BMW with Bedale crew Shaun Wilson and Errol Bairstow 25th in their Subaru.

Thirsk’s Mat Smith overcame problems in his Proton to take 28th overall and second in class but sadly for Faceby driver Alun Pearson, he retired his Peugeot 205 with a broken engine mounting.

Picture to follow from James Ward – please credit and caption if used

WILKS IMPRESSIVE IN SPAIN

Durham’s Guy Wilks ended the first round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in good spirits after a strong weekend where he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.

The ex-British Rally champion reached the semi-finals in the opening round at Barcelona at the wheel of his LOCO Energy Drink and Karting North East-backed Volkswagen RX Polo after battling through the qualifying heats inside the top ten.

Those results gave him a place in the semi-finals, where two groups of six cars battled it out for one of six spots in the final. Needing a third place in the race, Guy tried all he could but could only manage fourth meaning he missed out on the final but still scored vital World Championship points going into the next round in Portugal later this month.

Picture to follow: Guy Wilks scored World Championship points in Spain

TODD ON DONINGTON PARK PODIUM

Saltburn rider Davey Todd got his Pirelli Superstock 600 Championship underway in fine style with a podium finish at the opening round at Donington Park last weekend. The Morello Kawasaki rider qualified in fourth place and at one point took the lead before settling for third at the flag.

Burnopfield’s Chrissy Rouse was also on form in the 2017 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship with three strong results which puts him fourth in the points after the opening round. On board the Mission Racing BMW, the Newcastle University student enjoyed his best race weekend since 2013 as he scored two fourths and one fifth place finish, his best results since moving up to the hard-fought series last year.

Neil Bainbridge from Hutton Rudby didn’t fare quite so well in the Superstock 1000 race when he crashed his KLM/Hare Yamaha without serious injury on Sunday after battling to 25th in Saturday’s endurance race. Middlesbrough’s Richard Rooney failed to qualify for the Ducati Cup race and Guisborough teenager Josh Bunney recorded a best result of 18th place in the KTM RC390 Cup.

Stockton's Daley Mathison, using the meeting as testing, failed to qualify FOR THE Superstock 1000 race due to the inclement conditions but instead of packing up and going home, the Eddie Stobart-sponsored rider got a last minute entry at a club meeting at Darley Moor to continue the work needed prior to his first major outing at Scarborough later this month.

Pictures to follow from Adrian Smith – please credit and caption if used

GARRITY WINS TROPHY

The Redcar SG Petch Bears Speedway Team staged their annual Julie Lewis Memorial meeting last week in memory of their former office manager. The line up included most of the Bears current team plus invited riders who contested the 20 heats. Bears’ new signing Jason Garrity won all of his heats to take the victory whilst Northallerton’s Richard Hall just missed the Run Off race which went the way of Finland’s Tero Aarnio ahead of Australian ex-Bear Ty Procter.