ROUND TWO of the ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship saw a number of the region’s crews head north to Jedburgh for a day of action in the little used forests which comprised the Border Counties Rally.

Welcoming competitors from the HRCR Motoscope Northern Historic Rally Championship and the ANECCC SG Petch Stage Rally Championship amongst other series, a top-quality entry was assembled and as well as all eight local crews reaching the finish, there was silverware galore to be had.

Leading the way in runner-up place behind multiple Scottish champion David Bogie was the SGP Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 plus of Hamsterley’s Stephen Petch who had young Stanley co-driver Jack Morton on the notes for the first time. The pair gave a good account of themselves to end up just 40 seconds behind Bogie at the finish.

Eleventh overall and taking a class victory was the ABLE UK-entered Ford Focus WRC of Teesside businessman Peter Stephenson who had Northallerton’s Ian Windress co driving as normal while Ripon driver Matthew Robinson and stand in co-driver Kim Baker came home one place back in 12th claiming their usual best two wheel drive car result and taking a class victory in their Ford Escort Mk2.

Another class win came the way of Thirsk’s Mat Smith and Staindrop co-driver Giles Dykes who once again defied the more powerful cars to claim 15th overall in their 1400cc Proton Satria whilst Smith’s close friend, Ben Cree from Thirlby also took a class victory en route to 40th overall in the 1600cc Peugeot 205 he was sharing with Richard Shores from Boltby.

A result of 43rd overall and fifth in class went the way of Lanchester driver Trevor Gamble in the Ford Puma 1600 he was sharing with Newcastle’s Ron Roughead as the pair took the award for best performance as a member of the joint organising Whickham and District Motor Club. Ripon pair Andrew Robinson and Kevin Wilson brought their Ford Escort home in 49th overall and eighth in class, two places in front of Topcliffe duo Nick Kitching and Ben Clarke in their Ford RS2000.

FANS of the hotly-contested MCE British Superbike Championship can relive all the action and drama as the latest movie, I, Superbiker - Split Second is screened at the Showcase Cinema complex at Teesside Park for one night only on Monday at 8pm.

The film captures the 'War for Four' titles between Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari, James Ellison's heroic return from injury and the stories that made the 2014 season. The film features previously unseen footage from behind the scenes, incredible onboard footage and the adrenalin-filled race action.

Special guests on the evening include the Guisborough-based Milwaukee Yamaha team who this year are fielding Australians Josh Brookes and Broc Parkes.

LAST weekend, Redcar Bears’ Press and Practice Day was a major success and followed by a full house in the Bears Bar for the fans to meet and greet the 2015 speedway riders.

Redcar Bears have strengthened their existing links with a Middle Eastern publishing company by renaming their South Tees Motorsports Park circuit the Media Prima Arena and will see them in action against Sheffield in a League Cup fixture next week on Good Friday night.

Also on Good Friday at 3pm the Bears riders will be at The James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough handing out Easter Eggs to the children.

AS PART of its ongoing safety drive following the Scottish Motorsport Event Safety Review, the Motor Sports Association has confirmed that it will no longer give dispensation for multi-venue stage rallies to run multiple or split fields.

Regulations state that competitors must be seeded numerically in order of their anticipated performance while allowing the MSA authority to exercise discretion which in the past has meant the lesser powerful 2WD and historic cars could run first one the road when the conditions were better. Now that has been withdrawn and the field on any event will run with the faster and more powerful cars at the head of the field with no gaps.

It follows the tragic accidents on the 2013 Snowman Rally and 2014 Jim Clark Rally, which led to the sport being independently audited by the Scottish Government and which has implemented a number of recommendations. Key stakeholders such as forestry and other landowners expect to see these in force if they are to continue granting access for stage rallies.

The concern is that under a multi-field format, event organisers and the Safety Delegate or MSA Observer have to judge whether a stage is safe to start before the majority of spectators have arrived, in anticipation of the faster second field. It is important that this judgement is made when spectator numbers are at their greatest. Therefore the MSA has decided that in the interests of safety, multi-venue stage rallies must all revert to the traditional method of running a single field, seeded in order of anticipated performance.