ROUND six of the REIS Ravenol BTRDA Rally Series took competitors to the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells last weekend for the Nicky Grist Stages Rally and saw the local contingent well to the fore again.

Leading the way in fourth place overall in the mid-Welsh forests was Ripon driver Charlie Payne and local co-driver Carl Williamson where the pair posted a string of competitive times in their Ford Fiesta. Chasing them home in fifth place overall was Hamsterley’s Stephen Petch and Northallerton co-driver Ian Windress in their SGP Motorsport-prepared and WD-40-backed Ford Fiesta R5+. Fastest on the opening stage, the former runners-up dropped time on SS6 but still scored good points for their title bid.

As a result, Petch occupies second in the points table with Payne in fifth but once the dropped scores are taken into account, just one point separates them going into the Woodpecker Stages in September.

Crook co-driver Michael Wilkinson was back in action with Lancastrian David Wright where they brought their Ford Focus WRC home in seventh place overall while Stanley’s Jack Morton guided Welshman Damian Cole to 28th place in their Mitsubishi. Charlotte Wainwright from Thirsk took a class win in the VW Polo she was sharing with Cheshire driver Matthew Thompson

Teesside businessman Peter Stephenson had a busy weekend finishing 12th overall on Saturday’s event before heading to Cumbria for Sunday’s P&R Benn Greystoke Stages where he was reunited with regular co-driver Ian Windress and the pair went on to take fifth overall in the Able UK-backed Ford Focus WRC.

Ahead of them was the venerable Ford Escort Mk2 of Ripon’s Matthew Robinson who claimed an impressive third place overall along with co-driver Sam Collis while the similar car of Northallerton driver Charlie Taylor and co-driver Alan Ward took 10th overall and fourth in class.

Brompton’s Darren Grimston took 18th overall in the Subaru he was sharing with Richard Ross, five places ahead of the Peugeot 205 of Thirlby’s Ben Cree and Thirsk co-driver Mat Smith who claimed fourth in class.

Northallerton brothers Andrew and Richard Chandler retired their 1300cc Ford Escort on the penultimate stage while Boroughbridge driver Graham Haigh and Pickhill co-driver Kari Bates went out in their Ford Escort on SS4 with gearbox problems. Guisborough’s Mike Thornton and Dave Scrimgour only got as far as SS when they retired with steering issues on their Ford Escort.

Pictures sent, courtesy of James Ward/Chicane Media (please accredit if used)

NEXT month’s Nostalgia Festival at Croft Circuit will feature the Avro Vulcan, XH558 "Spirit of Great Britain".

The aircraft has already drawn massive crowds around the country during its 'Farewell Tour' weekend at the end of June and due to increasing airframe hours and remaining engine life, 2015 is the last season of flight for this mighty Cold War bomber and peace keeper.

Croft Nostalgia will be one of the few remaining Northerly locations where people can see the Vulcan fly before it is grounded forever so it’s a final chance to see the last airworthy Vulcan flying and hear its unique roar of its four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines.

Meanwhile, the track action was fast and furious in last weekend’s BARC race meeting at Croft which included the popular Darlington & DMC Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship.

There were class wins all round for a number of local drivers including Middlesbrough’s Jeff Wilson who took a double victory in his Lotus Elise. Darlington driver Mark Leybourne also claimed a class win in his Westfield FW, as did Ingleby Barwick’s Dave Botterill in his Porsche 944.

The titanic saloon car battle saw class wins for Darlington drivers Paul Moss (Citroen Saxo) and David Cox (Peugeot 205) and Middlesbrough’s Steven Craggs (Ford Fiesta). Veterans Michael Starkey from Hartlepool (Ford Fiesta XR2) and Darlington’s Terry Wright (Seat Ibiza Cupra) claimed a second place in class each with Neasham’s David Hewitson taking a best result of fourth in his Toyota Supra.

AFTER two home wins, Redcar Bears took on the current Premier League leaders Somerset Rebels last week and came away with another victory.

Heat one saw a win for Somerset’s Brady Kurtz in the fastest time of the season with Bears’ Lasse Bjerre in second. 4-2 scores again for the Rebels in Heats two and three with wins for Paul Starke and ex-Bear Charles Wright.

In heat four, five and six, the points were split meaning a score of 15-21 to the Rebels. In heat seven, Stuart Robson and Wright had a nasty collision where Robson recovered but Wright was withdrawn from the meeting.

In heat eight, Bears reduced the arrears and continued the good form into heat nine to reduce the deficit to just a single point. With the crowd roaring their support, heat 10 saw the points were split again before the Rebels bounced back in heat 12 with another win for Kurtz. Heat 12 saw a 5-1 to the Bears and a 4-2 in the next heat saw the Bears lead by five points. With 4-2 score lines in the final two heats, the final score was 48-45 in favour of the home side.

THE organisers of this year’s Tour of Hamsterley Rally, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 12, have announced the format of the Rally which is different to that which has been used over previous years.

The start, service area and finish will be held at Streatlam near Barnard Castle and the event will consist of two loops of stages both incorporating stages in Hamsterley and Raby Castle. The first loop will feature two stages in Hamsterley at 7.2 miles and 8.1 miles followed by a run through Raby at around 2.9 miles.

After a service halt the route will be repeated but with two further runs at the Raby stage. All in all 40 miles of competition and regulations are available at www.tourofhamsterley.co.uk.