LEEMING driver Kevin Procter took his seventh victory in eight years at Northallerton AC’s popular festive fixture as he and Northallerton co-driver Dave Bellerby eased to another comfortable win on the Swift Signs Christmas Stages Rally at Croft Circuit last Sunday.

Despite the local flooding chaos and torrential rain the day before, the day dawned dry, bright and mild, ensuring a crowd of thousands at the Yorkshire racetrack just south of Darlington.

With slicks the order of the day, the Procter’s Luxury Coaches Subaru WRC pairing were immediately on the case on SS1 to lead Scotch Corner’s Tony Bardy and Saltburn co-driver Neil Colman (Ford Focus WRC) by two seconds, with Castleton husband and wife Ryan and Jemma Champion’s Subaru 555 a further six seconds back in third.

Procter increased his lead on SS2 to 21 seconds over Champion as Bardy slipped to third, but the Proton Millington of Consett’s Barry Renwick and co-driver Steve Dargan was quickly finding pace and, by SS3, they had taken over in second behind the rampant Procter.

By halfway, Procter’s lead was up to 36 seconds over Renwick, with Bardy 12 further adrift in third. Ian and Stephen Woodhouse, from Hutton Rudby, held fourth, just three seconds ahead of fellow Ford Escort Mk2 pairing Paul and Jessica Swift, from Darlington, with the Subaru WRC of Lancastrians John Cope and Arron Newby up to sixth after Champion dropped 30 seconds when he side-swiped a chicane.

No sooner had the bumper crowd stopped buzzing from Malcolm Wilson demonstrating the ex-Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro Sport in the lunchtime recess than the action reconvened on the stages only. Procter wasn’t fastest for once, but still increased his lead. A big spin cost him 10 seconds on SS6, but he still held a half-minute advantage as dusk fell just before the penultimate stage.

A huge effort by Procter saw him fastest again to increase his lead over Renwick by 21 seconds on SS7 to lead by nearly a minute, while Bardy relinquished his third place due to an oil pressure problem which saw him retire.

Into the final stage and it was Procter’s to lose, but he made no mistakes and ran out a comfortable winner by 57 seconds over the spirited Renwick, who claimed his best Christmas Stages result.

Woodhouse, despite a 10-second penalty for corner-cutting, finished third, just ten seconds back. Swift, suffering badly from flu, was fourth and Cope took fifth on his Croft debut. Champion, courtesy of fastest time on the final stage in the battered ex-Piero Liatti car, just pipped Steve and Seb Perez, in their ex-Markko Martin Ford Focus WRC, for sixth place by a single second.

Class 1 saw an epic battle between Bedale driver Joe Cunningham and co-driver Marc Fowler (Vauxhall Corsa) and Thirsk’s Mat and Amanda Smith (Proton Satria). It went the formers' way by seven seconds as they claimed a superb 11th place overall, with Smith in 13th.

In an equally competitive Class 2, Cumbrians Barry and Michael Lindsay (Peugeot 106) beat the Vauxhall Corsa of Richmond brothers Mark and Andrew Constantine by a mere six seconds as they took 18th and 19th overall respectively. Late entries Darren Moon and Robin Shuttleworth (Ford Escort) beat Witton Gilbert’s Edward Todd and Ryton co-driver Andy Brown’s GTM by 12 seconds to win Class 3, with the Swifts taking Class 4 and Cope and Newby victorious in Class 5.

Northallerton father and daughter Andrew and Georgina Smith brought their historic-specification Ford Escort Mk2 home in 16th overall and third in class, just one place and five seconds ahead of Mickleton driver Alistair Hutchinson and co-driver Steve Walmsley in their two-litre LPG-powered Renault Clio.

Durham duo Stuart Walker and Jack Morton took 22nd overall in their Skoda S2000, with Chop Gate brothers John and Mark Gaskin bringing their 1600cc Citroen Saxo home 24th overall and fourth in class. Two places further adrift was the Peugeot 206 of Northallerton’s Larry Carter and Drew Bellerby, who took fifth in class, while Crakehall pair Andrew and Daniel Auld finished 31st overall and eighth in class in their Peugeot 205.

Brompton’s Darren Grimston debuted his Honda Civic to claim 34th overall and ninth in class along with co-driver Richard Ross, with Great Ayton pair Ian Horn and Bob Brown 36th overall and eighth in class in their Vauxhall Nova. Hutton Rudby driver Kevin Liddle and Thirsk co-driver Charlotte Banner finished 39th overall and ninth in class in their Citroen Saxo, two places ahead of Stokesley’s Paul Rowland and Potto co-driver Andy Davison in their Proton Satria.

Stanley’s Jimmy and Alistair Knox ended up 44th overall and 12th in class in their BMW 316, with Darlington’s Kev and Ashleigh Tennick 46th overall and 13th in class in their Peugeot 306.

A broken windscreen courtesy of a wayward bonnet scuppered the hopes of Stockton pair Martin Peters and Jason Leaf, who ended up 47th overall and 13th in class in their Citroen Saxo, but it was better news for Northallerton brothers Andrew and Richard Chandler, who claimed third in class en route to 51st overall in their 1300cc Ford Escort.

Whitby father and son John and Martin Cockerill claimed 52nd overall and 17th in class in their Ford Escort, five places ahead of Pickhill driver Chris Pattison, who overcame a couple of dramas on his debut in his MG ZR to take 14th in class along with co-driver John Marshall. Bishop Auckland driver Steve Perry and Darlington co-driver Mike Williams drove well to finish 62nd overall and 17th in class in their Proton, while Thirkleby’s Mike Herrington and co-driver Rachel Heel had to fight back to 63rd in their Subaru after a stage one maximum.

Sinderby’s Bill and Katy Bates suffered a few problems in their recently re-built Lotus Exige to come home 67th overall, but a few more local crews didn’t see the finish. Scorton’s Geoff Wright and co-driver Sam Clennel retired their Nissan Almera after SS2 with clutch problems, while Leeming driver Dave Johnston and co-driver Simon Little’s rally ended with fuel pump failure after SS4 on their Peugeot 205.

Durham siblings Andy and Rachel Fawcett went out with gearbox problems on SS5, along with Northallerton’s George Scott and Teesdale co-driver Tony Walker in their Mitsubishi. Saltburn crew Ian and Nick Colman retired their Nissan Sunny with transmission failure, as did Pickhill’s Kari Bates, who was sitting in with Michael Farmer in their Ford Focus. Catterick driver Martyn Tinker and co-driver St John Dykes retired their Lotus Exige on the penultimate stage with engine failure, while Guisborough’s Dave Hornbrook and co-driver Matthew Sample went out on the very last stage when the clutch failed on their Mitsubishi.