THE sixth round of the Toyo Tires MSA British Rallycross Championship took place at Lydden Hill in Kent on bank holiday Monday which proved a successful trip for a number of the region’s competitors.

As he had in Ireland last month, Rob Shield from Cleasby dominated proceedings in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship, qualifying top at the Intermediate Classification before winning the semi-final and then the final to close the gap on series leader Simon Ovenden to just two points. Also taking a superb victory in the BMW Mini Rallycross Championship was Fuchs Titan Race-sponsored Northallerton teenager Drew Bellerby who came home ahead of Martin Hawkes from Stockton on Tees.

Paige Bellerby continued her quest for the MSA Supernational Rallycross Championship despite only managing third in her Fuchs-backed Lotus Exige with fellow Northallerton driver Guy Corner taking his Peugeot 206 to fifth in the final whilst in the Supercar final, Leeming ace Kevin Procter overcame problems in his Procter’s Luxury Coaches-backed Ford Fiesta to finish fifth.

Sadly for Barnard Castle’s Mark Watson, he was plagued by technical issues throughout the day with his Mend-A-Hose-backed Citroen Xsara and didn’t start the semi-finals.

In the MSA Junior Rallycross Championship, Richmond driver Tom Constantine finished in second position which moved the 2016 runner-up back to second in the standings in the single-make series, but for cousin James from Dalton-on-Tees, he retired after a collision in the latter stages of the final.

SCORTON’S Max Coates was again in impressive form at Rockingham Motor Speedway for the latest rounds of the Renault UK Clio Cup where he came away with a victory and a third-place finish.

With backing from local firms Harron Homes, Primex Plastics, PLASgran Recycling, Clements add JT Atkinson, Coates secured a double pole position before taking a start to finish win in the opening encounter.

Max then lined up on pole for the second race, broadcast live on ITV4, and made a better start than he had done in race one but lost the lead and at one point was back in fifth but a gutsy drive saw him eventually claim third at the flag to round off a successful weekend.

THE annual Pendragon Stages Rally took place on the military roads around Warcop Camp in Cumbria last weekend with a strong contingent of local competitors in action as usual.

Heading the way with a superb seventh place overall and class win was Mickleton’s Alastair Hutchinson and co-driver Jordan English in their LPG-powered Renault Clio whilst Richmondshire duo Geoff Wright and Chris Sanderson continued the shakedown work on their recently acquired Ford Fiesta S2000 by taking 17th overall and 11th in class.

Durham’s Andy Brown guided Malton driver Rob Snowden to 18th overall and fifth in class in their Ford Escort 2.5, six places ahead of Northallerton’s Charlie Taylor and co-driver Katy Mashiter in a similar car. Durham driver John Nicholson and Pickhill co-driver Mick Johnson brought their Ford Escort home in 31st overall and sixth in class whilst the Consett duo of Jimmy Knox and Colin Tombs finished 36th overall and seventh in class in their BMW.

Teesside’s George Scott and Barnard Castle co-driver Andrew Hutchinson brought their Mitsubishi Evo 6 home in 46th overall whilst Richmond pair Simon Cole and Joe Hutchinson retired their BMW after SS5, as did Pickhill’s Chris Pattison in the Vauxhall Corsa he was sharing with Finlay Block.

REDCAR SG Petch Bears took on fourth-placed Championship League side Edinburgh Monarchs and after beating third placed Glasgow Tigers last week, they made it two wins in a row.

The Bears started in brilliant style by scoring 5-1s in the first three heats, with wins for Ben Barker, Tobias Busch and Jason Garrity before the Monarch’s German rider Eric Riss won the next heat. The visitors continued their comeback with a 5-1 in the next heat which reduced the Bears lead to six points, however, a fine 5-1 for Barker and team mate Ellis Perks stretched the Bears lead back to 10 points.

Monarch’s Ricky Wells wore the tactical helmet colour in the next heat and promptly won to give him the six points with Bears’ Charles Wright in second place meaning Bears’ lead was now reduced to five points, where it stayed in the next heat with split points. Jonas B Andersen scored his first win before heat 10 saw a victory for Wells win and then the points were again split in heats 11 and 12.

With a slender seven points deficit and three heats remaining, the Monarchs thought a win was still achievable but a pivotal heat 13 saw Monarch’s Proctor fall and Barker win the re-run as the Bears stretched their lead to nine points. A stylish piece of team riding in the penultimate heat saw another win for Andersen with Busch a close second before Wells won the last heat to make the final scoreline Bears 52 – 41 Monarchs.