Doran rolls back the years with Croft victory

Driving the ex-Carlos Sainz Ford Escort WRC, the Sittingbourne driver eased his way through the heats to qualify behind British champion Dermot Carnegie's Ford Focus for the six-lap encounter.

Superbly organised and promoted by Darlington and District Motor Club, and with the bumper crowd enjoying unseasonal sunshine and mild temperatures, the 17th running of the event was eagerly awaited as Irishman Carnegie sat on pole alongside Doran, with triple GP winner Will Gollop (Ford Focus) completing the front row of the grid.

Local hero Tony Bell, from Ferryhill, (Toyota Corolla WRC) was on row two alongside former British champion Helmut Holfeld, the Irishman driving the same Ford Escort, prepared by Tony Bardy of Scotch Corner, which had propelled countryman John Haffey to victory two years ago.

Row three saw British driver Steve Mundy (Ford Focus) alongside Dane Torben Moller's SEAT Cordoba WRC and Norwegian Morgan Antonsson in his Mitsubishi Lancer.

Denmark's Tils Hansen (Ford Focus) was joined by triple French champion Laurent Terroitin, who had secured the final place on the grid after winning the B final following a number of transmission problems which had thwarted the Citroen Xsara all weekend.

Apprehension got the better of Antonsson, who jumped the initial start and was sent to the back of the grid as a result, while Gollop's hopes of the win went west when he was pushed wide at the chicane and had to join the pack dead last.

As the cars slithered round the hairpin to complete lap one, it was Doran leading Carnegie with the pack in hot pursuit.

But all eyes were on Terroitin, who made his way up into second place as the cars negotiated Hawthorn and then reeled in Doran.

By lap three, the pair had started to pull clear of the battle for third between Carnegie, Holfeld and Bell. Moller, Mundy and the recovering Gollop were disputing the lower placings after Hansen joined Antonsson on the sidelines.

That's the way it stayed for the next two laps as Terroitin failed to find a way past Doran, who covered the passing places on each corner. On the final lap a huge effort by Terroitin on the loose back section saw the Xsara slew sideways into Samson Curve and almost level with the Escort. But Doran had things under control and he hung on to take a narrow victory, much to the delight of the partisan home crowd.

Carnegie held off Holfeld for the final rostrum placing as Bell faded back in fifth, finishing just ahead of a bitterly disappointed Gollop. Moller, who had also endured a number of transmission problems throughout the meeting, brought the Cordoba home in seventh place, while Mundy went out late on.

The supporting Internations Cup provided any amount of thrilling racing over the weekend, with Norway regaining the title they won in the mud and rain of two years ago despite a strong English challenge which nearly wrested victory in the final stages.

With plenty of bumper-bashing two-wheel drive action, the wieldy rear-wheel drive Volvos of the Norwegians took victory over the front-wheel drive SuperModified English cars, with Denmark, Wales and Ireland also represented.

Scandinavian Frode Holte took the C final ahead of England's Gordon Rogers (Vauxhall Corsa), with Hartlepool's Des Wheatley (Rover Metro) following home Hans Olav Opheim in the B final.

Only a disaster for Norway in the A final could have prevented them claiming a second successive crown, but a monumental effort by Northallerton driver and English captain Dave Bellerby - who had clinched the BRDA SuperModified championship the previous weekend - saw him take his Motoscope Vauxhall Nova to the win.

But, in following Bellerby home, Per Joergensen netted victory for Norway with a final points tally of 58 to 56.

It was a brave effort by Bellerby, who is still recovering from the effects of a broken leg sustained at Easter. The Yorkshireman was not only the fastest two-wheel drive car all weekend, but remained unbeaten throughout the two days of competition.

In the Invitational Junior Rallycross Superprix, Ulster schoolboy Jonathan Greer overcame the challenge of Hereford's Joe Powis and Midlander Andrew Jordan as the 1000cc Minis battled it out in close formation.

Gosforth driver David Binks was a member of the English team in the Internations Cup, but the BMW Mini driver didn't make it into the finals, while Stockton's Ken Hall (Ford Escort) ended up fourth in the Grand Prix B final as he battled it out with fellow Briton Kevin McCann (Subaru Impreza) and Portuguese champion Eduardo Viega (Ford Focus).

l Regulations for the increasingly popular Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally have now been published and entries are already starting to filter in for the event, which takes place at Croft on bank holiday Tuesday, December 28.

It will be the fourth year running the Northallerton AC event has been held exclusively at the North Yorkshire race track and last year many crews were turned away as demand for entries exceeded the 80 available, so all competitors are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment.

Those in need of regulations or further information can contact entries secretary Nicky Constantine on 01642 651206 before 9pm.

Marshals are also needed and details can be acquired from chief marshal David Turner on 01609 881533.

* Following a very successful first visit to Croft in 2004, the organisers of the British Superbike Championship have included the circuit in the provisional calendar for the 2005 series, which is scheduled to be contested over 13 rounds.

While not originally allocated a slot when the list of dates was announced in September, the fact that the North-East circuit attracted the largest official crowd of the 2004 series, with some 28,700 fans attending the meeting in August, persuaded MCRCB Events to award the track a round of the world's best domestic Superbike series over the weekend of June 4 and 5.

l After a spin on the final stage of the recent Rallitrak Premier Rally cost him the chance of outright victory, Leeming rally driver Kevin Procter was once again denied when he suffered problems in the latter stages of the Lynn Stages Rally last weekend.

With Northallerton's Mick Gilby in the co-driver's seat, the Motoscope Ford Puma Evo 4x4 pairing were lying second on the East Anglia event going into the final stage.

But damaged suspension cost the pair time and relegated them from runner-up spot to third after a day of action at RAF West Rainham.

* Dealer Team Suzuki's Guy Wilks finished off the 2004 Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Super 1600 Rally Championship in style with yet another class-winning performance in his Suzuki Ignis on the Tempest Rally last weekend.

The victory clinched yet another title for the Japanese manufacturer as Wilks' co-driver Phil Pugh secured the 2004 British Super 1600 co-drivers' title to go with the drivers' title which Wilks won on the previous round.

Wilks, from Heighington, won 17 of the 18 special stages to finish more than five minutes ahead of Barry Clark in the Super 1600 class and eighth overall.

In a magnificent season, the 23-year-old scored maximum points on six of the eight rounds of the British Super 1600 Championship, finishing the season 27 points ahead of Jonnie Wigmore.

There was success for another of the region's teams when Manxman David Higgins claimed the British Championship for the Darlington-based SGP Motorsport team.

Having driven the Steve Petch-owned Hyundai Accent WRC all season, Higgins fended off Irishman Austin MacHale in the winner-takes-all showdown on the Aldershot event and ended up just eight seconds to the good after a season-long battle.