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Bishop Auckland's Tristan Pye continued his recent good form with another top ten placing to claim second in Group N in the JPM Subaru he was sharing with Scotsman Roger Herron whilst Ingleton driver Tony Thompson had seconded Darlington's Paul Hudson onto the maps in his Mitsubishi Lancer and the pair came home in twelfth overall and third in class.

Chris Lewis from Exelby and York co driver Jon Dunning finished in 24th position in their Mitsubishi Lancer with East Boldon's Simon Moore and co driver Mark Mason claiming a fine 30th overall in their Peugeot 205.

* A number of crews headed northwards on Saturday evening from the Lake District to contest the popular Galloway Hills Rally which was based in Castle Douglas and included a number of the fast classic Scottish stages.

Having finished runners up on three occasions in the past, John Richardson once again teamed up with local star Jock Armstrong but a culmination of factors including having to run first car on the road in the slippy and icy stages meant the pair could do no better than fifth overall but at least they had the consolation of lifting Group N honours in their Subaru.

Barry Johnson suffered a puncture on SS2 and stopped to change it but the resulting time loss and problems with the broken driveshaft on the Subaru from the previous day meant he was destined to retire as indeed were fellow County Durham residents Ian Peake and Chris Thirling who went out in their Mitsubishi.

Tristan Pye followed up his Grizedale result with a superb 13th overall whilst Hamsterley driver Stephen Petch junior and co driver Michael Wilkinson from Tow Law were reunited with their Ford Ka and came away with 38th overall and an award each for being placed second in class.

Making a return to the co-driver's seat was Masham butcher Richard Welford who guided Scotsman Robert Prentice to 90th overall and they too managed to lift the award for second place in class in their Peugeot 205.

l Local drivers dominated the opening round of the Darlington and District Motor Club organised ANECCC Winter Rallycross Championship at Croft with Redcar driver Adrian Horsley emerging with the series lead after a superb display in his Citroen Saxo.

Despite retiring from the 'A' final, Horsley clinched victory in the Stock Hatch category to record maximum bonus points and take a five point lead into the next round at Blyton in Lincolnshire on February 1.

Dominating proceedings at Croft, however, was Northallerton property developer Dave Bellerby who remained unbeaten in his five races during the course of the day. The Vauxhall Nova driver easily won the 'A' final but with his modified car not being eligible for bonus points; he had to settle for second behind Horsley.

Making a long awaited debut in the region was the Ford powered BMW Mini of Gosforth's David Binks who progressed throughout the day to take second place behind Bellerby and third in the series. Lance Foster from Washington took his older Green and White Mini Spares version to fourth position with Great Ayton's Ian Horn clinching fifth in his Modified Nova

Sunderland driver Jon Olds (VW Golf), Stockton's Martin Hawkes (Peugeot 205) and the Renault 5 of Michael Bourner from Bishop Middleham all scored well to leave the region with the top eight drivers in the championship after round one. Also in action was Darlington's David Cox who improved throughout the day in his Citroen and comeback racer Brian Thornton from Borrowby who did likewise in his BL Metro.

Leeming transportation mogul Kevin Procter's decision to enter the Rally Car class paid dividends when he took victory in his Sierra Cosworth after seeing off the challenge of Harrogate's Steve Bussey.

Croft hosts the penultimate round of the series on Saturday 28th February but meanwhile drivers who finished first, second and third last year are set to do battle once again as entries rapidly fill up for the Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally to be held at the North Yorkshire track on Sunday 28th December 2003.

Ducati superbike team boss Paul Bird from Penrith will be defending the title he won last year in his new Hyundai Accent WRC but he'll face strong opposition from runner up in 2002, Scotsman John Bogie (Metro 6R4) and third placed Tony Bardy (Scotch Corner) in his rapid Nissan Sunny GTI-R.

With just a week to go until closing date, sixty crews have so far applied for entries for the Northallerton AC event and with a total of 80 permitted starters, it looks as if a capacity field will once again be contesting the 40 stage-mile tarmac rally

Tarmac rally ace Ian Colman from Saltburn (Nissan Sunny GTI-R), Northallerton Rallycrosser Dave Bellerby (Vauxhall Nova) and former winner Charlie Payne from Ripon (Mitsubishi) have all entered and along with the likes of event sponsor David Stockton (Subaru) from Middlesbrough, Leeds driver Phil Gallagher (Metro 6R4) and Cumbria's Mark Bird (Hyundai WRC), it will certainly be a competitive event.

l Guisborough road racing star Dennis Hobbs returned to his off-road roots last weekend when he contested a round of the National Supermoto Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk.

Aboard the 450cc Honda and the only rider on treaded tyres, Hobbs beat a number of established stars to post 7th overall in the Superfinal despite starting form the back row of the grid, courtesy of a contretemps during the 450cc Final, meaning he had his work cut out as he stormed through the field.

The runner up in this season's British Superbike Privateer's Cup now has his sights set on the next round at Lydden in Kent in early January before taking on the opposition at Croft on February 14th.

l This Tuesday sees the final social evening of the year at the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club whereby three top racers will be in attendance at Northallerton Town Football Club.

Geordie Moto GP racer Chris Burns will be revealing his plans for next season, as will Yorkshireman Pete Jennings who has recently returned form the Macau Grand Prix. Also coming along is Yorkshire based Mike 'Spike' Edwards who is celebrating 21years of racing.

A small charge will cover the cost of the buffet and all are welcome when proceedings get underway at 8.30pm.

l Sunday saw the Richmond Motor Club in action with their Mintex Trophy Trial for youth classes and TY80s. This was run over a four lap, ten section course near Healaugh, near Reeth. It was well supported with an entry of 64 competitors and on the hard course Gavin Lowther and Adam Hague finished up both of 12 marks. Lowther taking the class win with his performance at the first section, a rocky stream with a twisting ride out among the trees. On the easy route, A-class went to Martin Bainbridge by a margin of three marks from John Walker with Chris Porter a further three marks down.

Results. - A-class: 1 Gavin Lowther (Gas Gas) 12; 2 Adam Hague (Scorpa) 12; 3 Jack Beadle (Gas Gas) 34. B-class: 1 Jonathan Richardson (Beta) 20; 3 Johnny White (Gas Gas) 39; 4 Russell Rooksby (Beta) 63. Easy course, B-class: 1 Martin Bainbridge (Beta) 9; 2 John Walker (Beta) 12; 3 Chris Porter (Gas Gas) 15. B-class: Kathryn Wardle (Sherco) 7; 2 John Wallis (Sherco) 15; 3 Paul Heywood (Montesa) 17. C-class: 1 Dale Robson (Scorpa) 5; 2 Richard Sadler (Sherco) 9; 3 Thomas Gill (Gas Gas) 11. TY80's: 1 Bevin Blacker 60; 2 Jack Stones 68; 3 Josh Atkinson 100. TY80's: 1 Sam Bake (Gas Gas) 31. TY80's easy: 1 Ben Turnbull 25; 2 Jack Stones 43; 3 C Shuttleworth 84.

l Sunday also saw the Bedlington Motor Club run in their North East Centre 6th round of the Bell Trucks Trials Series at Hope Farm, Longframlington, Northumberland, with a good entry of 99 competitors. The winner was Michael Phillipson on his Beta who finished on five marks after three laps of a 14 section course. These he lost in the rocky gully at section five when he stalled the engine on his Beta. Eddie Aitken on his Sherco stayed clean at this section and ended up in second place just four marks behind Phillipson. The A-class was inevitably won by Michael Lee on his Sherco who needed a single dab at the fifth section and had a couple of quick dabs at the seventh section which was another rocky gully with a twisting turn midway through.

Results. - Expert: 1 Michael Phillipson (Beta) 5; 2 Eddie Aitken (Sheroc) 9; 3 Peter Grainge (Scorpa) 18. Intermediates: 1 James Harland (Scorpa) 17. A-class: 1 Michael Lee (Sherco) 5; 2 Jamie Stephenson (Sherco) 36; 3 Jamie Ried (Beta) 52. B-class: 1 Lewis Peart (Beta) 33. Clubmen's course: 1 Tony Hodgson (Sherco) 18; 2 Russell Hodgson (Sherco) 29; 3 Philip Graham (Gas Gas) 45. B-class: 1 Chris Haney (Beta) 88; 2 Paul Shorten (Scorpa) 109. Easy riders: 1 Ray Crinson (Honda) 5; 2 John Palmer (Montesa) 6; 3 Darren Palmer (Montesa) 7. B-class: 1 James Brook (Sherco) 26; 2 Philip Scott (Beta) 54; 3 John Charlton (Sherco) 64. C-class: 1 Joe McMeekin (Clipic) 37