SHILDON rally driver Barry Johnson had a busy and successful weekend when he contested both the Grizedale Stages and Galloway Hills rallies on successive days.

Driving the Barrier Surveillance Subaru Impreza 555, with new national championship-winning co-driver John Bennie alongside, Johnson emerged in fourth place overall on both events despite a few dramas along the way.

The former moto-cross rider was one of the favourites for outright victory on Saturday's Grizedale Stages in the Lake District and was second fastest on the opening 11-mile stage through the narrow and twisty forest high above Coniston Water.

But Johnson couldn't capitalise on his good start and a couple of time consuming spins on the nine-mile SS2 meant he dropped more than 30 seconds to the leader and three-times winner, John Thompson.

Johnson continued his charge through the short Dunnerdale stages before planning to mount a concerted effort on the final loop in Grizedale. But any hopes of victory disappeared when the windscreen heater failed early on stage 5, forcing the Durham businessman to ease off as he struggled for vision.

To compound his misery, local ace David Shuttleworth and comeback man Brendan Crealey - driving a Mark Robson-prepared Mitsubishi - edged out Johnson for the rostrum places. But he took consolation with a class victory in the John Pye Motorsport-prepared car.

Johnson and Bennie then made the trip north to Dalbeattie to contest the Galloway Hills Stages on Sunday and they again came away with a class win on their way to fourth place overall.

After a day-long battle in the classic South West Scotland forests, the pair ended up with an identical total time as Cumbrian tyre magnate Dick Cormack, also in a Subaru. Johnson was relegated to fourth place through having a slower time on stage one.

The weekend held mixed fortunes for other local crews in the surprisingly mild conditions for the time of year.

On the Grizedale event, Pickhill's Matt Yeadon and co-driver Richard Shores of Boltby claimed 13th overall and eighth in class in their Nu Era Windows Ford Cosworth, while Exelby driver Chris Lewis powered his Food Weighouse Mitsubishi to 20th place and ninth in class with his Easingwold co-driver Plug Pulleyn.

Simon Rippon from Darlington and Eaglescliffe co-driver Ian Jackson claimed 55th overall and 12th place in the competitive 1600cc class in their Inkland Astra.

D&S Times correspondent Larry Carter and driver Paul Bird from Penrith rolled their SGP MonsterMob Subaru on the opening stage, while Bishop Auckland's Trevor Gamble and Gill Cotton retired their Ford Ka early on. Stokesley driver Jonathan Brown was unfortunate to go out on the penultimate stage in his Nova after a good run on the opening leg.

Sunday's Galloway Hills event proved equally disastrous for Romanby co-driver John Richardson, who was partnering Scottish ace Jock Armstrong in their SGP Subaru. The pair crashed out on the second stage to compound a miserable weekend for SGP Motorsport preparation expert Richie Windress, who was left with two wrecked cars to rebuild.

l Northallerton Auto Club are still pressing ahead with plans for this year's Autotest/NSS Christmas Stages Rally, but with the closing date for entries rapidly looming, the minimum figure has still not been reached.

With this year's event running solely at Croft circuit on Saturday, December 29, tight financial constraints have forced the organisers to impose a strict minimum limit of 50 entries and, with only a few days to go before entries close, they are still short.

Clerk of the course Geoff Balls said: "We have 40 entries to date, so are still around ten cars short. We are not bluffing when we say we will cancel it if the minimum figure of 50 is not reached, so I would urge any competitors who have not yet entered and are planning to do so to get their entries in over the next couple of days.

"People traditionally wait and enter this rally at the last minute, but in doing that this year, they risk losing it altogether. So it would be in everyone's best interests if we know we can run the rally when we meet on Monday night."

Entry forms are available from Ian Jackson on 07977 565559 or 01642 357782.

l Irishman John Haffey, driving a Ford Escort Cosworth, won the inaugural Rallycross SuperPrix at Croft last weekend. Full report next week.