LOCAL drivers were well to the fore in last Sunday’s opening round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship with three outright wins in the major classes.

Leading the way with victory in the Supercar class was Kevin Procter, from Leeming Bar, who saw off the opposition in his Procter’s Luxury Coaches-backed Ford Fiesta, although he was made to fight right to the end of the final by Devon teenager Dan Rooke.

Rooke, making his debut in the class in a Citroen DS3, led briefly before Procter asserted his authority to take the first round spoils and the lead in the championship going into the next round at Lydden over Easter. Earlier, Procter had won a heat and the semi-final to cement a superb performance in front of his local fans.

Also in action in the Supercar class was Northallerton’s Dave Bellerby, who was making his debut in the Tony Bardy-prepared Ford Fiesta. After winning a heat, he posted a third place finish in the semi-final to qualify for the final, in which he eventually claimed fourth place.

There was further success for the Bellerby family when elder daughter Paige sailed through the heats in her Fuchs Titan Race-backed Lotus Exige before romping to victory in the MSA Supernational semi-final. In the final, the 20-year-old got a great start and was never headed as she repeated her success in the final round last season with another fantastic victory.

Fellow Northallerton Supernational driver Guy Corner claimed a couple of heat victories in his MP Groundworks and Plant Hire-sponsored Peugeot 206 before finishing second in his semi-final. In the final, Corner was challenging Paige throughout, but developed an electrical problem which slowed the car late on and he had to settle for third place at the flag.

Making it a superb hat-trick for the region was Eppleby teenager Tom Constantine, who claimed a brilliant victory with a daring last lap move in the MSA Junior final. The 15-year-old suffered a broken gearbox in his opening heat before steering failure thwarted his bid in heat two, but a great drive in the final saw him take the Constantine Building Services-backed Suzuki Swift to a famous victory.

Also in action in the Junior class was Stockton youngster Cameron Hawkes, who was making his debut in the sport. Keeping out of trouble throughout the meeting, he finished a creditable fifth in the final to gain valuable experience. It was very much mixed fortunes for the rest of the family in the Teesside-based Hawkes Fire team, with dad Marty suffering a broken differential on his BMW Mini during the heats and uncle Andrew battling with a misfire to record eighth place in the Suzuki Swift final. Sister Jennie had moved up to the BMW Mini class and finished sixth in her semi-final to claim fourth overall in her class.

There were also fixed fortunes for the region’s other two British Championship drivers.

Romanby teenager Drew Bellerby battled through the heats on her debut in the Suzuki Swift class, having graduated from finishing runner-up in the Juniors the last two seasons. Qualifying for the semi-finals, the Sayers Road Tankers-supported driver sensationally made it into the final and drove a great race to end up seventh.

But multiple BMW Mini champion David Bell, from Ferryhill, suffered transmission problems in the KF Glassfibre-sponsored car during the heats.

In the popular Ripla Retro Rallycross series, locals came away with the bulk of the silverware, including Houghton le Spring’s Lance Foster, who took Retro victory in his 1500cc Austin Mini ahead of Stokesley driver Stewart Bowes in his similar car.

In the Super Retro class, Great Broughton father and son Terry and Neil Maynard took second and third places in their respective Triumph TR8s, while Brompton driver Darren Grimston battled against braking issues all day to bring his Electrocare-backed Vauxhall Nova home in fourth place. But Middlesbrough teenager Jordan Bowes' outing in the VW Golf ended when he rolled at Clervaux during the heats, luckily without injury, but it ruled him out of action for the day.

HUTTON Rudby driver Ian Woodhouse and co-driver Paul Rowland emerged victorious when the Ford Escort Mk2 they were sharing took the spoils at the Imperial Commercials VW Donington Park Rally, held at the Midlands race track last weekend.

The pair saw off a quality field to win by more than 30 seconds at the end of the eight stages.

Darlington pair Paul and Jessica Swift were leading until the halfway point, when they had to retire their Smith and Allan-backed Ford Escort Mk2 with axle failure. Scotsman Alan Kirkaldy took over at the front, but retired with two stages to go, meaning Woodhouse and Rowland secured the spoils.

Also claiming silverware was Pickhill co-driver Chris Pattison, whose recent good run extended to him and driver John Marshall claiming 16th overall and a class win in their MG ZR, while the Guisborough pairing of Neil Marshall and Dave Scrimgour brought their Peugeot 205 home 35th overall and 14th in class.

Northallerton pair Graeme Bell and Russ Radford retired their recently-acquired Clarion-backed Proton Millington with a broken water and oil fan after just three stages.

Meanwhile, on the opening round of the revamped British Rally Championship in Wales last weekend, Stanley co-driver Jack Morton guided Roland Llewellyn to 16th overall and second in class in their Mitsubishi Evo, while Northallerton’s Ian Windress and driver Ollie Mellors suffered a mechanical problem on Saturday night which relegated their Proton to 20th overall at the finish on Sunday afternoon.

SCORTON’S Max Coates has been announced as the final driver for British Touring Car Championship team Ciceley Motorsport’s first season in the Renault UK Clio Cup.

The North Yorkshire driver has experience in a number of classes in the BTCC, having driven in the Ginetta Junior Championship, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup GB and the BTCC itself. At just 22, Coates will be the oldest driver in the team, managed by Darlington businessman Norman Burgess, as he joins 17-year-old Dan Zelos and 18-year-old Ollie Pidgley.

Coates tested the fourth generation Renault Clio Cup car at Croft last week and is looking forward to the season ahead. He said: “I’m ecstatic to be joining Ciceley Motorsport for their first season in the Renault UK Clio Cup. We’ve known the team for a long time and since they joined the BTCC, they have always been the team I wanted to join, so to be doing that now is great."

REDCAR SG Petch Bears speedway team have a press and practice day on Thursday, starting at 3pm. This will be followed by a meet the riders forum in the Bears Bar at 7pm. The home season starts with a Tweed versus Tees challenge match against Berwick Bandits on March 24.