THERE was success and disappointment in equal measure for local competitors who made the long trip south to Bournemouth for the opening round of the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship last weekend.

The South Coast's premier motor sport event, the Rallye Sunseeker, attracted tens of thousands of spectators over the two days and Northallerton's Ian Windress flew the flag for the region with third place overall as co-driver for Penrith businessman Paul Bird.

The pair brought their Eddie Stobart Motorsport Ford Focus WRC home just behind local hero Marcus Dodd (Hyundai Accent WRC) and winner David Higgins in the SGP Motorsport of Darlington-run Hyundai Accent WRC.

Bird and Windress led the rally after the two Friday evening spectator stages in the town's Lower Winter Gardens before charging through Saturday's stages in the forests around Ringwood and Wareham to finish on the podium.

Shildon's Barry Johnson was battling with the leading bunch throughout the event, but with just a couple of stages to go in his Barrier Surveillance Subaru WRC, the former Scottish champion and co-driver Stewart Merry suffered rear differential problems to drop to seventh overall.

JPM team-mate Tristan Pye from Bishop Auckland and co-driver Roger Herron brought their Subaru Impreza home 22nd overall and seventh in class after the 75 miles of stages.

Following on from his Kall Kwik Rally victory a week previously, Scorton's Stephen Petch and Tow Law co-driver Mike Wilkinson endured tyre problems and a broken gearbox tooth before bringing their SGP Subaru home 28th overall and 12th in class, but both local crews in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge ended up retiring on the opening round.

Castleton's Ryan Champion and York co-driver Craig Thorley suffered with both rear suspension arms breaking on their MSR-prepared Lancer, while Tim Pearcey from Topcliffe and Pickhill co-driver Mick Johnson succumbed to electrical problems in their DSM-prepared car.

The series moves on to Keilder Forest later in the month with the Jedburgh-based Border Counties Rally on March 19.

* Rally fans can catch the action a little closer to home tomorrow when round two of the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Championship takes place in the Lake District.

The 30th running of the Malcolm Wilson Rally has again attracted a superb entry with plenty of local interest.

Penrith's Paul Bird won the rally last year and this time will have Northallerton's Ian Windress on the notes as they go in search of victory number two.

But the pair will face stiff opposition, with four other Ford Focus WRC drivers in the top six, including national champion Steve Perez, teenage wonder kid Matt Wilson, the experienced Jon Ingram and Scotsman Dave Weston.

Morton on Swale driver Charlie Taylor is a former winner of the event and he'll be out in his CTMS Ford Escort with Steve Beilby on the maps, while Welbury driver Tim Johnson makes a rare outing in the Subaru Impreza he shares with Barnard Castle's Tony Walker.

Sadly, multiple winners Steve Petch from Scorton and Northallerton co-driver John Richardson have had to withdraw following their accident on the recent Kall Kwik Rally.

After a lay-off of almost two and a half years, Richmond brothers Mark and Andrew Constantine have decided to launch a sortie back into the BTRDA 1400cc championship this weekend.

Their last run on gravel was on the Cambrian Rally in the autumn of 2002, when they came close to winning the championship. Since then, the pair have built a new car and have entered a couple of tarmac events in the Vauxhall Corsa.

Having secured backing from WA Browne Building Services of Billingham and Ewall Technology, as well as long-time sponsors Victoria Garage of Richmond and CJ Electrics of Stockton, the pair are not expecting to be on the pace immediately. The competition has strengthened over the period of their absence, with many works teams getting involved in what is renowned as the stepping stone to greater things for young talented drivers.

Running just one place behind the Constantine brothers will be Teessiders Gavin Spencer and Steve Waggett in their Bondisle Motorsport Vauxhall Nova. They will be hoping to continue their success after they scored good points in the opening round in Chepstow.

The event gets under way in Cockermouth High Street at 8.45 and spectators can catch the action as follows. - 8.57 Comb Forest near Keswick, park in Whinlatter Visitors Centre only; 10.40 Grizedale North near Ambleside, park at High Cross near Hawkshead; 12.01 Service, Penrith truckstop; 1.11 Hobcarton Forest near Keswick, park as Comb Forest; 1.24 Comb Forest, as previous; 2.08 Cockermouth finish.

* The opening round of the BTRDA Clubmen's Rallycross Championship, which was scheduled to take place at Croft circuit near Darlington on Sunday, has been cancelled due to the inclement weather.

Croft spokesperson Tracey Morley said yesterday morning: "The further three inches of snow that has fallen overnight has hampered our efforts to proceed with this meeting and, with more snow forecast over the next couple of days, we couldn't risk it.

A new date has yet to be arranged for the meeting. Any further queries can be directed to Croft circuit on 01325 721815