ALTHOUGH the weather didn't play its usual part in last weekend's Riponian Stages Rally, the event proved no less dramatic as Leominster driver Mark Perrott claimed victory on the last stage after local ace Charlie Payne crashed and damaged his Mitsubishi Lancer.

Ripon driver Payne and his co-driver Craig Thorley, from York, were going for their hat-trick on the Ripon MSC event, sponsored once again by Ripon Land Rover.

But the pair got off to an ignominious start when they clouted the scenery on the first stage, leaving the MSR-prepared car with extensive front end damage.

Fastest through the opening test at the Lightwater Valley theme park were Shildon's Barry Johnson and co-driver Peter Croft, from Middleton Tyas, in their Barrier Surveillance Subaru.

They stopped the clocks three seconds faster than event debutant Perrott and co-driver Garry Mansell in their Ford Escort WRC, with the Derbyshire pairing of Dave Wood and Les Waterfall a second further back in their Impreza.

Lightwater 1 claimed the first big-name casualties when MonsterMob Ducati superbike team owner Paul Bird and his Northallerton co-driver Ian Windress travelled no further than 100 yards before the transmission failed on their SGP Ford Escort WRC.

Scottish visitors Callum Guy and Neil Dashfield went out a couple of miles further on with electrical problems on their Lancer.

Despite his indiscretion on SS1, which left him joint fifth fastest, Payne was quickest through Lightwater 2 to claw two seconds back.

But as the cars headed off for the first of the forest stages, Perrott was still in command, just two seconds ahead of Johnson, with Wood and Payne sharing third place another two seconds down.

Another of the pre-event favourites went out after SS2 when Scotch Corner driver Tony Bardy and co-driver Tony Walker retired their Nissan with suspension problems.

A four-mile test in the little-used Boltby forest awaited the competitors next and Payne duly responded, taking the overall lead by a single second as he charged through five seconds ahead of Perrott.

He consolidated his advantage on Waterloo 1, edging out Perrott by another six seconds despite conceding the stage victory to Leeming Bar Ford Cosworth driver Kevin Procter and his co-driver Dave Bellerby, from Northallerton, who were a second faster.

College Moor was another rare stage and the tricky 2.2-miler caused problems for Perrott. He again dropped time to Payne, who in turn was edged out by Procter.

But former winners Matt Yeadon, from Pickhill, and Thirsk's Richard Shores were fastest in their Sapphire Cosworth, making up for some of the disappointment of dropping a minute on the previous stage.

Perrott pulled time back on SS6 in Wass, two seconds up on the charging Procter, with Payne three seconds slower.

But the Ripon dairyman still held the lead by just seven seconds at the service halt at Duncombe Park.

Perrott lay in second place, 13 seconds up on Johnson, who in turn was just a second ahead of Procter.

Wood dropped 15 seconds in College Moor and was down to fifth, some six seconds down on the Procter's Coaches Sapphire.

Sixth at service was South Otterington garage owner Steve Smith and his Italian co-driver Marco Ercole in the Walkers Tecno 2 Lancia Delta, 35 seconds behind Wood.

Yeadon had clawed his way up to ninth overall, but problems with the Nu-Era backed and DSM-prepared car meant they clocked out of service late.

The three-minute time penalty effectively ended their challenge.

Northallerton's Charlie Taylor and co-driver Murray Foster held 11th overall at service, just one place ahead of Thirsk builder Ian Rudd and co-driver Steve Beilby in their Cosworth.

After a year out, York's Bryan Gill and his Bedale co-driver Jonathan Bean had been hoping for better luck in their John Gill Escort Cosworth, but a misfire dropped them to 15th place on the opening loop and they retired the car at service.

Middleham brothers Stuart and John Adamson had their Millington-engined Escort up to 16th at halfway, two places ahead of Whitby driver Nick Cook in another Mk 2 escort.

Crakehall butcher Richard Welford, debuting his Masham Sausage Shop Escort Cosworth, had to overcome a loose rear hub and brake problems. He lay in 25th, six places up on Hunton brothers Paul and Mark Lawson, who had to cope with a smouldering interior on their Escort Cosworth.

The cars next headed out to the fast tests to the east of Helmsley, where Payne went fastest on both Riccal Dale and Roppa to increase his lead to 14 seconds over Perrott as they headed into the last loop.

The battle for third was starting to intensify, with Wood, now 21 seconds behind Perrott, leading Procter and Johnson, who could not be separated, by just four seconds.

With stages 9 to 12 an exact repeat of the morning's stages, Perrott made full use of his opening run to set an amazing fastest time on all four stages.

He took two seconds off Payne in Waterloo 2, followed by another three in College Moor 2, an amazing six in the short Wass test and another three in Boltby 2.

He had cancelled out Payne's 14-second lead and the pair went into the final two stages at Lightwater tied on time.

The three-way scrap for third was no less intense, with Procter, Wood and Johnson trading blows over the 12 competitive miles to leave Wood just three seconds ahead of Johnson, with Procter five seconds back.

As ever with this event, there was a sting in the tail and Perrott grabbed the lead for the first time by going fastest on the penultimate stage, two seconds ahead of Payne.

Procter stormed through third fastest ahead of Johnson and Wood to leave just one second between the three of them.

With less than three miles to go around the super-narrow roads of the complex, Payne had no option but to throw caution to the wind.

But his charge ended when he hit a wall halfway through the final stage and ripped a wheel off the Mitsubishi.

That dropped him over 40 seconds to hand victory to Perrott, but the Yorkshiremen gamely dragged their badly damaged car out of the stage to hang on to a deserved second place.

Procter's charge netted him third overall ahead of Johnson and Wood, but Johnson was controversially excluded at the finish due to allegedly running his anti-lag system, banned on the noise-sensitive final stage.

The County Durham driver pleaded his innocence, but was still omitted from the results.

He has now appealed to the sport's governing body, the MSA, who will consider his case over the next couple of weeks.

As a result of his exclusion, Smith and Ercole claimed fifth overall on the Italian's first UK event, just one second ahead of the MG Metro 6R4 of Midlander Tony Davies and Jim Kitson.

First two-wheel drive car home was Charlie Taylor, who finished ninth overall on his way to a class victory, just three seconds ahead of Ian Rudd, who drove well to claim tenth overall.

Nick Cook ended up 15th and second in class, just ahead of the Adamsons, who survived a big off in Roppa to claim 16th and third in class.

Richard Welford's problems continued when his gearbox broke, leaving him stuck in second gear for the final two stages, but he still came home 18th.

Ripon's Jonathan Kitchen claimed a class victory on his way to 23rd overall in his Ford.

The Lawson brothers punctured on the penultimate stage to end up 33rd overall, while Darlington Astra driver Simon Rippon and co-driver Dave Kirby, from Richmond, finished 38th overall after a dubious time had relegated them half a dozen places.

Masham's Eric Kent was third in class and 39th overall in his Daihatsu.

Other locals were not so fortunate, with the Ripon contingent of Mally Norris and Tim Piercey (both Fords) crashing out, while Glen Workman was OTL at service in his Sunbeam.

Easingwold builder Fred Davidson went out on the opening stage in his Peugeot, as did Stokesley's Jonny Brown in his Nova, while Scorton youngster Steve Petch hit a tree on SS2 and had to retire his and co-driver Mike Wilkinson's Ford Ka.

Results. - 1 M Perrott/G Mansell, Leominster, Ford Escort WRC, 50:44; 2 C Payne/C Thorley, Ripon, Mitsubishi Lancer, 51:29; 3 K Procter/D Bellerby, Leeming Bar, Ford Sapphire Cosworth, 51:55; 4 D Wood/L Waterfall, Nottingham, Subaru Impreza, 51:59; 5 S Smith/M Ercole, South Otterington, Lancia Delta Integrale, 54:16; 6 T Davies/J Kitson, Derbyshire, MG Metro 6R4, 54:17; 7 C Bown/R Bown, Matlock, Mitsubishi Lancer, 55:35; 8 A Johnson/N Colls, York, Subaru Impreza, 55:43; 9 C Taylor/M Foster, Northallerton, Ford Escort, 56:05; 10 I Rudd/S Beilby, Thirsk, Ford Sapphire Cosworth, 56:08.

l Northallerton Auto Club still have tickets left for their annual dinner dance and awards presentation at Romanby Golf Club on Saturday, February 16. Contact Dave Owen on 01609 780155 or call in at Motoscope in Northallerton