SCOTSMAN John Bogie made sure he wasn't denied his second victory in less than a month when he led the Jack Frost Stages Rally from start to finish in the Darlington and District Motor Club event at Croft last Saturday.
The Dumfries driver and his co-driver David Patterson thought they had won the recent Christmas Stages Rally at the North Yorkshire venue, only to be docked five minutes for an alleged route infringement.
But the pair made sure of victory this time by bringing their MG Metro 6R4 home 19 seconds ahead of last year's winners, Dave Holland and John Calverley (Ford Escort).
Bob Dennis, from Toronto near Bishop Auckland, clinched a dramatic third place late on in his BTL Subaru.
Conditions were tricky at the start, with parts of the track dry and others holding standing water. But Bogie immediately set a time three seconds faster than Leeming Bar's Kevin Procter in his Procter's Coaches Ford Cosworth, who was one second ahead of the Mark 2 Escort of Staffordshire driver Holland.
Bogie increased his lead on SS2, but dropped five seconds to his rivals after a spin on SS3. Some of the lost time was regained when the 6R4 went fastest by two seconds going into the lunch halt after SS4 to give Bogie an eight-second lead.
Holland had edged out Procter and his co-driver Chris Ramsey from Snape by just four seconds, with the Escort Cosworth of Hunton's Paul Lawson, co-driven by Northallerton rallycrosser Dave Bellerby, up to fourth.
Dennis and co-driver Ron Roughead were fifth despite blowing a turbo and making a wrong early tyre choice, with the Hambleton Steels Nissan Almera Kit Car of the husband and wife team of Geoff and Val Wright from Newton Aycliffe in sixth and leading the two-wheel drive challenge.
Sunshine and a biting wind had dried much of the track for the afternoon stages and Bogie continued his charge through SS5 to increase his lead by another eight seconds.
Procter, still locked in a titanic battle with Holland, set fastest time on SS6 by a single second, but Bogie held a 19-second lead going into the last pair of tests.
Dennis was fourth, nearly a minute down, ahead of Wright and Evenwood driver Mark Thompson's Peugeot, the youngster once again putting in a storming drive. But his challenge stalled with engine failure, while Lawson lost two minutes after breaking a driveshaft.
Procter fell foul of a tricky split junction on SS7. He clouted a bale and was forced out with a damaged wheel and suspension.
But Bogie maintained his advantage to claim victory despite the best efforts of Holland, who set fastest time on the penultimate stage.
Fired up after just missing out on the awards at Christmas, Dennis claimed third in his BTL Woodshed Impreza after a spirited drive through the final two tests.
He finished ahead of the Covercat Nissan of Skelton brothers Ian and Neil Colman and class winner Wright. Part-time rallycrosser Ken Hall (Linthorpe) and co-driver Phil Veitch completed the top six in their V-Tech Escort Cosworth.
Darlington circuit racer David Cox and co-driver Bill Tarvit claimed a brilliant tenth place overall and third in class in their Rover Metro, with the luckless Lawson salvaging 14th overall.
Newton Aycliffe driver Andrew Drake and co-driver Jeff Bedford claimed 19th overall (eighth in class) in their Ford Escort, just ahead of Steve Williams and Anouska Swales from Great Langton, who took their Rover Metro to a superb class win.
Stephen Alderdice junior, co-driven by his father Stephen Alderdice senior, from Stockton finished 22nd overall (fifth in class) in their Sunbeam, while Richmond's Terry Searle and Ian Jackson from Eaglescliffe dropped from ninth overall on SS1 to finish 25th and seventh in class in their Fibreform Metro after losing four minutes with a puncture on SS2.
The Peugeot 205 of Aycliffe driver Stephen Kent and co-driver Martin Cockerill finished 26th overall (seventh in class), just 13 seconds ahead of Consett pairing Helen and Colin Elstrop in their Triumph GT6.
Scorton's Steven Coates and Andrew Stephenson finished 29th overall and third in class in their Coates Garage Nova, with Pickhill driver Kari Bosworth and co-driver Nicky Shepherd from Thirsk 32nd overall (ninth in class) in their Tanfield Engineering Peugeot 106.
Local retirements included Keith and Andrew Davison from Stockton, who broke the gearbox in their Darrian on SS4, while Swainby driver Alun Pearson and co-driver Simon Brook exited when their Nova suffered engine problems a stage earlier.
Thirsk's Andy Chandler and Matty Fox also succumbed to engine failure in their Ford Escort just two stages from home, but the Stockton pairing of Peter Burns and Callum Lawson got no further than the opening stage when gearbox problems put their Ford Escort out.
l Any competitors who require regulations or an entry form for next weekend's Riponian Rally should contact Brian Hughes on 01765 607949 or by clicking on www.riponmotorsportsclub.co.uk
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