THE first major British Championship rally since the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth epidemic kicked off last weekend when five local crews tackled the Rally of Wirral in glorious conditions on Merseyside.

The delayed and subsequently revamped opening round of the Formula Rally Championship saw all five crews make it to the finish of the ten-stage event with varying degrees of success.

Leading the way to a brilliant class victory was the Ford Puma of Durham's David Henderson and his Northallerton co-driver Ian Windress. The youngsters - in their first outing in the car - romped to an unprecedented 11th place overall in the 1400cc MSR-prepared car and beat off the challenge of some of their more powerful competitors to lead the Ferodo Ford Puma 1400 championship after the opening round.

Making it a one-two for the region was Heighington driver Guy Wilks and his Welsh co-driver Clive Jennings, who scored 18th overall in their Ford Puma on their way to second in class.

It was Wilks' first competitive drive since being injured when his car was hit by a truck while parked on the side of the road during a competition in Sweden three months ago.

Heading the local challenge in the Peugeot Super 106 Cup was Ryan Champion from Castleton who, along with co-driver Cliff Simmons, finished third in class and 13th overall in their Mark Robson-prepared 106 GTi.

The 25-year-old rally instructor - now enjoying backing from local Peugeot dealers Simon Bailes - was fighting for the lead in the class when he caught a slower car on the penultimate stage. The hold-up cost him victory by 12 seconds and runner-up spot by less than a quarter of a second.

Two local youngsters also fared well by posting top ten results in the well-supported Ford Ka Challenge championship for the 1300cc vehicles.

Stockton's Andrew Davison and co-driver Kevin Bardon managed to score a ninth place in class behind a number of more experienced rivals on their way to 60th overall out of the 83 starters.

Also recording a fine result in his first ever competitive outing was Scorton's Stephen Petch, who brought his SGP Motorsport car home tenth in class. The 17-year-old and his experienced Northallerton co-driver John Richardson also scored 64th place overall to round off a good day's work for the locals.

The next round of both the Ford Puma and Ford Ka Championship is scheduled for the Knockhill circuit in Scotland in early June, while the Peugeot Cup heads across the channel for the Rallye du Charlemagne in France on July 7/8.

l After putting the disappointment of a first-lap retirement behind him the previous week, Hutton Rudby rider Russ Hodgson made amends in the best possible fashion by scoring a career-best ninth place in the 125cc British Championship race at Oulton Park, Cheshire last weekend.

Riding the Tillston's Honda, the 19-year-old overcame some minor problems in qualifying to start the 14-lap race from 12th place on the grid. In front of a bumper crowd, Hodgson streaked away from the start to run in the leading bunch for the opening laps.

He maintained his challenge throughout the race to end up inside the prestigious top ten and move up to 15th place in the series standings.

Also scoring more points to strengthen his bid for the British Superbike Championship Privateer challenge was Darlington's Mark Burr, who recorded a 14th and 15th place. That translated to a seventh and eighth place to move the 750cc Hawk Racing Kawasaki rider up to eighth in the privateers points table after four rounds.

Leyburn rider James Brackenbury did well to make the grid after wrecking his Scott Leathers-backed 600cc Yamaha in a crash the previous week at Snetterton.

After a week of late nights, James and father Colyn managed to get the bike prepared and the team's efforts were rewarded when the 17-year-old scored a battling 19th place in the British Junior Superstock race.

It wasn't such good news for two of the region's other racers, both of whom failed to make the chequered flag in their races.

Guisborough's Dennis Hobbs overcame a blown engine on his race bike in qualifying and managed to qualify for his inaugural Superpole lap in 12th place. Riding the spare SMR Norwest Holst Honda, the 18-year-old couldn't improve his grid position and had to start the British Supersport Championship race from row three.

However, the youngster's challenge lasted all of 200 yards. He slid out of the action in a first-corner crash when another rider collided with him, but fortunately he wasn't injured.

It was also a weekend to forget for Ingleby Barwick rider David Gatenby whose challenge ended during the warm-up for the 250cc race on Sunday afternoon.

After qualifying in 22nd place, the teenager's Joe Joe's Honda broke an ignition, which led to engine problems immediately prior to the race and he had to sit it out.

l Finnish rally legend Pentti Airikkala will be guest of honour when he opens the new Walkers Garage showrooms at South Otterington near Northallerton today.

Airikkala is a long-time friend of Walkers owner and fellow rally star Steve Smith, who has recently expanded his operation to include the Tecno 2 Performance Products Centre as well as the traditional sales of Fiat and Lancia cars.

Smith's own Lancia Delta Integrale rally car, complete with Network Q Rally of GB trim, will be on display and enthusiasts, along with potential customers, are welcome to attend the open day, which runs from 3-9pm.

And as soon as the last person leaves, Smith's team will get to work to transform the car ready for the Silverstone Rallysprint on Sunday.