REIGNING national rally champion Steve Petch made it two wins in three years when he drove his Ford Escort WRC to an easy victory on the Kall Kwik national rally based in Pickering last weekend.

Petch, from Scorton, and his Northallerton co-driver John Richardson saw off the early challenge of local ace Jonny Milner to claim the lead on stage two, before extending their advantage to more than half a minute at the finish.

In glorious but cool conditions, Petch led the crews away but had to play second fiddle to Toyota driver Milner, who finished three seconds up on the opening Gale Rigg stage.

Petch and Richardson responded by setting fastest time by a solitary second on the eight-mile Cropton stage but Milner, from Driffield, led the rally at the Flamingoland service area.

Ripon dairy farmer Charlie Payne and his York co-driver Craig Thorley set third fastest times on the opening two stages and lay nine seconds down on Petch.

Fourth was Penrith Superbike star Paul Bird and D&S Times correspondent Larry Carter in their SGP Motorsport Impreza, with former national champion Roger Duckworth in fifth and Scotch Corner ace Tony Bardy - having made the overnight dash from competing in Inverness the previous day - in sixth.

Pickhill's Matt Yeadon and Richard Shores from Boltby in the Ford Cosworth held ninth after two stages, with Castleton driver Ryan Champion also in the top ten in his Peugeot 106.

The early stages hadn't been too kind for some of the locals, with Kepwick driver Peter Stephenson rolling his Mitsubishi Lancer into retirement on Gale Rigg. Bishop Auckland's Sam Petch and Castleton co-driver Joyce Champion had a six-minute off in Cropton which effectively ended their challenge in their Subaru.

With two long stages in Dalby and Langdale comprising the second part of the event, the rally would be decided on the long straights. And so it proved when Milner blew his gearbox on stage three and dropped a minute, which led to retirement.

Petch took full advantage and, despite demolishing a chicane at high speed, moved into the lead with just one stage left. Middleham brothers Stuart and John Adamson suffered a puncture towards the end of the stage in their Mark 2 Escort.

Into Langdale and Petch made sure of victory by cruising to second place on the stage just two seconds behind the rapid Duckworth, whose late charge edged out Payne for third place by just six seconds.

Both Petch and Payne had a dodgy moment after the flying finish of the stage, as did Bird, who buried his Subaru into the trees but managed to continue to the finish. Stokesley's Alun Pearson was having a good run in his Honda Integra before going off on the final part of Langdale.

At the finish, it was Petch and Richardson who got to spray the champagne, 32 seconds ahead of Duckworth and co-driver Mark Broomfield in their Subaru, while twice winner Payne had to settle for third.

Bird and Carter were seventh with Yeadon and Shores three seconds down in eighth. Bardy and his Richmond co-driver Mark Constantine - only enlisted at 9.30 the night before - overcame transmission problems in the Copperfield Clothiers Nissan to claim ninth and Champion brought the first two-wheel drive car home in tenth. The Adamson brothers brought their Escort home in 20th overall for a class victory, while Sam Petch managed a spirited fightback to finish 35th out of the 41 finishers.

Results. - 1 S Petch/J Richardson, Ford Escort WRC, 37m 22s; 2 R Duckworth/M Broomfield, Subaru Impreza, 37:54; 3 C Payne/C Thorley, Mitsubishi Lancer, 38:00; 4 A Elliott/G Wilcox, MG Metro 6R4, 39:13; 5 A Ginley/G Haynes, Mitsubishi Lancer, 39:17; 6 J Nolan/P Nolan, Mitsubishi Lancer, 39:35; 7 P Bird/L Carter, Subaru Impreza, 39:45; 8 M Yeadon/R Shores, Ford Sapphire Cosworth, 39:48; 9 T Bardy/M Constantine, Nissan Sunny, 40:06; 10 R Champion/A Peacock, Peugeot 106, 41:02.

l In the Snowman Rally, the opening round of the Scottish Rally Championship at Inverness last Saturday, Shildon driver Barry Johnson and his Middleton Tyas co-driver Peter Croft suffered turbo failure in the SGP Motorsport Impreza on stage two.

The pair battled back, only to have gearbox problems, but claimed 13th place overall.

Tony Bardy broke a driveshaft on stage two, which led to retirement