ANOTHER massive festive crowd turned out to witness the traditional Swift Signs Christmas Stages Rally at Croft Circuit on bank holiday Tuesday, when the top-quality field served up another feast of drama and excitement, with victory eventually going to former Le Mans 24 Hours winner Guy Smith.

The annual Northallerton Automobile Club event had attracted another full entry and, with glorious conditions emerging from a slight overnight frost, the scene was set for a classic battle between some of the sport’s heavyweights.

Drawing first blood on the opening stage was the Mitsubishi Evo 9 of Castleton’s Ryan Champion and co-driver Jack Benyon as they stopped the clocks two seconds faster than seven-times rally winner Kevin Procter, from Scruton, and his Newcastle co-driver Andrew Roughead in their new Procter’s Luxury Coaches-backed Ford Fiesta, with Smith, from Beverley, and Welsh co-driver Patrick Walsh third in their Swift Caravans-sponsored Ford Focus WRC.

Darlington husband and wife team Paul and Jessica Swift were a further second back in their PSI Global-backed Ford Escort Mk2, an impressive feat in a two-wheel drive car, while Scotch Corner motor engineer Tony Bardy and Richmond co-driver Reg Smith held fifth in their TBM-prepared Ford Focus WRC.

Completing the top six were Northallerton duo Graeme Bell and Russ Radford in their Bellwood Homes-backed Proton Neo Satria.

Defending champion Procter went fastest on SS2 to pull out a four-second lead over Smith as Swift moved up to third, but his day didn't last much longer as a rising temperature signalled head gasket failure. Although the ATM team did their best to fix it, Procter parked the Fiesta up after SS4, meaning a new name would be on the winner’s trophy.

Smith, who combines circuit racing with the odd rally, made the most of his opportunity and by halfway led by more than half a minute from Bardy, who was tied on time for second with the spectacular Swift. Bell was up to fourth, just four seconds back, with Champion, struggling against the more powerful machinery as the track dried, in fifth some 20 seconds down. The iconic MG Metro of Smith’s father Peter held sixth place, a further four seconds back, as the stage directions were reversed.

SS5 saw a brilliant drive by Swift over the six-mile test to close the gap on Smith, who dropped 10 seconds due to a semi-spin, but made amends on the next stage to increase his advantage to 40 seconds over the Ford Escort driver as dusk started to fall.

Bell was gamely hanging on in third, just three seconds behind Swift, with Bardy in touch a further eight seconds adrift in fourth. Champion and Peter Smith couldn’t be separated on time and held joint fifth place going into the final two stages.

Former Mitsubishi Cup winner Champion went fastest on SS7 by four seconds as Smith adopted a policy of safety as he headed to victory, while Bell had the honour of winning the final stage, but just missed out on runner-up spot to Swift by just two seconds after nearly an hour’s competition around the North Yorkshire track.

The win by a margin of 34 seconds added to Smith’s victory on the Jack Frost Stages Rally at Croft in January.

Bardy finished fourth, 16 seconds down on Bell, with Champion a further 27 seconds back in fifth. Peter Smith and co-driver Graham Wild took sixth.

A little further down the field, there were some impressive drives in the lower-powered cars.

Bedale ace Joe Cunningham and Northallerton co-driver Marc Fowler provided another giant-killing act by finishing eighth overall en route to a class win in their Coach2.com-backed 1400cc Vauxhall Corsa. The Whitby father and son team of Nick and Joe Cook powered their Lealholm Auto Services Ford Escort Mk1 to ninth overall and a class win, with Durham’s Andrew Fawcett and co-driver Chris Purvis bringing their Vauxhall Nova home in 11th overall and second in class.

Richmond brothers Mark and Andrew Constantine claimed 13th overall and third in class in their Vauxhall Corsa, two places ahead of Stokesley pair Mark Burton and Zoe Wright, who overcame a number of problems on their Ford Fiesta XR2 to finish fourth in class.

A superb drive by Mickleton duo Andrew and Joe Hutchinson saw them bring their Renault Clio home in 16th overall and third in class, while a clutch problem and misfire on their Ford Escort relegated Northallerton father and daughter Andrew and Georgina Smith to 18th overall and fourth in class on the final stage.

Bishop Auckland’s John Pye and co-driver John Coxon took 20th overall in their Subaru, with Ingleby Barwick driver Martin Peters and Hutton Rudby co-driver Jason Leaf overcoming a lowly seeding to finish 23rd overall and fifth in class in their Citroen Saxo.

Making a return to tarmac in his newly-acquired Ford Escort was Northallerton’s Charlie Taylor, who, along with Exelby co-driver John Richardson, finished 24th overall and third in class, two places ahead of the Peugeot 206 of Northallerton’s Larry Carter, with Mickleton co-driver Tony Walker on the maps.

Brompton husband and wife Darren and Amy Grimston finished 28th overall in their Electrocare-sponsored Honda Civic despite gearbox maladies, while Leeming Bar’s Dave Johnstone and Pickhill co-driver Bruce Lindsay took 29th overall in their Peugeot 205.

Thirsk driver Alex Lund and co-driver David Sunley claimed 30th overall in their Ford Escort Mk1, with Kev and Ashleigh Tennick, from Darlington, ending up 37th in their Peugeot 306.

Staindrop pair Colin Butler and St John Dykes finished 40th overall in their Renault Clio, two places ahead of the County Durham duo of Phil Chicken and Brian Jukes in their MB Motorsport-prepared VW Lupo. Richmond’s Ben Farrow and Ben Searle claimed 43rd in their Peugeot 205, while Consett’s Karl Knox, with junior co-driver Ewan Tindall on the maps, took 47th overall in his Vauxhall Nova.

Making her rallying debut was 18-year-old Drew Bellerby in a Peter Gwynne Motorsport Suzuki Swift, with her father Dave on the notes. The Northallerton pair overcame a huge shunt early on to finish 48th overall, three places ahead of the Ford RS2000 of South Kilvington driver Nick Kitching and co-driver Andrew Trollope.

Darlington Morris Mini driver Pete Ellerby claimed 52nd overall with Colin Tombs on the notes, just one place ahead of Billingham’s Michael Thornton and co-driver Phil Hewson in their Ford Escort Mexico. Great Ayton’s Ian Horn and co-driver Bob Brown overcame problems in their Vauxhall Nova to finish 54th overall and also reaching the finish despite hitting problems were the Wensleydale pair of Andrew and Rachel Foster (1300cc Vauxhall Nova) and Northallerton brothers Andrew and Richard Chandler (1300cc Ford Escort).

Out of the 82 starters, a few competitors fell by the wayside. They included Pickhill’s Chris Pattison, who suffered gearbox problems early on in the MG ZR he was sharing with John Marshall. Brompton-on-Swale driver Geoff Wright got as far as SS3 before the clutch failed on his and co-driver Chris Sanderson’s Ford Fiesta, while Chop Gate brothers John and Mark Gaskin retired their Citroen Saxon on SS5.

Bishop Auckland’s Andrew Grimstone and co-driver Robert Ginn saw their rally end with head gasket failure at half distance, while gearbox issues saw the demise of Witton Gilbert’s Ed Todd and co-driver Andy Brown (GTM Coupe) as well as Barnard Castle duo Stewart and Andrew Dockray (Vauxhall Astra).

Guisborough drivers were also out of luck, with Dave Hornbrook and Matthew Sample retiring their Mitsubishi with a broken fuel pump on SS7 and Neil Marshall and Mike Scrimgour also going out late on in their Peugeot 205.

Bedale pair Tommi Graham and Mark Pickering retired their Mitsubishi Lancer within sight of the finish and fuel problems accounted for Sinderby’s Bill Bates, back rallying after serious illness, who was co-driven as usual in their Peugeot 106 by daughter Kari, from Pickhill.