Stephen Petch battles to second place in the Welsh forests

Sharing the WD-40-backed Ford Fiesta R5 plus with Crook co-driver Michael Wilkinson, Petch needed a good result on the Nicky Grist Stages and he came home exactly a minute behind the winner after an action-packed day in the Welsh forests.

The pair now need to win the remaining two rounds and hope their main rivals encounter problems to realistically stand any chance of taking the title they have so narrowly missed out on in the past.

Meanwhile, Ripon driver Charlie Payne and Welsh co-driver Carl Williamson didn’t do their title aspirations any good when they retired the Simpson-sponsored Ford Fiesta late on in the event. With dropped scores now coming into play, it wasn't a disaster, but with main rival Luke Francis taking victory, the battle is on over the final two rounds.

Also in action were Potto’s Andy Davison and co-driver Tom Murphy, who finished the national event in 50th overall and 10th in class. In the British Championship two-day international rally, Northallerton co-driver Ian Windress guided Ollie Mellors to ninth overall in their Proton Millington, while Stanley’s Jack Morton finished 10th in the Skoda Fabia R5 he was sharing with Thomas Preston.

NORTHALLERTON’S Charlie Taylor and Kirkbymoorside co-driver Alan Ward proved best of the large contingent of local competitors who made the trip over the A66 to contest the P&R Benn Greystoke Stages Rally last Sunday.

The pair finished seventh overall and second in class in their Ford Escort Mk2, with Pickhill co-drivers Mick Johnson and Chris Pattison guiding their respective drivers Tom Hewick and Andy Gibson (both Ford Escorts) to ninth and 10th overall.

Ripon pair Andrew Robinson and Kevin Wilson (Ford Escort) claimed 14th overall, one place ahead of the RS2000 of South Kilvington publican Nick Kitching and co-driver Drew Trollope. Pickhill’s Kari Bates finished 18th overall in the Ford Escort she was sharing with Graham Haigh, while Thirlby driver Ben Cree claimed 20th overall and third in class in his and Guisborough co-driver Mike Scrimgour’s Peugeot 205.

Keith Davison, from Potto, and Ripon co-driver Henry Richardson took 21st overall and fourth in class in their Hillman Avenger, while Northallerton brothers Andrew and Richard Chandler battled to 30th overall and third in class in their 1300cc Ford Escort.

Brompton’s Darren Grimstone and co-driver Richie Ross survived a time-consuming off on the opening stage in their Northallerton Tyre and Battery-prepared Honda Civic, while a problematic day saw Leeming Bar driver Dave Johnstone and Pickhill co-driver Bruce Lindsay bring their Peugeot 205 home 43rd overall on the driver’s gravel debut.

Ingleton brothers Matt and Dan Thompson were going well until crashing their ALM-backed Subaru on the final stage, while Ripon ace Matt Robinson ended up retiring his and co-driver Sam Collis’ Fiat 131 with a misfire on SS4.

EXELBY kart racer Megan Stephenson was back in action in the fifth round of the NKF championship at Glan Y Gors circuit in Wales, where she was looking to continue her recent good form.

Following testing in mixed weather conditions, Sunday dawned dry and bright. In the opening race, the 12-year-old started in ninth place and claimed seventh at the flag. In race two, she started from pole position and made a great start to lead in the early stages and, although she was passed by two drivers, she was hanging on gamely in third and planning her move to pass when the race was red-flagged due to an accident. In the restart, Megan battled to fifth place in the shortened race.

In the third race, she started from 16th place on the grid and knew she had the pace to pass many of the karts in front and secure a good qualifying position for the final. Aided by a good start, Megan was soon making up places with some classy overtakes, but with the race just seven laps long, she could only progress as high as 12th.

Her results meant she started from eighth on the grid in the final, but a big crash in front meant she had to swerve to avoid the melee, which cost her a lot of time. Despite this, she battled hard throughout the race and would have claimed eighth place at the finish had it not been for a mistake which saw her run wide and lose two places.

The result sees Megan retain ninth place in the championship, which is impressive considering this is her first full year in the Mini Max class. She now has a six-week break, but aims to get in some more testing and practice before racing at Hooton Park, in Liverpool, on August 20.

LOCAL riders were out of luck at the British Superbike Championship meeting at Snetterton last weekend.

Pirelli Superstock 600 challenger Davy Todd's recent lack of form saw the Saltburn rider out of the points again on his Morello Kawasaki, while Durham’s Chrissy Rouse crashed out on the opening corner in the Superstock 1000 Championship race when his bike cut out and was rammed by another rider.

There was slightly better news for Hutton Rudby’s Neil Bainbridge, who qualified in 27th position before bringing his KLM Motorsport, Hares Bulk Haulage and Waters Waste-backed Kawasaki home in 20th place.

THE Redcar SG Petch Bears speedway team were at home last week for their Premier League match against bottom-of-the-table Scunthorpe Scorpions.

Heat one saw a win for Bears’ new rider Tobias Busch, but team-mate and captain Lasse Bjerre retired on the last lap, so the points were split. In heat two, Bears’ guest rider, Argentinian Coty Garcia, retired and Lee Payne fell on the last lap, allowing the Scorpions to score five points. In the next heat, Bears riders Jonas B Andersen and Hugh Skidmore gated well and rode a perfect team race to record a 5-1. Bears’ David Bellego won heat four in the fastest time of the season, with Scorpions captain and ex-Bear Josh Auty second and Payne in third to give the Bears a one-point lead.

Points were split in heat five before a 5-1 went the way of the visitors in the next race. Bellego and Garcia scored a 4-2 for the Bears in heat seven and the home team repeated the score in heat eight with Bjerre and Payne to leave the scoreline 26-21 in the home team’s favour.

The Scorpions pulled two points back in heat nine before Bears responded with a 5-1 in heat 10 with a win for Bjerre and Busch in second. Heat 11 saw the points shared before a win for Skidmore, with Garcia holding off a strong challenge for second place, saw another 5-1 to the Bears to put them 11 points ahead.

But the Scorpions scored a brilliant 5-1 in heat 13, meaning the scoreline was 42-35 with two heats left. The Bears pair of Andersen and Garcia scored a convincing 5-1 in heat 14 to give the Teessiders an unassailable lead, although the Scorpions had the last word with a 5-1 in the final heat to leave the score 48-41 in favour of the Bears, who claimed three valuable points.