Last updated 19:27, Thursday, 04 December 2008

THE 2008 SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship season finished at a very cold but dry Grizedale Stages with the low overnight temperature leaving slippy patches to catch the unwary.

The fastest SG Petch-registered crew on the first stage were Alex Allingham/Mark Glennerster (Subaru Impreza) who reported the stages very slippy and were taking it steady but going to up the pace.

They continued to head the registered competitors to the end, finishing sixth overall but Glennerster didn’t get maximum co-driver points as Richard Cooke had his first outing since the Border Counties in Mike O’Brien’s newly acquired Ford Focus 03 WRC, and they finished fifth.

The only SG Petch crew to retire were Willie Jarman/Mark Fisher in an Escort Cosworth who after a good start on stage one spun off on stage two.

There was a close battle for second points between Geoff Wilson/Sean O’Neill (Ford Escort MkII) and Richard and Edwin Cook (Vauxhall Astra).

Wilson was fastest on the first two stages, but Cook gradually hauled him in going ahead on the fifth.

But on the last stage Cook hit a patch of very thick fog and had to loosen his belts to look out the side window.

He lost 22 seconds, allowing Wilson back ahead into 29th overall and the Cooks were 30th.

David Wright/Rob Fagg were a good second but nearly a minute behind Mark Higgins/Nicky Grist in the Group A Subaru who had an easy run to victory, never being pressed throughout the rally.

Gary Thomlinson/Gemma Bellingham were pleased with 12th overall while Paul Benn was out in his Escort Cosworth for a rare outing to 26th position and Alan Mayhew/Bryan Newton were 50th.

The 1400’s were led home by Andrew and Reg Irving (Peugeot 205) in 52nd place who had two spins on the earlier stages, and a puncture on the last.

Sian Beaty/Dave Antrobus (Ford KA) were 57th and commented as most people did about how slippy the early stages were, but their biggest problem later on was the low sun which caused a few hairy moments.

Sixty-one of the 90 crews made it to the finish of the six stages.

There is the little matter of the Rally GB this weekend down in Wales and we will all be hoping that the Ford team can pull something out of the bag to win the manufacturers’ title again and that Matt Wilson can get a strong top six finish on his home event.

Nearer home MG Cumbria will be running their Famous Christmas Cracker Run on Sunday starting at the Rheged Discovery Centre at 10am and covering a 70-mile route to lunch at Braithwaite before visiting the Keswick Christmas Fayre.

Once again the event has attracted some 70 crews from all over the UK in cars ranging from a 1926 Bentley to the very latest 2008 MG TF LE500.