IN his very first outing in his newly-acquired Group N Subaru Impreza, County Durham youngster Stephen Petch emulated his father's success by taking a dramatic victory on the Kall Kwik National Rally last weekend.

Originally from Hamsterley but now living near Scorton, Petch and co-driver Michael Wilkinson, from Tow Law, saw off the difficult conditions and a quality field to take their maiden outright rally victory on a day of high drama in the snow-bound Yorkshire forests.

After gradually working their way up the order, only a couple of seconds separated Petch from the Mitsubishi Lancer of Ingleton's Tony Thompson and York co-driver Jon Dunning as they went into the final Langdale stage.

However, gearbox problems saw Thompson slide off the road and into a log pile, which allowed Petch to claim a deserved victory amidst a decimated field.

The victory went some way to dispelling the disappointment which befell the team when his father Steve Petch senior and co-driver John Richardson, from Northallerton, suffered a monumental accident on the fast Dalby stage.

The crash not only wrecked their SGP Motorsport Hyundai Accent WRC, but left Richardson needing a precautionary check-up in hospital. Luckily, the manager for the South Otterington-based Tecno 2 performance centre was released later in the day with nothing more than severe bruising, while Petch escaped with a shaking.

With the first heavy snowfall of winter greeting the competitors who had assembled for the Pickering start, the drama began before the start with crews unsure as to the correct tyre choice.

Defending the title he won last year, Castleton driver Ryan Champion opted for snow tyres while the majority of other crews, except for Thompson, went for a gravel tyre.

With thawing conditions prevalent as the crews headed into SS1, Champion's despair turned to joy as, after a mile of SS1, the tracks were covered in deep snow and he emerged from the test some 22 seconds ahead of Thompson, who had to cope with catching two cars on the stage.

Petch went out when his car skidded on the fast White Cliff Rigg section of the stage and another fancied runner, Charlie Payne from Ripon in his Subaru WRC, struggled in the slippery conditions, dropping two minutes.

At first service, Champion led by 31 seconds from Thompson, with the younger Petch lying third a further 13 seconds back. Champion looked to be cruising towards a second victory when his Mitsubishi suddenly stopped with gearbox problems at the end of SS3 in Gale Rigg, handing the lead to Thompson, who continued to trade blows with Petch on both the Cropton and Dalby 2 stages.

Thompson's hopes were dashed with a high speed excursion into the scenery, although he did manage to limp out of the stage with his damaged MSR-prepared Mitsubishi, which allowed Petch to ease the pace and claim an historic victory which puts his name alongside his father's in the record books.

West Rounton's Chris Blake and co-driver Tony Walker, from Barnard Castle, enjoyed their best result in a long time when they brought the NTB Ford Escort Cosworth home fourth overall, while Guisborough driver Dave Craven and co-driver Ian Jackson, from Hartburn, slithered to the finish in their NSS Lancer in sixth overall.

In the clubman's section, the Cold Kirby daughter and father pairing of Amanda and Derek Cornforth struggled in the snow before eventually retiring their Ford Ka on the Cropton stage.

l Shildon rally driver Barry Johnson (Subaru) kicked off his Scottish Rally Championship campaign in fine style by winning the opening round of the series based in Inverness last Saturday.

The 50th running of the Thistle Hotels Arnold Clark Snowman Rally saw Johnson only 14th quickest on the day's opening stage near Drumnadrochit, but, after some much-needed refreshments in the service area, he scorched through the second and third stage at Fort Augustus, setting fastest times and snatching the rally lead which he maintained to the end.

Johnson's performance left last year's Snowman winner and defending champion Raymond Munro playing catch-up all day long. The Scotsman suffered badly by running first car on the road in the wintry conditions as he acted as a snowplough.

However, it was Johnson and co-driver Stewart Merry's day, with victory making up for the disappointment of 12 months ago when he crashed out of the event.

"This event is always so unpredictable due to the weather, so it's difficult to be confident coming here, but the car was great and we just managed to stay on the road and ahead of Munro", said the 2002 Scottish champion.

Fellow County Durham resident Tony Thompson and co-driver Jon Dunning did well to being their Mitsubishi home in 11th place overall before making the overnight trip to the Kall Kwik Rally.

* Two local competitors suffered a mixed day of fortunes when they travelled across the Pennines to contest the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally last Saturday.

Mark Thompson, from Evenwood, along with Barnard Castle co-driver Giles Dykes, were competing on the event in their BELTS Ltd and Williamson Motors-backed Peugeot 206, while Mickleton's Alistair Hutchinson and co-driver St John Dykes, from Barnard Castle, were in action in their Northern Energy Autogas and Renault Parts-backed Renault Clio.

Both crews had an excellent morning, with Hutchinson leading his class and in 14th place overall at first service, while Thompson was second in class and 20th overall.

As the rally progressed, Thompson suffered from engine problems and lost time to drop to fourth in class, while a time-consuming stall didn't affect Hutchinson's placings. But worse was to follow for the LPG-powered car on the Weeton stage.

As the pair exited a corner off slippery concrete onto tarmac, they sheared all four studs on the front passenger side wheel. Even though the crew got the car repaired and continued, on arrival at service they found they were over the time limit and thus out of the rally.

Thompson meanwhile had a steady run through the two stages and had moved up to 17th overall and third in class. The remaining tests went well for the Peugeot crew as they made no mistakes and brought the car home in 14th position overall and second in class.

This was a fantastic result for the pair as they had only just finished rebuilding the engine on the Friday afternoon before the rally. Both crews said they would like to thank their sponsors and service crews for their help and commitment in getting the cars ready and through the event.

l A number of local competitors will have made the long trip to the south coast to contest the first round of the 2005 MSA National Gravel Rally Championship which gets under way in Bournemouth tonight.

They include Castleton's Ryan Champion, who this year will contest the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge along with York co-driver Craig Thorley. The 29-year-old rally instructor hopes to have his MSR Motorsport-prepared car repaired in time after his Kall Kwik Rally retirement and is one of the favourites for victory despite making his debut on the Rallye Sunseeker.

Also in Mitsubishi Challenge action are last year's ANCRO clubman's champions Tim Pearcey, from Topcliffe, and Pickhill's Mick Johnson, who will be hoping to follow their recent good result on the Riponian Rally with a good showing in Dorset.

Stephen Petch and Mike Wilkinson will be confident in the production and junior categories after last weekend's Kall Kwik victory, but likely non-starters include father Steve and co-driver John Richardson following their huge shunt on the same event.

Shildon's Barry Johnson will be gunning for glory in his Subaru WRC, while Ian Windress, from Northallerton, sits alongside Penrith's Paul Bird in their Ford Focus WRC. Tristan Pye, from Bishop Auckland, enjoyed success on the recent Wyedean Rally and will be among the front-runners in the production class in his JPM Subaru.

After two blasts through the Winter Gardens and along the promenade tonight, competitors face 70 tough miles in the forests of Ringwood and Wareham before returning to the town centre finish tomorrow evening.