LEEMING driver Kevin Procter was in outstanding form as he took an excellent win on the fifth annual MEM/RollTek Dalby Gravel Sprint, organised by Malton Motor Club last weekend.
Sharing his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth with Northallerton rallycrosser Dave Bellerby, he overcame a broken driveshaft to take a three-second win from the similar car of Matt Yeadon from Pickhill.
Exelby's Chris Lewis finished a solid third after an incident-free run in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.
Heavy rain on the previous day had made the surface extremely tricky, but 28 cars made the start on Sunday morning. The winner would be the driver with the best aggregate time after three timed runs in the morning, then three more runs in the reverse direction.
Local expert Richard Watts was beset with engine problems in his Escort Cosworth, dropping him to fourth place overall, just ahead of Tim Pearcey from Ripon, who brought his Ford Escort home first in the class for multi-cam engined cars up to 2000cc.
Pearcey fended off the challenge from Malton's Rob Carr in yet another Escort, with Darlington driver Simon Rippon taking the final podium spot in his Vauxhall Astra Sport.
After representing his country in the recent Inter Nations Rallycross Challenge, Bellerby took to the reins of the Procter's Coaches rally car and ended up an impressive seventh overall.
Thirsk's Andy Chandler took his Ford Escort to 20th overall and second in class.
Top ten finishers. - 1 K Proctor, Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, 6:17.4; 2 M Yeadon, Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, 6:20.0; 3 C Lewis, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, 6:23.0; 4 R Watts, Ford Escort Cosworth, 6:28.2; 5 T Pearcey, Ford Escort RS, 6:35.2; 6 C McIntosh, Ford Escort Cosworth, 6:37.7; 7 D Bellerby, Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, 6:41.2; 8 C Dykes, Ford Escort RS, 6:43.6; 9 T Arnsby, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, 6:47.3; 10 S Magson, Opel Kadett RWD, 6:53.6.
* Darlington brothers Jonathan and Richard Harrison enjoyed success as the curtain came down on the 2002 motorcycle racing season at Carnaby Two near Hull last weekend.
Contesting the final round of the Auto 66 Club Championships as well as the prestigious Count of Carnaby event, the pair emerged with a quartet of rostrum placings, with younger brother Jonathan leading the way aboard his Buell Firebolt with a pair of wins.
Scorching to victory in the opening Sound of Thunder race to become the first person outside the USA to win on a Buell, Harrison followed up with another comfortable win in the second leg.
But hopes of a hat-trick were dashed when he had to settle for second place as tyre wear took its toll on the mighty XB9R.
Richard, making his comeback after badly damaging his 600cc Kawasaki earlier in the season, had a new track to learn as well as contending with changeable conditions.
Despite stiff competition, he managed a trio of top ten placings aboard the elderly machine in the 600cc Clubman's Cup. He finished sixth, seventh and tenth as well as posting a third place in the Open 600cc class.
With both riders entered for the Count of Carnaby, Richard was running inside the top six when a misfire sidelined him from leg one. He then crashed out in the second race while challenging for a leading place.
But Jonathan managed a fine tenth in the opening race before retiring on the last lap in race two when a drive belt broke.
* After a nine-month battle fought out over ten rounds, Richmond brothers Mark and Andrew Constantine just lost out on the racenandrally.com 1400cc championship on last weekend's Cambrian rally in North Wales.
Having battled intensely all season long with the husband and wife pairing of Rupert and Susan Hopcraft, the brothers were equal on points and wins going into the final round.
The WA Browne Maxsport Nova and Hopcraft's Nissan Micra were never separated by more than a few seconds as the pair traded blows throughout the event, but a stunning time on stage 8 saw Hopcraft edge the title by just 14 seconds after 55 miles of stages.
The Constantines missed out by just two points, but they netted the B9 class ahead of Great Broughton's Jonny Brown and James Lester from Harmby, who retired their Commercial Consultants Nova with transmission problems on only the third stage. But the students had done enough to clinch fourth overall in the 1400cc championship and third in the B9 class in their first assault on the BTRDA series
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