THE North East hosts the opening round of the Pirelli British Rally Championship this weekend when fans and enthusiasts from far and wide will be streaming to Gateshead for the Pirelli International Rally.

After a 12-month sabbatical due to foot-and-mouth, Britain's premier rally series welcomes back the powerful, flame-spitting World Rally Cars and the sheer speed and spectacle of these ultra-powerful machines is sure to thrill the watching masses.

Local crews figure prominently in the entry list, with former national champions Steve Petch from Scorton and his Romanby co-driver John Richardson giving their home fans another sight of the SGP Hyundai Accent WRC.

Kepwick's Peter Stephenson will also be looking for a good result in his Able UK Subaru, along with Irish co-driver Stephen McAuley.

Shildon driver Barry Johnson and co-driver Peter Croft of Middleton Tyas are sure to be a threat in their Barrier Impreza, with the competitive Super 1600 class graced by the two factory-backed Ford Pumas of Sacriston's David Henderson and Guy Wilks of Heighington.

Starting from Gateshead International Stadium this evening, when the cars will be flagged away by former world rally champion Colin McRae, the crews head straight for the town's Watergate Park for two floodlit spectator stages round a twisty one-mile course.

After an overnight halt, the action really gets underway with two days of flat out driving over almost 150 miles of special stages in the giant Kielder Forest complex before the finish back at Gateshead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Supporting the Pirelli International will be several subsidiary events for competitors in the one make series, including the Peugeot 206 Super Cup, the Castrol Polo Challenge and the Ford Puma and Ka series.

In the latter, Scorton youngster Stephen Petch and his Tow Law co-driver Michael Wilkinson will be up against Lanchester's Trevor Gamble and co-driver Ken Bills as well as the Bishop Auckland pairing of Tristan Pye and Hayley Selby.

Also in action in the clubmen's event will be Thimbleby driver David Brown in his Steel River Ford Puma 4x4, along with co-driver Paul Hudson from Darlington.

They will be up against the likes of Thirsk crew Andrew Johnson and Neil Colls in a Subaru, with Redcar's Dave Craven and Ian Jackson from Eaglescliffe in contention in their NSS Ford Sapphire.

Alun Pearson from Swainby competes in a Peugeot 206, while Castleton driver Ryan Champion debuts his Ford Puma alongside Northallerton's Ian Windress.

Champion's mother Joyce co-drives for top lady Sophie Robinson in their VW Polo, with Consett's Stephen Robson also in action alongside Ian Chadwick in a similar car.

Spectator information. - Today: Start, 6.45pm, Gateshead International Stadium; SS1, 7pm, Watergate Park 1; SS2, 7.07, Watergate Park 2.

Tomorrow: SS3, 8.53am, Falstone 1; SS4, 9.52, Rushy Knowe 1; SS5, 12.36, Shepherdshield; SS6, 1.07, Chirdonhead 1; SS7, 3.35, Harwood 1.

Sunday: SS8, 8.53am, Falstone 2; SS9, 9.52, Rushy Knowe 2; SS10, 12.24, Chirdonhead 2; SS11, 1.51 , Harwood 2; finish, 3.45, Gateshead International Stadium.

Top ten entries: 1 Gwyndaf Evans/Chris Patterson, MG ZR; 2 Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery, Peugeot 206; 3 Rory Galligan/Gordon Noble, Peugeot 206; 4 David Henderson/Scott Poxon, Ford Puma; 5 Guy Wilks/Roger Herron, Ford Puma; 6 Martin Sansom/Phil Wells, Peugeot 106 Maxi; 7 Kris Meeke/Glen Patterson, Ford Puma; 8 James Thompson/Richard Pulleyn, Peugeot 106; 9 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas, Ford Focus WRC; 10 Marcus Dodd/John Bennie, Subaru Impreza WRC.

* After the disappointment of retiring on his home event a couple of weeks ago, Richmond rally driver Mark Constantine got back to winning ways by taking a class win when the BTRDA Championship visited the Somerset Stages Rally last weekend.

Co-driven as usual by brother Andrew, he held off a concerted challenge from Great Broughton's Jonny Brown and co-driver James Lester from Harmby, also driving a Vauxhall Nova in the B9 1400cc class, to take victory by a mere four seconds after 12 stages around Minehead.

The end result is that Constantine leads the class by just six points ahead of Brown going into the next round in Wales in a month's time.

Also in action was Bedale driver Bryan Gill who, along with co-driver Joyce Champion from Castleton, brought his Ford Escort Cosworth home in 14th place overall.

* Darlington motorcycle racer Jonathan Harrison was out of luck in the opening round of the CB500 Cup at Mallory Park last weekend.

After qualifying in second place and rocketing from the start in the opening race, Harrison was challenging for the lead when the front brake lever snapped as he entered the Bus Stop chicane on lap seven, leaving him with nowhere to go but into the tyre barriers.

The youngster suffered concussion and an injured shoulder in the crash, but hopes to be fit for the next round at Pembrey in Wales on May 18/19.

Meanwhile, it was slightly better news for Northallerton shopkeeper Darren Grimston, who came away with a 12th and 13th place finish in the opening two rounds of the Honda Hornet Cup.

Grimston qualified in 15th place, but managed to claw his way through the field in the second race to secure more valuable points.

* Scotton sidecar ace Greg Lambert came away with a double victory in round four of the Auto 66 Club's championship road races held at Elvington Park near York last weekend.

Partnered by Ivan Murray, he took both wins in the Sidecar Masters event aboard his 600cc Yamaha in preparation for his Isle of Man TT assault.

Rob I'Anson made a successful comeback by storming to victory in the Formula Pro Street class on his 1,000cc Suzuki ahead of fellow Riponian Ron Davis in 14th place.

Middlesbrough's Simon Hadfield managed a pair of fifth places aboard his Honda 125 in the Clubman's Cup, while Brompton youngster Marc Walden contested no less than eight races on his 600cc Honda, claiming a best result of fifth in the Rookie 600 class.

* Local drivers were well to the fore when action resumed at Barford Raceway last weekend.

Bishop Auckland's Richard Bruton won the opening heat, with Peterlee driver Paul Sinclair taking heats two and three ahead of Bruton and Middlesbrough's Mark Thoms.

But the locals couldn't repeat their form in the finals as Kelloe driver Gareth Taylor caused controversy when he sidelined track champion Barry Goldin in the final and was docked points to miss out on victory.

Haswell veteran John Dowson showed well with good placings in all three finals.

l Local fans are in for a feast of motor sport at Croft this weekend when the BARC hosts the latest in its series of classic race meetings.

One of the major attractions will be the first round of the Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship, as usual organised by Darlington and District Motor Club. More than 40 entries have been received, so two races will be held.

The Darlington trio of Terry Wright (Rover 100), Guy Blumer (Ford Escort) and David Cox (Honda Civic) are sure to go well on their local track, as are Yarm's Mark Campbell (Lotus Elan) and the Stockton duo of Martin Lightfoot (Sylva Striker) and David Botterill (Porsche Carrera 924GT).

Qualifying gets underway tomorrow at 9.30, with the first of three races starting at 3.30. The nine-race programme on Sunday kicks off at 12.10. Admission is £5 for adults (Saturday) and £12 (Sunday), with accompanied children under 15 admitted free