DESPITE a two-month period of inactivity since claiming the Mintex National Championship, Scorton rally driver Steve Petch was hoping to get back to winning ways in last weekend's Grizedale Stages Rally in the Lake District.

But sadly for him and his Northallerton co-driver John Richardson, it all went wrong on the final stage.

Petch, resorting to his Ford Escort WRC as opposed to the production Subaru he originally planned to compete in, survived a brief off during the slippery morning stages before charging into a 20-second lead as the event entered the final stage later in the day.

But halfway through the final test, the Escort slithered into the very same ditch as in the morning. By the time the crew had extracted themselves once more, they had dropped more than five minutes, resulting in retirement.

There was better news for Guy Wilks, who was contesting the event in preparation for next season's Ford Puma Championship having spent this season rallying a Ford Ka.

The 19-year-old from Heighington - runner-up in the Roger Clark Award Scheme aimed at finding Britain's best future rallying prospects - survived a time consuming last stage spin to bring his Puma home in a respectable 13th place overall.

Tarmac specialist Chris Lewis, from Bedale, was re-familiarising himself with gravel in readiness for the Christmas Stages rally, which his Food Weighouse company sponsors. He had a steady run to take 22nd overall at the end of the 43-mile event in his DSM Mitsubishi Lancer.

Shildon's Barry Johnson and co-driver Peter Croft, from Richmond, had a day full of problems in their ex-works Subaru Impreza. They included going off on the opening stage and dropping ten minutes stuck in a ditch, before completing the event in 47th place overall.

Ducati Superbike boss Paul Bird, from Penrith, - in only his third ever rally - and D&S Times correspondent Larry Carter, of Northallerton, upset the form book when they finished ninth overall in the SGP Motorsport Subaru Impreza.

Results. - 1 Steve Head/Andrew Dugdale, Mitsubishi Lancer, 50m 56s; 2 John Thompson/Ian Oakey, Ford Escort Cosworth, 51:00; 3 David Higgins/Chris Wood, Ford Puma Kit Car, 52:19; 4 David Shuttleworth/Stephen Perie, Ford Sierra Cosworth, 52:30; 5 Phil Burton/Mick Fallows, Ford Escort, 52:46; 6 Alan Barr/Ken Bills, Subaru Impreza, 53:09; 7 Paul Benn/Richard Cooke, Ford Escort Cosworth, 53:38; 8 Chris Bown/Roger Bown, Opel Manta, 54:08; 9 Paul Bird/Larry Carter, Subaru Impreza, 54:41; 10 Andrew Kenny/Gary Kenny, Subaru Impreza, 54:50.

l More motor sport on page 28