In only their third historic rally, Darren Moon and John McNichol scored victory on the Pirelli Historic Rally, the second round of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship. The Yorkshire crew put their Escort Mk2 firmly into contention on Friday evening's leg of very difficult stages, while other leading contenders either slid off into ditches or hit mechanical dramas. Moon ended the leg second to the Porsche 911RS of Jimmy McRae/Andy Richardson, but McRae crashed out on the Archie's Rigg stage on Saturday morning.

In category one, Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies were unstoppable in their Sunbeam Tiger (pictured right), while a fine performance from Rupert Lomax/David Alcock bagged category two for their Escort Mk1.

Results

Category one

1 Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies (Sunbeam Tiger)                       58m01.1s

2 John Keatley/Maurice Beckett (Porsche 911)                      59m19.9s

3 Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911)                    59m34.5s

Category two

1 Rupert Lomax/David Alcock (Ford Escort Mk2)                   57m32.9s

2 Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard (Ford Escort Mk1)                    57m51.2s

3 Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes (Ford Escort Mk1)        57m54.2s

Category three

1 Darren Moon/John McNichol (Ford Escort Mk2)                   56m16.1s

2 Jason Lepley/Howard Pridmore (Ford Escort Mk2)             56m26.3s

3 Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing (Ford Escort Mk2)                 57m18.1s

Championship positions

1 Patrick Watts 62

2 James Stait 54

= Darren Moon 54

4 Neil Calvert 53

5 Dessie Nutt 52

6 Rupert Lomax 51

Championship positions

1 Alastair Moffatt 22pts

2 Howard Everingham 20

3 Gavin Dickson 19

= Ashley Lamont 19

= Dave Goodlad 19

6. John Moffatt 18 2008 Link Up Ltd MSA British Autotest Championship

Round 2 Bolton-le-Moors CC

Alastair Moffatt (pictured left) made it two in a row by taking FTD at the Bolton Autotest. Moffatt was pushed all the way by 2006 MSA Champion Dave Mosey and the two were separated by just two tenths after 6 tests, but two penalties for Mosey on test 7 saw him drop too far behind. Richard Pinkney (Caterham) and Ashley Lamont (Westfield) were also in contention over the opening tests; they were well in touch with the two Mini Specials until rain intervened and were then left to battle for third overall with Lamont finishing just 6 seconds ahead after the 15 tests. John Moffatt made it a double celebration for the family by winning Class C in the Nova after an uncharacteristic wrong test from Gavin Dickson on the penultimate test handed Moffatt an 11.3 second victory.

Results

Alastair Moffatt       Mini Special             913.0

Dave Mosey            Mini Special             924.8

Ashley Lamont        Westfield SE            931.8

Richard Pinkney      Caterham 7              937.8

Duncan Wild            ABS         972.8

John Moffatt            Nova        1002.5

MSA British Cadet Kart Championship

Rounds 1 & 2: PF International

Round 1

Hazz Truelove got his British Championship bid in the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow series off to a perfect start at the well appointed PF International kart circuit.  Passing defending champion Brett Wykes on the opening laps of the final, he opened up a large lead over new second place contender Trevyn-Jay Nelson.  As the rest fought over the remaining podium places, the diminutive Truelove, the 2007 Super One champion, extended a handy gap.  Ben Barnicoat took up the chase, but a clash saw him drop back, a ten second penalty for driving standards extending his misery.  Next to take up the cudgels was Roy Johnson but he too was unable to break away, unlike Scottish champion Charlie Robertson, carving through to the front of the squabbling pack and then closing down the gap to leader Truelove, Johnson staying close behind.  "On the first lap I tried to push Brett but he was a little slower so everyone bottled up, and so I passed him and pulled away.  Then the engine started bogging down, so I moved the carburettor settings and it came back to me," explained Truelove (pictured right), who astonishingly had only set the thirteenth fastest race time.

Round 2

Truelove, from fifth on the grid, vaulted over Alex Gill and poleman Barnicoat to take up the lead again in what were very tricky conditions.  Drizzle and cold weather combined to keep the karts on wet weather tyres throughout Sunday's second round, many sliding off the track.  In a repeat of Round 1, Truelove eased out a large lead as the rest battled behind, Toby Sowerby almost managing a breakaway.  But he was reeled in and passed by Robertson and Sam Vanderpump - up from tenth on the grid, before plummeting down the order. This time Robertson got close enough for a successful move to take the lead but Truelove fought back to take his second win of the weekend.  "I knew if I blocked Charlie then Sam would catch us up so I let Charlie through then got him back in a more favourable place," said Truelove.  A slightly aggrieved Robertson added: "Haz gave me a little push to get me back again." 

Results (all engines Comer):

Round 1

1 Hazz Truelove (Zip)

2 Charlie Robertson (Zip)

3 Roy Johnson (Zip)

4 Brett Wykes (Zip)

5 Trevyn-Jay Nelson (Zip)

6 Alfonso Skriczka (Zip)

Round 2

1 Truelove

2 Robertson

3 Sam Vanderpump (Zip)

4 Skriczka

5 Johnson

6 Wykes

Championship positions*

1 H Truelove

2 C Robertson

3 R Johnson

4 B Wykes

= A Skriczka

* Official points not available at time

Championship positions

1 Duncan Stephens 87

         points from 6 events

2 John Fack 69 from 5

3 Roland Uglow 64 from 6

4 Ian Wright 60 from 5

5 Steve Courts 56 from 6  MSA British Sporting Car Trials Championship

Round 6 - Lancashire & Cheshire Car Club - 20 April - Warslow, Nr Buxton

Ian Wright won his first British championship trial in his Sherpa Indy gradually opening out a lead over Duncan Stephens and John Fack, during the 65th running of the Derbyshire Trial. Wright held a small lead over Stephens at lunch but an inspired afternoon saw this stretched to nine points, with Fack another thirteen behind. Steve Courts followed his good result at this Gold Star site with an excellent fourth. Stephen Barnes won the intermediate class from Mark Milne, finishing seventh, both in Sherpas. The novice class was won by Ian Evitt just ahead of Bill Sherras. Janette Rowlatt became the first lady to compete in a BTRDA trial in over twenty years in Lancashire & Cheshire Car Club's seventy-fifth year.

Round 7 - Jacobean - London Car Club - 27 April - Long Compton, Warwickshire

Results

Winner - Ian Wright (Sherpa) 44 marks lost

2nd - Duncan Stephens (Crosslé) 53 marks lost

3rd - John Fack (Crosslé) 66 marks lost

MSA ABS British Car Trial Championship

Rounds 3 and 4

12th April - Matthews Auto Salvage Caernarvonshire & Anglesey Motor Club

13th April - Dennis Wells Clwyd Vale Motor Club

Despite the threat of bad weather, Caernarvonshire & Anglesey MC attracted a very good entry of 27 to their hastily reorganised site on the north of the island. This new venue was very smooth and was ideal for newer cars in classes 1 and 2. There were several different cars in class 1 including a BMW 325i, a Fabia VRS and a MG F though in the end it was the Citroen AX of Les Andrew that would take the Class award. Class 2 and the Overall winner was Ilkleys Rupert North in a Mini Mayfair from Neil Mackay's Panda. Class 3 was won by Dave Oliver in the Imp and Class 4 by Tim Lakin in the Marlin.

Round 3 results

1 Rupert North; 2 Tim Lakin; 3 Neil Mackay; 4 Dave Oliver; 5 Les Andrew

The following day saw many of the same competitors (having stopped overnight in St Asaph) at the Clwyd Vale MC event near Dyserth. The weather having been kind to us yesterday decided to get its revenge on us today with quite heavy rain early morning but drying up late morning. These wetter conditions were to suit the RWD cars far more than the FWD. Les Andrew again showed his skill in Class 1 taking the win from Garry Preston in the MG F. Class 2 saw Barrie Parker in the Peugeot 104 just beat Neil Mackay's Panda. Malcolm Brown in the Westfield SEi was in his element and used the power and light weight of the car to take a well deserved Class 3 and Overall victory. Tim Lakin took another  Class 4 win to round out the weekend.

Round 4 results

1 Malcolm Brown; 2 Les Andrew; 3 Barrie Parker; 4 Neil Mackay; 5 Tim Lakin

Championship positions

1 Les Andrew 15 pts

= Tim Lakin 15

3 Neil Mackay 14

4 Dave Oliver 13

= Nigel Weeks 13

6 Barrie Parker 12

Championship positions

1 Guy Wilks GB 20

2 Juho Hanninen FIN 18

3 David Higgins GB 16

4 Phillip Morrow GB 15

5 Patrik Flodin S 14

6 Stuart Jones GB 13  Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship

Round 1 - Pirelli International Rally

Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh (pictured left) won the opening round of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, the Pirelli International Rally. The Mitsubishi pair took the event by the scruff of the neck as they had in 2007, setting fastest times on all but one stage. Wilks' march to the top step of the podium was unhampered by anything more serious than acting as road sweeper to the following pack.

Finns Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula took a fine second on their Pirelli debut in their Subaru, finishing with a flourish on the final test on which their stage time was only 2.9 seconds adrift of Wilks'. David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas were third in a brand new N14 Subaru and delighted to be on the pace again after swapping to the new car. They spent the rally fine tuning the car setup and were consistently close to the pace.

Results

1    GUY WILKS/PHILLIP PUGH - MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX       

2    JUHO HANNINEN/MIKKO MARKKULA - MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX  +1:05.5

3    DAVID HIGGINS/IEUAN THOMAS - SUBARU IMPREZA N14                  +2:40.8

4    PHILLIP MORROW/DANIEL BARRITT - MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX    +2:48.2

5    PATRIK FLODIN/GORAN BERGSTEN - SUBARU IMPREZA                    +3:32.8

6    STUART JONES/ANDY BULL - MG S2000 SPORT                                +3:55.9