Round nine: Historic Somerset Stages

The Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship will be finally decided on the ninth and final round, the Historic Somerset Stages on Saturday (29 October).The contest for the coveted overall title now lies between David Stokes/Ian Oakey and Steven Smith/John Nichols, although Jeremy Easson/Den Golding retain an outside chance of winning the championship.Historic (category 1)In an unexpected twist, Smith/Nichols will not be running in the historic category in Somerset. With their Porsche 911 not ready following major engine dramas in Yorkshire, they have elected to switch to the post-historic category in a bid to win the overall title.That move has left the way open for Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride to win the historic category in their Porsche 911. In fact, with Smith/Nichols out of the picture Nutt/McBride will be historic category champions regardless of the result in Somerset.

However, the historic category result this Saturday is wide open, with four crews all in with a strong chance. Nutt/McBride will be strong contenders, as will Trackrod winners Stuart Rolt and Richard Pomfret in their Porsche 911. However, two Sunbeam Tigers could really upset the Porsche party, with Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies back in their Tiger to go head to head with local crew Paul Kynaston/Gary Bulley. Although not registered for the BHRC this season, Kynaston will be tough to beat as he competes on his local event.Heading class B4 will be Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson, out for the first time since June in their Lotus Cortina, and the similar car of Hugh Currell/Mike Gamblin.

Meanwhile, class B3 pacesetters Jonathan and Graham Gale will be out to chase the Lotus Cortinas in their less powerful Cortina GT.

Four Mini Coopers line up in class B2, with class champions Matt and Dood Pearce gunning for another win to wrap up a fine season. Their opposition includes Mike Barratt/Michelle Calvert and David Foster/Terry March along with local crew Alison Lock/Judy Watson. The sole runner in class B1, meanwhile, will be the Saab 96 of Nick Pinkett.Post-historic (category 2)The battle for the BHRC crown is likely to run until the very final stage of the season and remains extremely unpredictable. Easson/Golding (Escort Mk1) lead overall before the final round, but will not be in Somerset as the car is under-going a complete rebuild ahead of the Roger Albert Clark Rally. Should Stokes and Smith fail to finish, Easson/Golding would win the championship!

However, a further twist in this story has come in recent days with the news that, with the Porsche not ready, Smith is likely to switch to the post-historic category in a Ford Escort Mk1.

The simple solution for Stokes/Oakey is to win the event, for that will make them champions regardless of what anyone else does. Typically, Stokes is planning to win from the front and his Escort Mk1 may well head the field back into Minehead on Saturday afternoon.Lining up against Stokes/Oakey in class C5 will be the Escorts of Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips, Dave Dyer/Graham Wride and Craig Salter/Preston Ayres.

One of the classes still to be decided is C4, where the Porsche 911 of Peter Lythell/Gill Cotton starts with a 17-point lead over the 911 of Graham Wilson/Keith Fellowes. But when dropped scores are taken into account, there's not much in it and this could be another big battle. Paul Drinkall and Roy Brown also contest C4 in their Porsche 911.

In class C3, Ian Drummond/Tom Ward (Escort Mk1) are already confirmed as class champions after a great season, but head to Somerset chasing another class win. Their major rivals are Escort RS2000 crews Paul Pesticcio/Lee Vincent and Bob Gibbons/Stuart Cardell. Offering variety to the C3 Escorts will be the Fiat 124 of Nigel Kelsall/Peter Davies.

Finally, another intense class battle will be for C2 spoils. Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes are now secure as class champions in their Escort Mexico, but will make the long hail down from Northumberland in a bid to secure the HRCR Challenge title as well. Aiming to beat them for class victory are John Worthing and Bill Robertson in their Mexico.The Historic Somerset Stages starts at 8am on Saturday 29 October from Minehead. It is organised by the Burnham-on-Sea and Minehead Motor Clubs. For more details about the event, somersetstagesrally.com