Armajaro MSA British Historic Championship - Round twoJimmy McRae was the master of the North Wales forests on round two of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Denbighshire Astra Stages Historic Rally on Saturday (1 April).Partnered by Campbell Roy in the Prepfab-entered Porsche 911, McRae beat off the Escort hordes to win by 38s, while Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies overcame a troubled day to win category 1 in their Sunbeam Tiger. With a total entry of over 80 cars, it was another great day for the BHRC.Historic (category 1)Watts/Davies exploited the power of the Tiger to romp into an early lead over a pair of stages in Alwen, with the southern stage in use for the first time in 10 years. However, it went wrong for Watts on the final stage before service when the front suspension broke a mile before the end of Clocaenog East.They got to service and managed to weld the joint, but concerns over noise and possible road penalties left their position in doubt over the final two stages in Aberhirnant. Ultimately, they were declared winners back at Llangollen, with 37s in hand over the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride.The chase of Watts turned into a tremendous battle, typified by fierce competition and great sportsmanship. Neil Calvert and Arlene Cookson (Lotus Cortina) went into the final stage just 3s down on the Porsche, and attacked hard. However, the co-driver's door flew open and Cookson had to hold it shut for the rest of the stage, while trying to manage the pace notes with her other hand! Even so, they beat Nutt/McBride by two seconds in Llangower to finish the rally just one second behind. "A terrific day," said Calvert as he congratulated Nutt. "We got better and better as we got used to it," reckoned Nutt of his rebuilt engine.Only six seconds behind Calvert was the Lotus Cortina of Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates. "Neil's gone very well," said Atkinson at the final re-group control as Nutt wandered around with a bucket of water cleaning the lights and number plates on his rivals' cars!Fifth place went to Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret, who lost two minutes in a ditch on Alwen South in their Porsche 911. "We threw it away on the first stage," admitted Rolt, who went on to set very quick times on the remaining stages.Clive King/'Polly' were commanding class B2 winners in their Mini Cooper, finishing around half a minute clear of the MG Midget of James Stait/Stewart Lawson. A flapping bonnet in the early stages slowed them a little but King was still an excellent seventh overall in category 1. Finally, having crashed out of the last two Astras, John Parker and Robert Harrison were very pleased to win B1 in their Saab 96.

Post-historic (category 2)McRae was a fine benchmark in category 2, turning in a mighty drive for victory in the Porsche 911. Only a puncture near the end of Penllyn interrupted their progress, but it cost them little time. "I'll have to come and do some more BHRC rounds now," admitted McRae.The battle for second was intense and it was Steven Smith/John Nichols who won the contest of the Escorts in their RS2000 with a fabulous performance. "We've worked quite hard," said Smith with typical understatement of a drive that kept them just ahead of the BDA-powered Escorts of Mark Solloway/Mark Crisp and David Stokes/Guy Weaver. "We got crucified in Penllyn," said Smith of the fast penultimate stage, but they had enough in hand to finish second by 8s.Solloway, meanwhile, went into the final two stages 14s down on Stokes, but really attacked and emerged at the end of Llangower just 1s ahead. "I didn't think we'd do that," said Solloway. Stokes had earlier spun and stalled on SS4 and was disappointed to be pipped by the smallest of margins.Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard (Escort Mk1) were a strong fifth, while Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood continued their impressive start to the season to take sixth and second in C4 to McRae in their Porsche 911. Smith/Nicholls topped class C3, while C2 delivered yet another fine contest.With a cracking eighth overall, Vince Bristow/Dean Mitchell took the class in their Escort by 22s from Russell Morgan/Martin Kenyon (Escort) with Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes another 24s behind. Bristow was on the Astra for the first time and really pushed home his advantage in the 12 miles of Clocaenog. "It's just so competitive in C2," admitted Forster. "120bhp is not enough in these forests," added Morgan after another strong showing.