Round four: Severn Valley Historic ChallengeGareth Lloyd and Ryland James made it four wins from four rounds in the 2006 HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge during the Severn Valley Historic Challenge on Saturday (3 June).However, this was far from easy for the West Wales Rally Spares Escort Mk2, as a major threat from James Potter/Bob Stokoe only ended on the final stage and an off at the same corner left the Lloyd/James Escort limping to the finish of the stage.Terry Brown and new co-driver Paul Willets set the pace in the opening stage at Gwibedog to jump ahead in their Escort Mk2, but then Potter/Stokoe took over the lead in Halfway. To add to Lloyd's problems, he was caught in the dust of post-historic runner Mark Solloway in Halfway after Solloway had stopped to change a puncture. That cost Lloyd/James half a minute, but they really attacked the two long Brechfa stages to pull back 20 seconds on Potter/Stokoe.Heading out of second service and into the final 11-miler in Crychan, Potter/Stokoe led by 10 seconds and pushed very hard in search of their first Classic victory. However, Lloyd/James were also on the limit and went off over a crest, breaking a front strut in the process. Believing they had blown it, they limped to the finish, only to discover that Potter/Stokoe had gone off permanently at the same crest and were out of the rally.Up into second went Brown/Willets after an excellent run, while Stuart Clarke/Patrick Walsh (Escort Mk2) retired from second after a spate of punctures in Brechfa and then overheating when they got back to service in Llandovery.A trouble-free run as they tackled these stages for the first time netted third for Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby (Escort Mk2), while Martin Jones/Kevin Owens backed up their excellent Astra result by finishing fourth in their Escort Mk2.Despite going through tyres at a prodigious rate, Richard Lane/Frank Richer won class D3 in their Escort Mk2 after a good battle with the similar Pinto-powered car of Mark and Brett Clifford. Ultimately, Lane took the class by 26s, while Arwel Williams/Paul Wakely ran third in D3 in their Escort RS2000 despite losing the best part of two minutes when the engine cut out on the first stage. Their times after that were hugely impressive and could have netted a class win for the rising young star.