Hat-trick goes to King/miles at Rockingham

Organiser: Middlesex County AC, Thame MC When: December 1/2 Where: Rockingham Motor Speedway Championships: EMAMC, AEMC/ASEMC, ACSMC and BMW Cup Stages: 12 Starters: 70 and 26 (Sunday rally).

Paul King and Alicia Miles’s Ford Escort was never headed as they took their third Rockingham Stages win at the final public event at the Northamptonshire circuit.

It was wet and greasy for the first half of the event with grip at a premium.

Over the first two stages, King managed to pull out a 23-second lead, with Escorts filling the top five places. Ian and Oliver Hucklebridge were second, from Stephen and Jack Tilburn, with Peter and Arron Rayner and Robin Adams/ray Keith following, as Andy Corner/ Ade Campo’s Peugeot 205 GTI completed the top six, despite having no brakes on the opener and spinning on stage two.

Darryl Morris/mark Regan had been second on stage one, but a wrong tyre choice soon dropped them to eighth, behind Tim Hill/paul Spooner’s Fiesta.

The lead was up to 47 seconds after the next pair of stages, but with Hucklebridge spinning on stage three, he was down to sixth and Rayner became the new man in second, from Tilburn, with Corner and the recovering Morris tied for fourth.

While King played it safe over the two night stages, Morris flew and ended day one back in second place, with 11 seconds in hand over Tilburn, with Rayner and Corner joint fourth.

The lead trio remained unchanged throughout Sunday’s stages, giving King a 13-second victory. Hill held fourth place from stage nine and was only two seconds away from snatching third position from Tilburn, despite damaging a wheel and disc after contact at a merge.

Corner had been in the top six throughout but a blown engine on stage 10 put him out, which moved Tony Robinson/mark Wit her spoon’ s Milling tonpowered Proton up to fifth, with Hucklebridge just keeping Rayner at bay for sixth position.

Having led Class 1 all weekend, Richard Bromley/adrian Lloyd’s Vauxhall Nova pulled off on the penultimate stage, which handed the win to Trevor Hancock/joanne Watson’s Mini.

Stuart Bliss/richard Marsh’s Honda Civic led Class 2 all day and claimed ninth overall.

After pulling his entry to the Glyn Memorial Stages the week before, John Stone took a fitting victory of the Rockingham Sunday Stages. Having won the first rally at the venue in 2004 by a second over Steve Simpson, Stone won the final ever motorsport event at the circuit as the venue becomes a holding facility and an auction site.with co-driving son Alex alongside, the Ford Fiesta RS WRC duo were fastest on all but two of the six stages, beating Mark Jasper (Escort Mk2) by 36s.

Results

1 Paul King/alicia Miles (Ford Escort Mk2) 1h40m14s; 2 Darryl Morris/ Mark Regan (Escort Mk2) +13s; 3 Stephen/ Jack Tilburn (Escort Mk2); 4 Tim Hill/ Paul Spooner (Ford Fiesta R5); 5 Anthony Robinson/ Mark Witherspoon (Proton Millington); 6 Ian/ Oliver Hucklebridge (Escort Mk2); 7 Pete/ Arron Rayner (Escort Mk2); 8 Robin Adams/ Ray Keith (Escort Mk2); 9 Stuart Bliss/ Richard Marsh (Honda Civic); 10 Alex Cannon/alan Carfrae (Subaru Impreza). Class winners: Trevor Hancock/joanne Watson (Mini Cooper S); Bliss/ Marsh; Morris/ Regan; King/ Miles; Hill/ Spooner. Sunday rally

winners: John Stone/alex Stone (Ford Fiesta WRC).