PULLAN, PICKERING AND PEUGEOT PROVE PREMIER IN CHESHIRE
Andy Pullan and Ryan Pickering took their Peugeot 205GT to a comfortable victory on Saturday’s Tour of Cheshire, the opening round of the HRCR Clubmans Rally Championship.
After a day of regularity sections and special tests, Pullan arrived at the finish in Nantwich with over a minute in hand over the Mazda MX-5 of Peter Higton and Phil Savage. The Mercedes Benz 280SL of Ian Crammond and Matthew Vokes rounded out the overall podium.
A capacity field tackled the popular event, which opened in the rain at a cold and slippery Oulton Park where the lowgrip rally school stage caught out many. Conditions improved as the day progressed but the waterlogged lanes delivered a challenge and several cars drowned out in a flooded section of road near Spen Green.
Through it all, Pullan hurled the Peugeot around the nine tests to be quickest by six seconds and was best on the regularities by just a second. However, no-one else was strong on both disciplines and that allowed Pullan a resounding win, his second on the event and first as a driver.
Pushing Pullan hard on the tests was the Datsun 280Z of David Alcock and Baz Green, but they dropped time on the regularities, while second best on the regularities was the Crammond Mercedes. However, Higton sneaked second by 16s from Crammond. Leigh Powley, who forsook his Toyota Corolla for a welldriven 1966 Hillman Imp, was fourth.
Results
Organisers: Knutsford and District Motor Club When: March 2 Where: Cheshire Championships: HRCR Tests: 9 Starters 73.
1 Andy Pullan/Ryan Pickering (Peugeot 205GT) 13m29s; 2 Peter Higton/Phil Savage (Mazda MX-5) +1m11s;
3 Ian Crammond/Matthew Vokes (Mercedes Benz 280SL); 4 Leigh Powley/Brian Goff (Hillman Imp);
5 John King/Peter Johnson (Toyota MR2);
6 Paul Crosby/Ali Proctor (Mini Cooper S); 7 Gavin Rogers/Suze Endean (Reliant Scimitar); 8 Paul Bloxidge/Ian Canavan (VW Golf GTi); 9 Dan Darkin/
Nick Darkin (Mazda MX-5); 10 Ken Binstead/Sarah Binstead (MGB). Class winners: David Alcock/Baz Green (Datsun 280Z); Jeff Wincott/Anne Tweddell (Austin A40).