Ross-on-Wye garage owner Steve Bennett, with Osian Owen on the notes, in the Bennett Tyres Escort RS1800, finished an excellent fifth overall and second in class at the Carlisle Stages.

The event brought together the Fuchs MSA British Historic championship and the BTRDA series for 45 miles in the Kershope and Newcastleton areas of Kielder Forest.

A new innovation from the organisers was to give the 50 historic and two wheel drive crews three stages on the Friday night and a further three on Saturday morning, before a 11.30am finish. The 85 BTRDA crews did eight tests on the Saturday.

Steve Bennett and Osian Owen were in a great three way battle with local crews. Tim Freeman and Paul Williams in the TL Freeman Building Contractors Escort RS1800 had his best run of the season to take sixth overall and third in class.

Ben Friend and Cliffy Simmons had another superb event in the pinto engined Allglass Escort RS, but couldn’t catch the flying local boy Stuart Egglestone who finished second, but Friend was happy with seventh overall and second in class.

Andrew Stokes and Adrian McNally continued their championship campaign in the Escort RS1600 to finish 14th overall and third in class.

In the BTRDA event, Chepstow based Sacha Kakad, with James Aldridge alongside, in the West Base backed Ford Fiesta R5, had a superb run to 5th overall their best result so far this year.

Richard Cole and Aby Haycock teamed up for the first time in the Cole Contracting 1400 Escort and 47th & 4th in class was their reward for having a clean run.

The Kielder complex took its usual toll on crews with many finding the notorious ditches but it was Paul Bird in the Focus WRC in the BTRDA event and Matt Robinson RS1800 in the Historic event who emerged victorious.