Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Clerk of the Course: Marcus Watmough & Jez Harris
Route: 153 Miles
Maps: 118 & 119
Starters: 30
Winners: Simon Cottrell/Paul Holmberg (Subaru Impreza)
Ecurie Royal Oak MC's Oak Trophy Rally had a 153 mile route starting in Congleton and using roads and tracks in Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The event used two new whites, one at Dove Holes Quarry and the other at High Rake Quarry. It finished with the infamous Red Earth Farm section. The rally was a round of both the North Western and West Midlands Championships. The first half used a pre-plot format while the second half was plot 'n bash.
The Subaru Impreza of Simon Cottrell/Paul Holmberg was the class of the field all night and led from Start to Finish, coming home two minutes clear of the field. Cottrell/Holmberg were followed home by Steve Webster/Steve Porter to make it an Impreza 1-2.
Two Welsh crews made the journey to Congleton in search of West Midlands Championship points and were only seperated by three seconds at the end, Howard Price/Carl Williamson finishing third with Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford fourth.
Jonathan Bossen/Jo Robinson would have finished fourth but they suffered clutch problems on their Impreza and had to be content with ninth place at the Finish. Michael Pedley/David Pedley overcame altenator problems at the start only to loose a large amount of time with a wrong slot in the second half, they finished eighth.
There were a number of significant retirements; Carl Hawkins/Iain Tullie were forced out with driveshaft failure on their Nova, Dave Jones/Baz Green had the engine blow on their Astra, while Neil Bye/Stephen Bye withdrew after their Peugeot 205 developed a severe misfire.
The winners of the Semi-Expert class were Tony Watkins/Medwyn Evans, while the first Novices home were John Bray/James Savage.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Simon Cottrell | Paul Holmberg | Subaru Impreza | 2m 59s | |
2 | Steve Webster | Steve Porter | Subaru Impreza | 5m 01s | |
3 | Howard Price | Carl Williamson | Toyota Corolla | 6m 36s | |
4 | Gary Jones | Dave Pitchford | Toyota Corolla | 6m 39s | |
5 | Nick Topliss | Michael Fern | Vauxhall Nova | 7m 07s | |
6 | Cliuve Sissons | Kevin Savage | Subaru Impreza | 9m 27s | |
7 | Jim Paterson | Adrian Smart | Subaru RX Coupe | 13m 37s | |
8 | Michael Pedley | David Pedley | Ford Escort DB4 | 15m 49s | |
9 | Jonathan Bossen | Jo Robinson | Subaru Impreza | 19m 41s | |
10 | John Pearson | Ian Jones | Peugeot 205 GTi | 26m 01s | |
11 | Tony Watkin | Medwyn Evans | Vauxhall Nova | 38m 34s | |
12 | John Bray | James Savage | Subaru Legacy | 43m 53s | |
13 | Jamie Gratton-Smith | Richard Smith | Peugeot 205 GTi | 1F 10m 02s | |
14 | Justin Sharples | Pete Morris | Subaru Legacy | 1F 13m 14s | |
15 | Chris Robinson | Alan Pemberton | Toyota Celica GT | 2F 33m 11s | |
16 | Adrian Green | Paul Hudson | Ford Fiesta | 5F 17m 43s | |
17 | John Taylor | Paul Griffin | Ford Escort | 11F 82m 14s | |
18 | Renny Morgan | Mark Roper | Ford Escort | 12F 134m 40s | |
19 | Pierre Newton | Dan Simcock | Peugeot 306 | 13F 150m 01s | |
20 | Aidan Mangain | Lawrence Powell | Vauxhall Nova | 14F 65m 07s | |
21 | Adrian Hopwood | Andrew Deaville | Peugeot 205 | 20F 138m 09s |