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: Sarah Gluyas
Route: 120 Miles
Maps: 137
Starters: 75
Winners: Andy Sheppard/Mike Hart (Ford Escort)
Andy Sheppard/Mike Hart took victory on Ludlow Castle MC's Peak Revs Rally. Sheppard, the event sponsor, thundered through the Shropshire lanes to repeat his win of the previous year. Remarkably the winners ended with exactly the same penalty total as they had in 1997, 4m 11s.
The only crew to remotely match the winners' pace was the Escort of Alan Walker/Nick Darkin, who were just 50 seconds behind at the end.
Toby Adams/Pat Gadsby finally got the top result that they'd been promising to achieve all season by coming home in third. Kevin Ikin/Rob Jones were fourth, having had to rebuild their Escort's engine in the 24 hours preceding the rally. Richie Lewis returned to road rallying with Richard Preece on the maps to take fifth in his newly acquired Corolla and Adrian Higman/Cyril Jones took the best result of their career to date by rounding off the top six.
'Polly'/Duncan Pinnegar dominated the Semi-Expert Class in their Peugeot, coming home in 14th place overall. In contrast there was a close battle in the Novice category with Michael Chadwick/Chris Sanderson beating Lee Bartlett/Richard Edwards by just over a minute; Paul Thomas/James Griffiths were third in a Montego Estate.
The Peak Revs was the penultimate round of three major championships and proved decisive in two. Paul Holmberg came home eleventh to clinch his fourth consecutive North Western Driver's title and Cliff Washbrook secured the Navigator's crown with 25th overall.
Dennis Quinn/Andrew Thomson had a fraught event being slowed by alternator problems in the first half and a failing clutch in the second. However Quinn's main challenger Geraint Davies had an equally troubled event. Davies' regular partner, Sarah Gluyas, was doing Clerk of the Course duties, so he had Patrick Walsh on the maps. They lost time with two separate offs, including 14 minutes in a ditch on the last section. These incidents dropped them well down the order and they finished in 37th position four places ahead of Quinn/Thomson. This meant that Quinn and Thomson were now secure in the West Midlands title race, but the Welsh series would not be decided until the final round, the Holrus Rally.
The slippery lanes proved a challenge to drivers and a few fell by the wayside thanks to the treacherous conditions, most notable among these were Damien Cole/Byron Jones (Ford Escort) and Ian Jones/Alan Jones (Peugeot 205 GTi).
A seven minute delay caused by being baulked by spectators meant that Pete Cotton/Dave Pitchford (Ford Escort) couldn't finish higher than 27th.
A tricky passage control caught out a number of leading crews including Baron Glaze/Pete Davies, John Jones/Brian Jenkins and Chris Wilson/Roger Fildes. Meanwhile Cyril Crook's atrocious run of bad luck continued as he and navigator Chris Ware were forced to retire at the halfway halt after a total rear brake failure on their Sunbeam.
The event attracted a capacity 75 car entry, of whom 55 made it to the Finish.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Andy Sheppard | Mike Hart | Ford Escort | 4m 11s | |
2 | Alan Walker | Nick Darkin | Ford Escort | 5m 00s | |
3 | Toby Adam | Pat Gadsby | Ford Escort | 7m 01s | |
4 | Kevin Ikin | Rob Jones | Ford Escort | 7m 04s | |
5 | Richard Lewis | Richard Preece | Toyota Corolla | 8m 04s | |
6 | Adrian Higman | Cyril Jones | Talbot Sunbeam | 8m 08s | |
7 | Paul Ross | Andy Oakes | Toyota Corolla | 8m 11s | |
8 | Tudor Morris | Gerallt Davies | Ford Escort | 8m 12s | |
9 | Kevin Hesketh | Andy Moss | Ford Escort | 8m 57s | |
10 | Wayne Morris | Steve Price | Ford Escort | 9m 19s | |
11 | Paul Holmberg | Ian Vale | Ford Escort | 9m 28s | |
12 | Chris Painter | Steve Quine | Vauxhall Nova | 9m 43s | |
13 | Michael Monaghan | Alex Hoult | Ford Escort | 10m 29s | |
14 | Polly | Duncan Pinnegar | Peugeot 205 GTi | 10m 38s | |
15 | Neil Griffiths | Carl Williamson | Ford Escort | 10m 55s | |
16 | Adam Smith | Andrew Hughes | Toyota Corolla | 11m 21s | |
17 | Neil Arden | Giles Corbett | Ford EScort | 11m 26s | |
18 | Jon Ross | Dave Stocking | Ford Escort | 12m 10s | |
19 | Tim Cooper | Marcus Watmough | Ford Escort | 12m 23s | |
20 | Nicholas Yates | Simon Yates | Ford Escort | 12m 30s | |
21 | Keith Parry | Perry Roe | Opel Manta | 13m 14s | |
22 | Nick Onion | Chris Lightburn | Talbot Sunbeam | 15m 50s | |
23 | Richard Roberts | Steven Roberts | Ford Escort | 16m 15s | |
24 | Martyn Evans | Ceri Davies | Nissan Micra | 17m 04s | |
25 | Brian Harrison | Cliff Washbrook | Ford Escort | 17m 22s | |
26 | Michael Harrison | Corin Redman | Ford Escort | 17m 33s | |
27 | Pete Cotton | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 18m 11s | |
28 | Simon Cottrell | Steve Wood | Toyota Corolla | 18m 38s | |
29 | Paul Webb | Justin Brooks | Vauxhall Astra | 19m 26s | |
30 | Justin Sharples | Brian Stubbs | Toyota Corolla | 20m 00s | |
31 | Neil Lewis | John Thornton | Lancia Delta | 20m 55s | |
32 | Michael Chadwick | Christopher Sanderson | Peugeot 205 | 21m 02s | |
33 | Lee Bartlett | Richard Edwards | Ford Fiesta | 22m 07s | |
34 | Anthony Ellis | Ian Jarman | Ford Escort | 22m 33s | |
35 | Paul Thomas | James Griffiths | Austin Montego Estate | 22m 44s | |
36 | Stephen Bishop | Tim Kear | Ford Escort | 23m 20s | |
37 | Geraint Davies | Patrick Walsh | Toyota Corolla | 27m 17s | |
38 | Gary Jones | Gwyn Williams | Toyota Corolla | 1F 6m 53s | |
39 | Huw James | Andy Bowen | Vauxhall Cavalier | 1F 9m 07s | |
40 | Baron Glaze | Pete Davies | Ford Escort | 1F 9m 11s | |
41 | Chris Wilson | Roger Fildes | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 1F 10m 15s | |
42 | Dennis Quinn | Andrew Thomson | Ford Escort | 1F 12m 13s | |
43 | John Jones | Brian Jenkins | Renault 14 | 1F 13m 14s | |
44 | Peter Crighton | Amanda Ceeley | Peugeot 205 | 1F 21m 14s | |
45 | Stephen Jones | Paul Roberts | Vauxhall Nova | 1F 22m 21s | |
46 | Tony Watkin | Medwyn Evans | Mini 1275 GT | 1F 32m 33s | |
47 | Duncan Edwards | Matthew Pearce | Ford Escort | 1F 32m 53s | |
48 | Simon Mellings | Karl Ellis | Citroen AX | 2F 13m 43s | |
49 | Phil Brown | Mark Watkins | Ford Escort | 2F 27m 49s | |
50 | David Hughes | Graham Caley | Talbot Sunbeam | 2F 32m 48s | |
51 | Dave Pearce | Richard Wills | Peugeot 309 | 3F 23m 18s | |
52 | Nigel Ricks | Graham Holmes | Ford Escort | 8F 22m 20s | |
53 | Gareth Davies | Andrew Davies | Vauxhall Chevette | 10F 22m 42s | |
54 | Chris Rowlands | Steve Roberts | Vauxhall Astra | 11F 12m 45s | |
55 | Richard Humphreys | Will Lynes | Ford Escort | 15F 16m 04s |