Martin Peters already has some special memories of competing at Croft - and now he can add the Swift Signs Christmas Stages to the collection after storming to his best ever rally result.
The Ingleby Barwick ace - a rallycross star with a host of national titles to his name - had a day to remember in the annual festive rally which again attracted a bumper 86-car starting line-up.
Now he and stand-in Stokesley co-driver Darren Wilcox are hopinging for more of the same in the forthcoming Jack Frost Stages Rally after taking their Citroen Saxo to an impressive 19th overall and second in class two, for over 1400cc, up to and including 1600cc.
The event, staged in cool and icy conditions, attracted one of its biggest ever crowds and Peters rose to the occasion.
He had been forced into a late change of navigator after regular partner Jason Leaf from Stokesley suffered a thumb injury at work but he and Wilcox - a successful rally and rallycross driver in his own right - made a stunning start in the below-zero conditions and never looked back.
“It was spot on,” said a delighted Peters, who was recently crowned BTRDA production class 16-valve rallycross champion.
“It was unbelievably icy in the morning. When I went outside first thing I had to scrape the car and I thought ‘I’m not looking forward to this’.”
But on the opening stage the pair were an incredible joint second overall after setting the exact same time as eventual winners Kevin Procter and Dave Bellerby in their mighty Subaru Impreza.
And they managed to keep a host of accomplished crews and more powerful machinery behind them as the ice began to thaw.
“That time in the first stage set us up for the day,” said Peters.
“As the ice began to thaw we were reeled in by some of the proper cars but we managed to open enough of a gap in that first stage to finish where we did.
“I’m delighted, considering the strength of the field.
“The bad weather suits us because we haven’t got as much power as some of the other cars.
“I’d had to ring around for a co-driver after Jason cut his thumb badly at work but Darren was up for it - I think he’s looking forward to the Jack Frost now!
“It doesn’t look like Jason will be ready for the Jack Frost so I expect to have Darren with me again.
“Can we do it again in the Jack Frost? It would be nice, wouldn’t it?
“It looks like there’s going to be a good entry for that too.
“We’ll have to see how weather turns out but we’ll be giving it a good go.”
Also looking for a repeat in the Darlington and District MC-organised Jack Frost Stages a fortnight tomorrow is Darlington’s Paul Swift.
The autotest legend and TV stunt man claimed a superb class four victory and seventh overall finish with wife-to-be Jessica Bell on co-driving duties.
That put him second in the fledgling ASPerformance.com North of England Tarmacadam Championship table.
With the JBM team only finishing building his new Millington-engined Ford Escort Mk 2 the night before the event, Swift opted for the cautious approach on the opening test rather than destroying the car after a year of hard work in building and emerged in 44th place.
However, with the sun starting to thaw the track out, Swift upped the pace on stage two to set the eighth fastest time to place him 16th overall after the first loop.
With Pirelli wets now the order of the day, yet still with the odd patch of ice in the shade, Swift continued his fight back on the next two stages to end up in fifth overall with the class lead in hand.
Swift was hoping to increase his pace in the afternoon but a delay in getting SS5 started resulted in the car overheating slightly.
He’d expected the fan to kick in, as it did on his previous cars, but the new configuration meant it had to be done manually which led to a severe misfire that dropped him down to seventh overall going into the final two tests.
With the temperatures again plummeting as darkness started to fall, a big push earned them the eighth fastest time on SS7 before saving their best until the final stage in total darkness with the fifth fastest time.
They were the first two-wheel drive car home and took the class four win by a minute and 47 seconds.
“All things considered, seventh overall and a class win is a fantastic achievement especially given we didn’t finish the car until the night before,” said Swift.
“The ice made things interesting early on but the plan was always to bring the car home safely so I was determined not to do anything silly.
“The overheating problem was just one of those things and was typical of the little teething problems we were expecting but we now know what caused it.
“Thereafter it was just a case of being quick and safe which is what we did and ended up with a decent result.
“Thanks to my JBM team who have done a wonderful job in getting the car built and ready and to all our sponsors.”
Christmas Stages kings Procter and Bellerby clinched their sixth overall victory in the last seven years after hitting the front following SS3.
They finished ahead of David and Matthew White, also in an Impreza, with the MG Metro 6R4 of Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh third.
Billingham businessman Peter Stephenson and co-driver Ian Windress had fought their way up to ninth when they were forced out with just one stage left while Chop Gate brothers Mark and John Gaskin (Citroen Saxo) were in the top half of the field when steering damage ended their involvement two stages from the finish.
Top Tees finishers were East Cleveland brothers Ian and Nick Colman in their Nissan Sunny GTi-R in 14th overall and ninth in class five, while brothers Ian and Stephen Woodhouse from Hutton Rudby ended the day in 16th overall and third in class four in their Escort Mk 2.
Guisborough taxidermist Dave Hornbrook, partnered by Ann Foster, finished 25th overall and 13th in class five.
The pair were well down the order after the icy early stages but charged up the leaderboard as conditions improved.
Not far behind them in 27th (seventh in class three) were Marton’s Neil Marshall and Guisborough’s Dave Scrimgour in their Peugeot 205 GTi.
Ian Horn from Stokesley and co-driver Bob Brown from Brotton were 63rd of the 68 finishers (11th in class two) in their Vauxhall Nova.
Meanwhile entries for the Jack Frost Stages are now up to 74.
Among the notable confirmations is that of Darlington Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship stalwarts Dave Cox and Paul Moss who will team up in a Rover 25.
