Motor sport
SUNDAY, May 30, saw the return of rallying for Teesdale crew Alistair Hutchinson and St John Dykes.
Competing in the Northern Energy sponsored Renault Clio, the pair took part in the John Overend Memorial Rally at Melbourne airfield, near York.
The event used the old airfield’s perimeter roads with various layouts during the ten stages.
They were rusty in the first stage after nine months of no competition but they improved throughout the morning moving from sixth to fourth overall and first in class.
This improvement continued throughout the day. With the heat of the day increasing harder tyres were used in the afternoon.
In stage nine, Alistair, from Eggleston, and St John, from Startforth, recorded the fastest stage time of any competitor and found themselves in third overall, only four seconds from second spot.
A big push in the final stage sadly did not happen when the Renault Clio’s clutch broke. But the crew continued to the finish of the stage taking two seconds out of the second place crew but not enough to beat them.
They settled for third overall, very happy with the performance after a long time not competing during the lockdown.
