KENDAL'S Paul Miller and co-driver Helen Davies (above) came tenth overall and won the award for first mixed crew to finish at the Mild and Bitter Stages Rally at Haverigg.

It was the first completion of the season for Miller's Sierra Cosworth, though early overheating problems because of a suspected stone in the cam-belt put a clear round in doubt.

The problem was resolved and with a retimed engine, the pair posted a series of top five times over the remaining stages in the quality field.

Their progress took them to just five seconds behind the top mixed crew with three stages remaining and Miller put in maximum effort to pass them for a satisfying finish, having approached the event as a shakedown for the forthcoming Grizedale Stages following major gearbox trouble at the Isle of Mull rally.

A huge slide on stage three saw Graham Gaskell and Heather Grisedale in their Claremont House-backed Vauxhall Nova collide with a pile of straw bales on the passenger side of the car, which had only just been repaired after the last event.

Heather even had time to prepare for the impact saying, "This is going to hurt," but thankfully it didn't and damage was minimal.

Despite losing a few seconds freeing the car from the straw bales they continued to build up a 28-second class advantage by lunchtime.

The afternoon went well with only a bent stub axle to contend with which the service crew rapidly repaired and going into the final stage their lead was still 22 seconds.

Thinking they had done enough, they decided to preserve the car for the Grizedale Stages, but backed off too much and were pipped to a class win by just two seconds, finishing 24th overall and second in class.

n ORGANISERS of the challenging Grizedale Forest Stages Rally, a gravel stage event scheduled for December 4, are reporting overwhelming interest from competitors since the entry list went live on October 1.

Within just the first two weeks of the new on-line entry system going live, 100 provisional entries had been received towards a total of only 130 places.

Clerk of the Course Graham Parker said: "Usually by now we would have in the region of just 20 to 25 entries but the Grizedale Stages has a real buzz about it this year; this is a staggering level of competitor interest."

New backing from local 4x4 driving expedition company Kankku, with the promise of two G4 Edition Land Rover Defender course cars and two top-level competing Subaru Impreza Rally cars, coupled with on-line entry system has helped raise the awareness of the event.

The Grizedale Stages annually attracts around 4,000 visitors to the Lake District.

More information about the Grizedale Stages Rally can be found at: www.grizedalestages.co.uk or by contacting nick@kankku.co.uk.