THE CLASSIC Illuminations Rally, sponsored by Pye Motors and Coopers Lancaster Brewers, proved to be an enthralling duel, heightened by the stormy weather as it used roads throughout the south of the county last Saturday afternoon and evening.

Previous winners Geoff Hall/Paul Bosdet in their 1966 Mini Cooper S were trading second with Ireland's Frank Fennel and KLMC chairman Kevin Savage in the 1965 Volvo Amazon as they tackled the 14 manouvrabilty tests and three regularity sections before gathering stamina for the Saturday night section.

After completing tests on Morecambe Prom, TruckHaven and Park House Farm the 35 crews set off for an afternoon run which as well as plotting the route, required them to drive at approx 23 mph for 2.3 miles before covering a further 1.5 miles at 26 mph all while stopping at controls and noting code boards.

Kendal's Steve Murphy/Neil Harrison took the Concourse award for the best presented car at the start in their immaculate white Mini Cooper S.

They were consistently in the top ten until halfway through the evening test when they retired with technical problems.

Another crew fancied to be in with a chance David Marsden /Mike Garstang suffered clutch problems and failed to finish the morning's test but turned out on the night section to marshall.

Sneaking up from a start number of 14, Ronnie Griffin and Arkholme's Fred Bent, a former clerk of the course, saw themselves in the top ten at the end of the night, second behind Fennel/Savage, with Hall/Bosdet lying sixth after a timing miscalculation.

After the final set of tests on Sunday morning the results showed Fennel/Savage had maintained their advantage, Griffin/Bent had taken second place by a mere nine seconds after 28 hours of competition.

Hall/Bosdet took fourth and first in class with Bolton-le-Sands residents Jon Wood/Dave Malin getting their 1966 Mini Cooper into 25th and taking the Best Beginners award.

Griffin/Bent also took first MCC crew, first B.L.M.C, Best performance on Tests and Best Time of the Full Monte, the final test on Morecambe Prom.

n Bentham's David Wright's season came to a premature end when he collided with a tree on the final round of the Peugeot 206 Super Cup on the Tempest Stages last weekend.

In third place overnight, the crew had to contend with fallen trees, standing water and general debris as they fought their way up to second place before the incident.

Both were unhurt and the 206 suffered only panel damage but it was enough to put them out of the event.

The plan is to to rebuild the car before next year's Super Cup rounds, when David hopes to be contesting the top places after only having done the final four events of the 2002 Series.