AFTER a season on the sidelines when he sustained serious shoulder injuries in the very first race of the 2008 season, Guisborough road racer Dennis Hobbs bounced back in inimitable style with a superb podium finish at round two of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park last Monday.

Riding the 600cc AIM Racing Yamaha, Hobbs made up for the disappointment of crashing out at the opening round at Brands Hatch over Easter by qualifying on row two at the Cheshire track, but as the rain clouds gathered, Hobbs chose intermediate tyres for the race and it proved a wise choice in the damp conditions.

Hitting the front at half distance, Hobbs was eventually overtaken by the Honda of Daniel Cooper but Dennis held on to claim his first podium in two long years, much to the delight of his team.

CATTERICK autograss racer Martyn Tinker proved he had what it takes on the hard stuff to take victory in the inaugural ALM Autodrome Stages Rally held at South Tees Motorsport Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

Having competed in both rallying and rallycross in the past, Tinker and rookie co-driver Mark Walker brought their Lotus Exige home over half a minute ahead of the Darrian T90 of pre-event favourites Keith Davison from Stockton and Hartburn co-driver Ian Jackson, with the Barnard Castle pairing of Alistair Hutchinson and St John Dykes claiming third in their LPG-powered Renault Clio on the Stockton &DMC-organised event.

There were plenty of local crews in action on the first ever running of a stage rally at the Langbaurgh karting circuit for the 12 stages, and following the leading three crews home was the Subaru Impreza of Chop Gate pairing John and Mark Gaskin who headed home Peugeot 205 Cup champions of 2008, Mat and Darren Smith from Thirsk, with the Ford Escort Mk1 ofWhitby’s Nick Cook and Neil Colls claiming sixth.

Following on from a string of good performances in recent weeks, Butterknowle driver Chris Anderson secured his best result so far when he took a superb seventh place overall in his Ford Puma S1600.

The 17-year-old, along with fellow Durham Auto Club codriver Chris Thirling, also claimed the novice award as well as finishing second in the 1600cc class to round off a successful day on only his fourth event.

Morton on Swale’s Jonathan Bean ret u r n e d from his successful rallycrossing exploits in Ireland the previous week and, along with Ripon co-driver Charlotte Banner, the pair had to overcome handling problems with the wieldy car around the tight and twisty stages but eventually brought the A-Sport Racing Snigwig BMW 325 to eighth overall and with it, a class victory.

County Durham’s Jimmy Knox and Kim Torrington were placed tenth in their BMW M3 with George Scott and Thirsk co-driver Amanda Cornforth claiming 13th in their Ford Escort.

Whitby driver Martin Cockerill along with Aycliffe co-driver Steve French brought their MG Maestro Turbo home in 17th place, two places ahead of Stockton duo Martin and Sally Ann Peacock in their Peugeot 106.

Pickhill’s Mick Johnson guided Trevor Longhirst to 21st overall but one of the few retirements on the event was former BTRDA Champions, Mark and Andrew Constantine from Richmond who retired their Vauxhall Corsa after the opening stage following a broken ball joint.

FOREST rallying makes a welcome return to C o u n t y D u r h a m this weekend when the SG Petch Tour of Hamsterley gets underway on Sunday with a top quality entry which would grace that of any national event.

Stockton &DMC have assembled nearly 70 cars for the round of SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship and heading the field away from the Barnard Castle start is the Ford Focus WRC of Irishman Michael O’Brien and co-driver Ian Allsop.

The BTRDA regulars will be chased down by two local crews in the shape of Ingleton’s Tony Thompson and Thirsk driver Tim Pearcey who will be at the wheel of their respective MSRprepared Mitsubishis but with the likes of Ian Joel (Ford Escort Cosworth) and the Mitsubishis of Hexham driver Tony Arnsby and Scotsman Malloch Nicoll, it is anyone’s guess as to who will win.

West Rounton’s Chris Blake and Barnard Castle co-driver Tony Walker will be in action in their Subaru as too will Northallerton garage proprietor Charlie Taylor in his rapid Ford Escort Mk II and the similar car of Asenby driver Jonathan Kitchen will again be challenging for class honours. Kepwick businessman Peter Stephenson will be in action in his MG S2000 and also competing are Brotton’s Gavin Collyer, Thirsk driver Mat Smith and the Northallerton pairing of Darren Grimston (Ford Escort) and Paul Atkinson (Vauxhall Nova), along with Thirsk’s Amanda Cornforth (Ford Ka).

West Rounton driver Nigel Keen returns to action in his Ford Escort but it could well be the local Barney contingent who emerges successful from their local forests of Hamsterley and Stang in the shape of John Bainbridge (Subaru) and Alistair Hutchinson (Renault).