A LEVEL crossing delay couldn’t prevent Mick Davison completing a quickfire double.

The well-known Bellingham golfer proved he’s no slouch behind the wheel as, alongside navigator Ali Proctor, he secured back-to-back triumphs in the Hexham and District Motor Club Rally Series by winning the recent March Melee Rally.

Starting the season off with winning ways, their pursuit of a second successive triumph seemed to be scuppered by a closed level crossing gate just 50 yards from the start line in Prudhoe.

However, they managed to pull back the time in their Proton and cruised to a clear win during a tough event which saw several of the field rack up high penalties.

The Hexham Rally Series is proving popula this year, and the March Melee attracted another capacity event with a couple of crews making their debuts.

Starting from Prudhoe, the route headed north to the first control near Whittle Dene where a couple of crews were stopped by a local gamekeeper who mistakenly thought they were poachers!

The roads were proving slippery with a bit of mud deposited by tractors exiting fields making braking a tricky business.

Heading up to Belsay, where a local farmer sportingly volunteered to marshal a time control, they then moved east to Ogle and back down to Milbourne where a difficult passage control which was hidden behind a copse of trees caused some head scratching. The field grew stretched as the route meandered around Dalton and Eachwick, and, by the time it reached Witchester, there were several crews well behind schedule.

The organisers included a carefully controlled quiet section to take the rally through Wylam and on to Bradley Hall, before the final section from Coalburns to New Ridley’s Dr Syntax, via Hedley on the Hill. With the Davison/ Proctor duo finishing well ahead of the field, the runners-up spot went to the well-driven Vauxhall Corsa of Nigel Cardale and Roy Hewitt, while Ian Guthrie and Jonathon Webb took third place in the oldest car in the event, a 1966 Ford Anglia.

Results: 1, Mick Davison/ Ali Proctor (Proton), 2:06; 2, Nigel Cardale/ Roy Hewitt (Corsa), 12:06; 3, Ian Guthrie/ Jonathon Webb (Ford Anglia), 17:13; 4, Geoff and Keith Fletcher (Corsa), 24:24; 5, Roger Broom/ Andy Brown (Ford Puma), 24:25; 6, Simon Jennings/ Clive White (Peugeot), 28:20; 7, Sally Ann Hewitt/ Mark Lewis (Mini), 35:53; 8, Alan Scrimshaw/ Dan Finn (Renault Clio), 38:10; 9, John Nicholson/ Andy Magee (Suzuki), 43:07; 10, Jeff Tait/ Rob Renwick (Ford Escort), 43:26.