A RALLY driver from the North Tyne is preparing to take on the rest of the country using an engine started by his late grandfather.

Wark’s Chris Grieve, a former World Championship Legends Cars contender, is gearing up for a big year in national races alongside navigator Paul Makepeace, of Barrasford, in a souped-up Peugeot.

And the pair are flying after kitting the car out with a new engine, started by Chris’ grandfather Walter up until his death around 18 months ago.

In stepped father Willy to take over and complete the job, and now Chris and Paul are flying around in a 200bhp, 1.6 litre petrol machine!

Walter was a huge fan of motorsports and supported, firstly, his son from 1977 and then grandson Chris when he started racing properly, in karting, at the age of 13.

He had many great times following the fortunes of Chris in his teenage years, the youngster crowned British karting champion and Legends champion, while also visiting America for the world championships.

To help his family get on in the sport, Walter would often build the engines from scratch, turning bare shells into power horses.

After learning Chris and Paul were returning behind the wheel, he put his mind to it and set away on producing an engine fit to challenge the cream of the crop.

His passing, though, meant that his hard work was going to go unfinished. That was until Willy took over the mantle and made sure his father’s craft would benefit his own son.

Willy said: “My dad was an old style mechanic who would work away in his garden shed, and he would put bigger values in.

“Until he passed away 18 months ago, he had done everything to this new engine, so all that needed to be done was to put it together.

“All the technical stuff, he did and I had the easy job of piecing it together. It is definitely a one-off for me.

“My dad was self taught and had all the fundamentals, and I just thought it was important this work kept going and that Chris was able to get going in the car.”

Walter was such a big fan of his family’s progress, that he used to follow them all over to watch them compete.

He was delighted when Chris and Paul started rallying in 2010, but that was cut short a year later when the engine blew up during a competition at RAF Marham.

Now they have got the new engine up-and-running, the pair are back in business and are predicting a big 2017.

With an added 30 horsepower, the car is in great nick as showed in their latest outing at Otterburn Ranges.

The first airing, again at Otterburn, didn’t go so well as the alternator fell to bits, but they returned in style to win the B10 class for 1600 engines back in October.

Paul said: “It’s a completely different car with the new engine, and it we were over the moon to win the class in Otterburn, which saw us finish ninth overall. The car was ready so we went and entered it in a guest appearance, and ended up winning!

“In the past, we have always struggled to catch our nearest rival but, this time, to come up against him and beat him by a minute-and-a-half is a massive achievement.”

Chris added: “We are now looking further afield rather than just the North-East championships, as the car is now strong enough for national stuff.

“We wanted to join the MSA Asphalt Rally Championships but that has been cancelled next year, but it should be back for 2018. But we will race the national rallies which are exactly the same as the ones on the championship, but just not officially next year.

“We’re going with the idea of winning, and we wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think we could.”