WITH just 10 weeks notice, local rally enthusiasts pulled together to put on one of the most celebrated rounds of the British Rally Championships (BRC).

Whickham and District and District Motor Club (WDMC) and Hawick and Border Car Club jointly hosted the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally, which was used to kick start the BRC season after a late cancellation.

With a stage in Kielder Forest, the round was labelled a great addition to the championships with runner-up Tom Cave taking to Twitter to say it was the ‘best organised BRC rally I have ever done’.

WDMC chairman Ollie Currie, of Hexham, was delighted with the success of the rally, and is hoping the teams have done enough to secure the BRC next year too.

Some of the world’s best rally drivers descended on the area for the championships, with Sweden’s Fredrick Ahlin teaming up with Norwegian navigator Torstein Eriksen to take the victory after two days of intense competition.

The all-Welsh crew of Cave and James Morgan were long-time leaders in their Ford Fiesta R5 but settled for second spot, ahead of fellow countrymen Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss who took third in a similar machine.

Rally fans don’t have long to wait before the BRC rolls back into Kielder, with the hosting of the International Pirelli Rally on April 29 and 30.