Not surprisingly there were a number of casualties (of a mechanical kind) along the way. Leon Pesticcio, driving a Chris Birkbeck-prepared Ford Puma S16 instead of his usual Hi-Tec Fiat Punto, lost time early on with a broken driveshaft but recovered well to finish 16th; Ryan Champion suffered similar problems with his Ford Ireland Puma; Julian Reynolds (Impreza WRC) lost a secure sixth place when he dropped eight minutes after going straight on at a 90-right; Dougi Hall retired with unspecified problems; Bob Ceen disappeared from tenth; and Gwyndaf Evans retired whilst leading the Super 16s after experiencing yet more problems with his MG Sport & Racing MG ZR – this time a broken gearbox. Even Latvala had his moments, losing second place to Jonny Milner early on Sunday morning when he beached himself on a pile of logs after leaving his braking a little late.
Altogether it was a great weekend, and the forests of North Yorkshire have been a fitting location for the title-deciding event of the season, especially for local hero Milner. The weather was perfect, and Rod Parkin and his Trackrod Motor Club team did an excellent job on this the 26th running of the event.
Some of the titles may already have been decided, but Neil Buckley and Roy White in particular will be looking forward to the Tempest to find out who will be the Production Cup winner.
The Tempest South of England Rally takes place on October 26 - in four weeks time...
For more on the Pirelli British Rally Championship go to: www.brcweb.co.uk
![Trackrod rally winners, Tapio Laukkanen and Ilka Riipinen [Subaru Impreza]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/66356.jpg )
