ROGER Chilman junior won the JJ Stanley Contractors Malvern Showground Stages Rally, repeating his father’s success of 27 years ago when Herefordshire Motor Club last ran the event.

Co-driven by Andrew Sankey, they led the eight-stage event at the Three Counties Showground from start to finish in their Subaru Impreza and were presented with the Herefordshire Raceway Trophy for first overall.

The fog and cold temperatures did not dampen the enthusiasm of the competitors over tarmac and gravel surfaces.

Sponsor and competitor Jay Stanley headed the field of 70 crews, co-driven by his usual mechanic James Young.

Struggling to get the power down in their Escort Mk II, they put on a flamboyant display and ended third overall and first in class.

Leominster’s Darren and Sue Underwood brought home their DUCE Motorsport Nova fourth overall and second in class.

Lynsey Hansford and Mark Lively (Escort) picked up the DUCE Motorsport Trophy for best HMC crew when finishing 19th overall.

Malcolm Perrott and Ben Innes were presented with the JJ Stanley Contractors Trophy for first two-wheel drive car, finishing 17th overall.

It was Perrott’s first rally since the last running of the event in 1983.

Making her rallying debut, Meg Thomas finished 60th overall, co-driven by Chris Ridge, despite knocking over a signpost.

Among the non-finishers were George Thomas and Mark Ammonds (Nova), who retired with a broken driveshaft.

Graham Powell, who instigated the rally, was delighted with the organisers’ efforts.

He said: “A great team effort led to an enjoyable day of motorsport. We hope to be back next year.”

Local crew results: Ian Evans/Keith Hounslow 10th, Theo Bengry/Les Forsbrook (Ascona) 14th, John Read/Tim James (Peugeot 205GTi) 15th, James Griffiths/ Dawn Williams (Nova) 16th, Mark Alderton/Heather Phelps (Escort) 26th, Ben Williams/Massie Piggott (Mitsubushi) 27th, John Collins/Simon Puddy (Escort) 30th, Jamie Hales/Dean Davies (Nova) 31st, Steve Wilks/Karen Phelps (Escort) 37th, Jon Ballinger/Reg Davies (Manta) 38th, Nick Morris/Dave Shaw (Escort) 41st, Phil Skipp/Russell Joseph (Astra) 43rd, Adrian Allen/Mike Wilding (Manta) 48th, Kevin Pugh/Chris Butcher (Astra) 52nd, Chris Stack/Marcus Mullens (Escort) 58th.