THE Lincolnshire fen roads echoed to a different beat when pop star Shane Lynch joined up with three East Lancashire drivers for the Bruce Robinson Rally.

Lynch, a singer with the cult band Boyzone was a late entrant in his Ford Ka, and his appearance attracted hundreds of young fans to the event, eager for a glimpse of their idol. And the father and son team of Stephen and Neil Bye, from Burnley, were just two of the competitors who met up with Lynch on the start line.

"We couldn't believe it when we arrived at the start. There were young girls everywhere, all trying to get his autograph," said Neil.

"He's very interested in motorsport, and tries to fit in as many events as possible in between his commitments with Boyzone.

"But I reckon this must have been his first experience of road rallying because he missed every codeboard on the route and accumulated no less than 33 fails before the petrol halt!"

Organised by the Lincolnshire Motorcycle and Car Club, the Bruce Robinson attracted over 40 cars and crews for 150 competitive miles on the fenland.

Following the cancellation of two north-west events, the Mini Miglia and the Towers Leck, and the postponement of the Hall Trophy, the Bruce Robinson was added to the SD34 road rally calendar at the last minute, attracting three cars and crews from East Lancashire. Top finishers were Neil and Stephen Bye, who propelled their Ford Escort up to eighth place before dropping back to finish 20th.

SD34 road rally champions Jon Lawson and Chris Pringle, from Pendle and District Motor cClub, finished one place behind in their Peugeot 106 Rallye. Victory went to Vauxhall Nova driver Carl Hawkins, from Nottingham, winner of last month's Witch Way rally, organised by Pendle and district motor club.

Blackburn's Terry Martin headed home early after suffering brake failure on his Whitefield Motorist Discount Store-backed Peugeot 205GTi.

He said: "We were only on the first competitive section when there was a loud bang, which was the sound of the brake disc smashing the caliper. There was no point in continuing without brakes, so we retired on the spot."

Martin, from Clitheroe DMC, will be back in action for next month's Pennine Rally, based at Pateley Bridge, when he will have a new navigator in the passenger seat.

With regular co-driver Simon Bentley acting as clerk of the course for the event, Martin has enlisted the services of SD34 champion navigator Andy Hughes.

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