THE weather was freezing and the roads treacherous, but when it came to the crunch Nigel Worswick and Clive Molyneux were just too hot to handle on the Gibsons of Brock Stages.

The Blackburn pair, in the Allen Bradley backed Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4x4, set a blistering pace in the conditions and were worthy winners of the event, held at a packed Camelot at Park Hall near Chorley on Thursday.

And making it a real family affair, brother Tony, with navigator Dave Blackburn, secured fifth overall and first in Class D.

"The event was really good, but you had to be really careful.

"I was just pleased to win and was delighted for Clive (Molyneux), who had never won an event out-right before.

"It was also my first win for about two years and a nice way to end what has been a frustrating year," said Nigel.

A delighted Molyneux said: "We've done about 10 events together now and it was nice to claim our first win. It's been a difficult year."

The secret of Nigel's success proved to be the driver's thorough preparation.

"I decided to walk each stage which enabled me to check the ground and see where I could go flat out and where it was best to let off," he added. This meant Nigel was able to outpace the rest of the field throughout the day and eventually won in a time of 39min 49sec, almost a full minute ahead of second-placed Paul Cooper and Gary Bastiana in a Metro 6R4.

"The only problem I had was with first gear flicking out and this made it difficult handbreaking around corners.

"But apart from that the car did not miss a beat all day," said Nigel.

Third position was taken by Bob Atkinson and Dave Ball in a Ford Sierra Sapphire, with Kevin Furber and Liam O'Kane (Peugeot 205GTI) fourth and first in Class C.

There were also class wins for Mark Roberts (Class A), Andy Sprason (Class B), Andy Burt (Novice) and Tony Cunliffe and Vicky Jones (Mixed).

The rally attracted a maximum entry of 65 cars with many prospective drivers having to be turned away.

"Over 100 wanted to take part, but the nature of the stages would not allow that many, so we had to turn down some teams. But that is a nice problem to have," said Bolton Le Moors Car Club press officer Paul Baker.

"Everything went smoothly throughout the whole day. But a lot of that was down to the experience we gained in running the event last year. And the turnout from the public was excellent. We almost filled the place despite the awful weather," he added.

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