JASON Pritchard and Phil Clarke kept alive their British Historic Rally Championship hopes by battling to an 11-second victory at the Harry Flatters Rally.

Seeded 12th in the Mk II Ford Escort, Pritchard and Clarke had to contend with early tyre problems which resulted in the loss of 17 seconds and a slip to fourth spot by the end of stage one.

With just eight seconds covering the top four it looked to be a costly disadvantage, particularly when the Ludlow Castle Motor Club pair produced a 360-degree spin on stage three.

However, they still set the fastest time in that section having managed to continue unscathed and were again the quickest in the fourth and penultimate stage to build up a 14-second lead.

With little to be gained by taking risks in the final run, they came in with a healthy cushion to bag vital championship points.

Roger Moran and Keaton Williams endured similar tyre troubles in the BMW M3 but shook them off to set some strong top-10 times to finish sixth overall and first in category having started the day as 25th seeds.

It was not plain sailing for David Kynaston and Jack Bowen either. The 40th seeds overshot a left-hander early on in the Triumph TR7 and then found themselves hampered by an accident ahead.

More stellar times made up the ground, though, and they managed to finish eighth overall as well as bagging another class victory.

Jez Rogers and Simon Webster had early troubles that they could not quite get the better of, finishing a disappointing 12th overall and fifth in class in trying circumstances.

Chris Simmons and Andy Moss began the day from 30th in the Darrian but retired from the event.