THE Ludlow Castle Motor Club pairing of Joe Price and Chris Brooks celebrated their first British Historic Rally Championship win at the Pirelli Carlisle rally.

They banked maximum points from an event based in the Kielder Forest complex in Cumbria and run over 45 miles of forest tracks dotted with patches of snow and ice.

Phil Clarke was out with regular driver Jason Pritchard in another Ford Escort MKII seeded at No.1 and they were first into the stages and first to discover a patch of ice which saw them lose grip and understeer off down a bank, ending their 100 per cent record this season. Fortunately they managed to get out of the car in time to warn other competitors of the treacherous conditions.

With Prichard and Clarke out, Price and Brooks found themselves lying in second place after the first stage, 19 seconds down on Nick Elliot and Dave Price. Stage two was 15 miles, including four miles where snow lay on the track, but Price and Brooks stuck to their task and despite the clutch playing up they had a clean run. Although they dropped further time to the leaders they increased their lead over the third-placed crew of Paul Barrett and Max Freeman.

But things were to change on the next stage when the leaders went off early on, effectively handing the lead to Price and Brooks, who won the stage by one second, giving them a 10-second advantage going into the final 13-mile stage. They kept their composure and won the stage, taking some 25 seconds off Barrett and Freeman to seal victory.

The event also run a modern section which counted as a round of the British Rally Championship. Ludlow’s Keaton Williams co-drove for Gee Atherton and they reported no mishaps on their way to 27th overall and first in class in Gee’s Fiesta R2.