Middleton wins Red Dragon

The event began badly for the Hyundai Accent driver when, running second on the road, he lost time after catching last year's winner, Martin Healer, and was forced to drive blind in his dust cloud. Middleton encountered further problems on stage two when his machine was reduced to two-wheel drive after a hydraulic sensor broke. This unfortunate piece of luck dropped him off the leaderboard.

Having fixed that problem at service, Middleton then struggled with a cracked brake disc over the next two stages. However, he was given hope on stage four when event leader John Perrott overshot a corner in his Mitsubishi Evo V. This allowed a charging Middleton to take the lead on the penultimate stage, before pulling clear to win by eight seconds.
"I knew I had it all to do on the last stage, so I just went for it," he said.

Ford Focus driver Bengry had a pretty clear run to second place, although a front puncture on Cryant 1 did delay him slightly.

But it was rally returnee Ingram that proved the sensation of the day in his Subaru Impreza. The former road rally competitor put in a series of fast but safe runs to take third. He said: "The technology is all new to me since my road rallying days. But I'm not afraid to push the car to its limits as I gain more experience."

Perrott recovered from his off to finish a disappointing fourth. He said: "We hit the bank in Resolven and, although we didn't damage the car much, the time loss finished us."

Robin Bradbury put in a late charge to beat fellow Escort driver James Belton for Silver Star glory, preserving his tyres to turn a 17-second deficit after the fourth stage into a 23-second winning margin.

Phil Squires finished third in class in his Ford Escort, and retains the Silver Star points lead.