THE Malcolm Wilson Rally turned into the Payne game as high-octane action dominated the Cumbrian countryside over the weekend.

Charles Payne and co-driver Carl Williamson claimed victory in their Ford Fiesta on what was a good day for Flookburgh’s Aaron McClure.

Payne took the win on the final of eight stages, as mechanical problems cost leader David Wright his place on top of the podium.

For McClure, there was a ninth-placed finish overall and second in class NR4 – a fine reward for the South Cumbrian ace and his crew, who had spent the past three weeks repairing their Mitusbishi EVO 9 after a roll on the North Wales Stages.

At the head of the pack, Wright had taken the lead after the second of two stages in Grizedale, recording the fastest time on what was the sixth stage overall.

That reversed a strong move from Payne on the first Grizedale outing, propelling him to the top by the narrowest of margins.

Wright had led from the conclusion of stage two onwards – Connor McCloskey having taken the honours in the opening run before suffering calamity and retiring soon after – and looked well set going into the final run at Greystoke.

However, he lost 36 seconds to Payne as gremlins affected his Ford Focus and was made to settle for second overall.

McClure and co-driver Alex Kiruhani enjoyed a trouble-free run to reignite their BTRDA Rally Series Production Cup chances.

It took a few miles of slippery forest stages for McClure to get back into the groove.

With no time for any pre-event testing, he stopped the clocks down in 14th overall after the opening test.

Stage two ended with a puncture but it would be stage three that saw a fightback, helping him to leap inside the top 10 and second in the NR4 category.

It would only get better as his times tumbled, which culminated in an inspiring fourth overall fastest on the sixth test of the day – the second Grizedale run, just miles from his Flookburgh home.

Grabbing another category fastest time on the final stage by four seconds was not quite enough to vault above NR4 leader Russ Thompson, but McClure was overjoyed to finish the day in second in class, just seven seconds back.

“It’s been an epic battle to even cross the start line of my home event and it’s a real achievement to be able to bring the car back home without a scratch on it after everyone’s hard work to get us here,” explained a jubilant McClure.

“It was a really good day and once I found a little confidence in the car and made sure nothing was going to drop off, we could start to push on a bit, and I think that reflects in the stage times so I’m really happy with second.”

The 21-year-old added: “To be honest, I would have been happy with a top five in class, but I’m never one for making up the numbers.

“Alex and I work well in the car together and it just clicked, so once I felt confident enough we went for it. I can’t thank everyone enough for all their support and hard work over the last few weeks.

“Luckily it’s just routine maintenance now for the next round in Somerset, so the guys at the body shop can sleep a little easier this week.”

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Charles Payne, 46:45; 2. David Wright, 47:08; 3. Wayne Sisson, 47:51; 4. Paul Benn, 48:08; 5. Peter Stephens, 48:23; 6. Russ Thompson, 48:30; 7. Rory Young, 48:36; 8. Stephen Simpson, 48:37; 9. Aaron McClure, 48:37; 10. Andy Davies, 49:03.