SIMON Harrison may have been the last driver to enter the Clitheronian Rally, but he was first when it mattered – at the finishing line.

With just two days to spare, Harrison finished rebuilding the engine on his Subaru Impreza, and decided to use the event as an extended test session.

But that didn’t stop him finishing just under two minutes ahead of top seed Steve Retchless in his Ford Escort RS.

Harrison, who was partnered by Paul Bosdet, cleaned the opening section - along with Retchless - before stretching out his lead over the remainder of the 170-mile route.

Third place went to Steve Jennings and Bob Hargreaves a further one minute 13 seconds adrift, with James Tyson and Neil Harrison taking fourth in their Mini Cooper S.

The rally, which started and finished at the Blackburn with Darwen M65 Services, proved a big success for the two organising clubs, Clitheroe DMC and the CSMA North West, and new clerk-of-the-course Paul Buckel, whose route drew widespread praise from all the crews.

He said: “I'm very pleased with how it went, there were no major problems and everyone really enjoyed it, despite the thick fog that came down.

“I've devised the route for the past few years and always try and do something different each year. But this was my first year in charge of the whole event, and I was fortunate to have a very experienced team backing me up.

“We were also very lucky to have great support from club members throughout East Lancashire, with 41 controls and nine route checks all manned.”