Oulton Park’s 60th anniversary year ended in fine style with the Neil Howard Memorial Stages Rally.

A substantial crowd witnessed Graham Coffey claim the final victory of the undulating circuit’s season in his Subaru Impreza, guided into the Cheshire night by his co-driver Victoria Myers.

Competition was close however with Blackburn’s John Stone and Ian Jones finishing a mere two seconds adrift in their unique Darrian T90 The podium was completed by David Turnbull and Robin Shuttleworth in a second Subaru Impreza.

Other stars of the show included a host of Ford Escorts and and MG 6R4 that thrilled with plenty of sideways action, carving their way through the frost in both directions around the track Former British Touring Car Championship ace Andy Middlehurst also made an appearance, though not behind the wheel, co-driving for Matthew Faulkner in a Nissan Micra.

Final Classification 1: Graham Coffey/Victoria Myers, Subaru Impreza, 40m45s 2: John Stone/Ian Jones, Darrian T90, +2s 3: David Turnbull/Robin Shuttleworth, Subaru Impreza, +22s 4: Mark Jones/Christopher Brierley, BMW M3 E36, +40s 5: Damian Cole/Susan Wright, Ford Escort, +46s