GARY Gee and Jason Crook made the most of an error by rivals Carl Hawkins and Iain Tullie to win the CSMA road rally.

The pair missed a passage check on the very last section, incurring a five-second penalty, which dropped them down to second place and handed victory to the popular Accrington driver.

Third place went to Dave and John Tubman, with David Stubbs and Paul Redford taking the honours in the clubmans event.

Organised by Accrington-based autotester Steve Johnson and his team from the Civil Service Motoring Association, the rally built on the success of last year's inaugural event, attracting a quality 37-car entry.

Starting from the plush CSMA-owned Eaves Hall Country Club in West Bradford, competitors tackled a 130-mile route taking in Goosnargh, Chipping and Cow Ark before the first of two rest halts at Tosside.

That was followed by sections in Settle, Slaidburn, Nappa, Elslack Moor before the run down Padiham Heights to the finish at Whalley.

And Johnson paid tribute to his organising team who overcame a string of major problems through the night to keep the whole event on track.

He said: "The Roman Road white near Cow Ark, which was part of the route, had been blocked. With minutes to spare, we put in an extra control to divert arriving competitors away from the area.

"Then the course opening car discovered that the petrol halt in Hellifield hadn't opened, and we had to re-route the entire event to a 24-hour garage in Crosshills just so that everyone could keep going.

"Although we lost three sections, we were still able to continue to the finish on time.

"I'd like to express my thanks to them, and all the marshals who were out on a very cold night, for making the rally such a success."

Results: Overall: 1: Gary Gee/Jason Crook 2.83; 2: Carl Hawkins/Iain Tullie 6.07; 3: Dave Tubman/John Tubman; Clubmans: 1: David Stubbs/Paul Redford; 2: David Cowgill/Dominic McTear; 3: Damian Whittle/Irvine Holtom.