METRO men Peter and Tim Stojanov survived a last-minute scare to claim their maiden victory on the North West Stages.

With their 6R4 suffering from overheating problems going into the last four stages, the Cheltenham-based brothers saw their seemingly unassailable lead slashed to just 37 seconds by the end of the rally.

Second place went to Ken Murray and John Vance, driving a Mitsubishi Evo4, with Duncan Taylor and Stephen Graveson a distant third, almost three minutes adrift of the top two.

Voted the best event in the ANWCC rally calendar for the past two years, the North West Stages attracted a strong 79-car entry, with crews tackling 80 competitive miles at Burscough airfield, Hoscar and Clifton Marsh water works, Leyland test track, and Weeton Barracks.

The opening test was a short blast around Hoscar, near Ormskirk, with Lanark publican and top seed John Brodie taking an early lead in his Metro 6R4.

But the next two stages at Burscough saw eventual winner Stojanov emerge quickest - and with a slender two-second lead.

The rough nature of Burscough, which more resembled a gravel track rather than a tarmac road, saw several retirements, including rally sponsor Des Penny, who was sidelined with electrical failure in his Activ-Air Subaru Impreza.

Stojanov extended his lead to around 30 seconds with a clean run at the Leyland test track, which saw second seed Damian Cole and 1600cc class leader Dave Burns fall by the wayside.

After service at the Preston Novotel, Brodie began his fightback at both Hoscar and Burscough, reducing the gap on Stojanov to less than six seconds.

However, Brodie's challenge for the lead ended at Leyland test track when the distinctive Crown Tavern-backed car broke its front differential, handing second place to Murray, closely followed by Blackburn's John Stone.

Going into the last pair of stages at Weeton and Clifton Marsh, Stojanov's seemingly invincible lead looked in jeopardy as the car began to overheat.

Forced to cruise round the Blackpool army camp's roads, Stojanov lost time to the fast-closing Murray, and the worried crew headed towards the final stages at Clifton unsure if they would make it to the finish.

Despite losing more time around the Preston water treatment works, the Stojanovs managed to hang on to their lead, finally making it to the finish line with just 37 seconds to spare.