STEVE Entwistle made a great start to his HRCR Rally Championship campaign with maximum points on the Tour of Cheshire.

The Rishton-based driver won his class after finishing fifth overall in his ex-Roy Mapple Orangebox Mini.

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But Entwistle was left ruing a clipped cone on a special test which cost him a top three placing.

That incurred a double penalty, 10 seconds for the mistake, which dropped him to fourth fastest on the test, which then added another eight seconds.

With just four seconds separating third and fifth, it was heavy price to pay.

But Entwistle and navigator Andy Pullan still came away with a clutch of silverware after winning the Historic class and finishing best Mini and first in the ANWCC Championship.

“It shows how far we have come when I was slightly disappointed with the result,” said Entwistle.

“But on the positive side, we’ve picked up a bagful of HRCR points which is what we wanted to do.

“We were up to third by the lunch halt and had been going really well, especially on the regularities, thanks to Andy. But on the first test after lunch at Shrewsbury Cattle Market, the car locked up and we just clipped the cone..”

And Entwistle was full of praise for his navigator, who was sitting alongside him for the first time.

“Andy is one of the best mapmen around, and it showed, he didn’t make a mistake all day,” added Entwistle.

Round two is the Yorkshire Classic on March 29 where Entwistle will be reunited with last year’s navigator Bob Hargreaves as Pullan is unavailable.