WITH the MSA British National Gravel Rally Championship already won by Marcus Dodd, local co-driver Paul Spooner (who teaches at King Henry VIII School) and his driver Steve Perez were looking to secure the runner up spot in their Ford Focus WRC 07.

The penultimate round took place in the forests of Ludlow where the crews tackled nine special stages totalling 57 miles on the fast forestry tracks.

The pair needed a win to secure that runner up spot and got off to a reasonable start with two fastest times on the first loop but their lead was slender due to choosing too hard a tyre.

Fitted with a softer tyre they then posted another two fastest times to lead by almost a minute going into the half-way halt.

A determined push in the afternoon resulted in a clean sweep of fastest times to win the rally by two minutes and eight seconds over the Forest of Dean crew Nick Elsmore and Craig Drew in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The win now means that the Kick Energy Drink sponsored Focus can be rebuilt before Spooner and Perez tackle the last round of the World Rally Championship – Rally GB which is based in Cardiff in late October.

The team will be entered as part of the second Ford Motorsport team – Stobart VK team. The aim will be to finish in the top 15 if possible, a difficult task with the worlds' best drivers taking part.