Starting from Chester, entrants in this year’s Rally of the Tests crossed the North West Region on the Friday morning on their way North, eventually finishing at Harrogate on the Sunday.
The event is based on the old-style RAC rallies, and caters for cars manufactured before 1962. The initial stages through Cheshire were followed by a series of regularity sections with some complex navigation through the Derbyshire Peak District, prior to a short lunch halt at Haddon Hall.
Expected to do well was local Porsche enthusiast (and collector) Howard Warren driving a Porsche 356 with navigator Iain Tullie. But in a very close finish they were just beaten by the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint of John Able and Martyn Taylor. Other notable entries included Ted Gaffney (a former President of Porsche Club Ireland) partnered by local Porsche specialist Brian Goff - in a Morris Mini 850, not a Porsche! They finished a creditable second in Class 1A.