Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson scored a superb result for XS Racing when they finished eighth overall and won their class on the Roger Albert Clark Rally (14-17 November 2008).
 
In their Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd Ford Escort Mk1, Siddall and Thompson finished ahead of many more powerful cars and won their class by the massive margin of 40 minutes after three days of rallying on the toughest rally on the British calendar.
 
The Roger Albert Clark Rally, run in memory of Britain's top rally driver of the 1960s and 1970s, re-creates the RAC Rallies of the era, with 200 miles of competition through the demanding forest stages of Yorkshire, Cumbria, Northumberland and the South of Scotland.
 
Despite the demands of the event, the XS Racing Escort performed superbly and needed only routine maintenance during the rally. "The car ran brilliantly," said Jon Cropper of XS Racing. "We only changed two exhaust rubbers and tightened the alternator belt. To be able to do that on such a tough event is remarkable."
 
However, there was drama in the build up to the rally when Siddall sustained a leg injury while on holiday and their entry was in doubt in the week before the rally started in Leeds.
 
"We went away on holiday only to have a surfboard hit my left leg," said Siddall. "I saw a surgeon and was due to have keyhole surgery on the Monday before the rally, but I managed to postpone it until after the event."
 
Once the rally was underway, Siddall and Thompson set a stunning pace to dominate their class and climb ever further up the overall leader board. "We had a good run on the opening day and started to get quicker in the Langdale stages," said Siddall, who then set some top 10 stage times on Sunday as they tackled the Scottish stages.
 
On Monday, five challenging stages in the notorious Kielder forest concluded the rally. "It's very slippery in these stages and we're just going steady now," said Andrew before the last two stages. However, they still posted a mighty seventh fastest overall time on the final 18-mile stage through Broomylinn. At the end of the stage, knowing that they had picked up a great result, Andrew was elated with three tough days and delighted with the car's performance on such a challenging rally.
 
XS Racing specialises in all types of historic rally preparation and parts supply across a wide range of cars. XS Racing can be contacted on 01246 233777.
 
Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of XS Racing (www.xsracing.net).
For further details, call 01952 510382.