Scrutineering for entrants of the The Rally of the Midlands took place at Trinity Motors in Hinckley on the evening of Friday 16th May. A local event to Richard and the Team, used 5 venues consisting of 100 competitive tarmac miles and 230 road miles in and around Warwickshire.

Entries included a wide variety of interesting cars including a works prepared MGZR driven enthusiastically by former British Rally Champion Gwyndaf Evans.

Richard and Barry arrived at MIRA, the start of Saturdays 18 stages, with the bright red Peugeot proudly displaying number 17, the crews highest seeded start position to date. MIRA is the Motor Industry Research Association facility in North Warwickshire. This is a popular rallying venue which tested the new Peugeot to the limit. Stages consisted of a combination of tight hairpins, flat out straights and a section on the proving grounds high speed banked oval.

The 3 visits to MIRA on Saturday were split with wet slippery stages using the private access roads of picturesque 19th Century Merevale Hall near Atherstone. In spite of the pouring rain Richard and Barry tried as hard as they could. They knew (as a Clubman event) all sub 1600cc cars were grouped together as one Class. This meant they were competing against ex-works Super 1600 cars, Group A cars, Kit Cars and every second was critical. The pair finished the first day in 13th position overall, a high enough placing to rival some of the more experienced crews in very powerful and expensive machinery.

The red Peugeot excelled on the shorter, tighter and twistier sections at Bramcote Barracks early on Sunday morning. The drying surfaces of the subsequent stages suited Richard and Barrys "maximum attack" style which entertained the 600 spectators lining the winding estate roads of ancestral Arbury Hall.

The crew finished 11th overall and were interviewed at Nuneaton Town Hall in front of crowds of spectators. The team was slightly disappointed at just missing a top 10 position by a few seconds, but were very happy at their final placing ahead of 4 wheel drive Subaru Imprezas and Escort Cosworths.

The Midlands Rally plans to grow considerably over the next few years and Richard Clews Rallying will be pleased to be associated with such a well organised, competitive local event.