Final results for both the 4WD and 2WD rallies now online.
Thanks to everyone involved in the Tempest: sponsors, marshals, organisers, competitors and rally fans who have been following the events.

Now to plan 2010.

2WD unofficial results
1 Jason Pritchard Robbie Durrant
2 Mark Gamble Janice Moore
3 Jim Munden John Leigh
4 Ernie Graham Andy Greenland
5 David Harris Tim Babbage
6 Ian Roberton Kenny Roberts
7 Julian Wilkes Will Rutherford
8 Terry Brown Arwell Jenkins
9 Simon Rees Simon Illsley
10 Stephen Richards Ian Withecombe

4WD
Second placed driver Andrew Barnes edged out fellow Focus pilot John Lloyd but had a last stage scare. "There was terrible knocking and I feared that a diff was about to go. Thankfully it held out and we have claimed second. When I looked at the entry list this morning I would have settled for third so we are delighted.''
John Lloyd, a great Tempest regular and sponsor set some impressive times and declared himself "very pleased" with third overall.

2WD winner Jason Prichard said the first run through the stages today was a bit of a recce but he said he has been comfortable with the pace and although it has been a bit rough at times he was delighted to win.
"The real shame is that we are going home tonight without a party - we will have to celebrate over Sunday lunch tomorrow."
Second place Mark Gamble, also in a Citroen, admitted to being a bit slow this morning but it is his first time in this car on gravel.
At the end of the day just seconds separated the two Citroens and Mark thinks it would have been even closer still. "In hindsight I should have put the lamp pod on when Jason did. It may have made all the difference but we are really pleased with second place."
There was last stage heartbreak for Nova driver Julian Wilkes who had pushed the Citroens all day with an impressive run in his VXR190. He broke a driveshaft losing two minutes and a comfortable third place. Understandably he was gutted.

4WD unofficial results
1 Will Nicholls Nick Broom
2 Andrew Barnes Guy Simmons
3 John Lloyd Adrian Cavenagh
4 Robert Swann Darren Garrod
5 Martyn England Ian Enland
6 Wug Utting Bob Stokoe
7 Martin Newcombe Peter Newcombe
8 Mick Harris Mike Harris
9 Tristan Bailey James Howe
10 Nigel Seabold Tim Barton

4WD winner Will Nicholls has lost count of the number of times he has won this event! He's not sure if its four or five but he's certainly no stranger to the Tempest Stages.
After a tight tussle with Marcus Dodd this morning the pressure was off when the Hyundai failed.
"We were having a great battle but once Marcus dropped out it was a case of bringing the car home."
As Rally manager Barry Guess presented the winner's trophy Will was quick to point out that he and Pete Egerton had sponsored the awards this year, adding "Hopefully the ones we have were paid for by Pete."

Air of expecatation at Pegasus Village where the two rallies are both due to finish in the next 15 minutes.

2WD unofficial Top Ten after SS8
1 Jason Pritchard Robbie Durrant
2 Mark Gamble Janice Moore
3 Julian Wilkes Will Rutherford
4 Jim Munden John Leigh
5 Ernie Graham Andy Greenland
6 Ian Roberton Kenny Roberts
7 David Harris Tim Babbage
8 Terry Brown Arwell Jenkins
9 Simon Rees Simon Illsley
10 Stephen Richards Ian Withecombe

It's a battle of the Citroens at the front of the field over stages seven and eight Rushmoor and Ash
Pritchard and Gamble have been locked together matching each other second to second. The gap going into the final two stages is just five seconds.
Julian Wilkes is 10 seconds further back.


4WD unofficial Top Ten after SS8
1 Will Nicholls Nick Broom
2 Andrew Barnes Guy Simmons
3 John Lloyd Adrian Cavenagh
4 Robert Swann Darren Garrod
5 Martyn England Ian Enland
6 Wug Utting Bob Stokoe
7 Martin Newcombe Peter Newcombe
8 Mick Harris Mike Harris
9 Stuart Larbey Simon Larbey

Despite the retirement of Marcus Dodd, Will Nicholls continues to push at the front and has increased his lead over Andrew Barnes to one minute and 50 seconds. John Lloyd is 10 seconds behind matching Focus of Andrew Barnes.

4WD and 2WD out and about on the stages again.
Good news is that Ian Roberton managed to fix his mechanical problems in service and is still in the rally.

Spectators in Rushmoor this afternoon include Rupert Grint - brother of Mitsubishi driver David Grint - and more commonly recognised as Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.

4WD
Getting hectic in service - in additon to Egerton's retirement Ian Roberton has just limped back into service and car has been pushed to the mechanics.
He broke the rear axle towards the end of Ash but hopes to have a new crown and pinion fitted here now.
Martyn England also reporting problems - he has had two punctures, one of which damaged the wing mirror.

4WD
Pete Egerton forced to retire in service - back problems have been made worse over the bumps so taken the decision to be sensible and call it a day.

4WD unofficial Top Ten after SS6 Ash
1 Will Nicholls Nick Broom
2 Andrew Barnes Guy Simmons
3 John Lloyd Adrian Cavenagh
4 Martyn England Ian Enland
5 Robert Swann Darren Garrod
6 Wug Utting Bob Stokoe
7 Martin Newcombe Peter Newcombe
8 Mick Harris Mike Harris
9 Stuart Larbey Simon Larbey
19 Nigel Seabold Tim Barton

Barnes had eeked out a lead on Lloyd.

2WD
Citroen driver Jason Pritchard is the surprise leader as they come into service - so surprised that he asked: "Where are we? What at the top? What overall?"
But the lead is slim with Julian Wilkes in the trusty Nova just four seconds back, one second ahead of the Citroen of Mark Gamble.
It seems that the more modern machinery enjoyed the Longmoor surface where Julian Wilkes confessed to a few moments: "We couldn't have gone any quicker in there or we would have been off the road."

4WD
While Marcus is out of the rally leaving Will Nicholls in a commanding position at the head of the leader board things are very tight behind.
After SS5 Warren, Andrew Barnes and John Lloyd are tied in second place with Martyn England just three seconds back.

Retirement update...
4WD
101 Marcus Dodd – Engine problems
104 Anthony Wilmington – Accident
113 Paul James
127 Lloyd Furse- Suspension fault
131 Sean Quigley
133 James Grint

2WD
12 Graham Middleton
16 Darren Pinchen
20 Clive Ansty - Gearbox
21 Nigel Jenkins – gearbox
22 Matt Thorne
29 Mark Holding – No brakes
36 Paul Knapp – Accident
46 David Segal - OTL
47 Dan Mayo – Cambelt snapped
48 Pete Wilkins

4WD
Had a quick word with Marcus who is now back at Pegasus. He's in a reflective mood. It was a day of testing but it was a well proven part which has failed.
"We had a misfire in the last run around Rushmoor and it then became worse in the following stage and finally a hydraulic pipe burst and dumped all the fluid. If we were fighting for a championship we would have carried on but we need important data from the changes we have made today so we opted for parking it.''

4WD
Diff and engine problems for Marcus Dodd who has retired from the rally....

2WD unofficial Top Ten after SS5
1 Julian Wilkes Will Rutherford
2 Mark Gamble Janice Moore
3 Jason Pritchard Robbie Durrant
4 Jim Munden John Leigh
5 Ernie Graham Andy Greenland
6 Terry Brown Arwell Jenkins
7 David Harris Tim Babbage
8 Ian Roberton Kenny Roberts
9 Simon Rees Simon Illsley
10 Trev Baynam Anthony Bailey
All change in the 2WD category with Julian Wilkes 10 seconds ahead.

4WD news
Marcus Dodd and Will Nicholls tie in first place after Rushmoor.

2WD
Retirement for James Grint in Longmoor with a broken front strut.

The Tempest 2 Rally is the final round of the MSA English Rally Championship and the main Championship issue at stake is whether Graham Middleton and Ella Flynn, Car 12, can score sufficient points to depose the current leaders Jon Ballinger and Alistair Douglas and take the overall Championship titles. To achieve this Graham and Ella need to score maximum English Championship points by beating all of their BTRDA rivals in the up to 1400cc class.

Thanks for that info Howard...

4WD unofficial Top Ten after SS2
1 Marcus Dodd Alun Cook
2 Will Nicholls Nick Broom
3 Martyn England Ian Enland
4 John Lloyd Adrian Cavenagh
5 Andrew Barnes Guy Simmons
6 Robert Swann Darren Garrod
7 Pete Egerton Jamie Edwards
8 Richard Fishleigh Tim Young
9 Wug Utting Bob Stokoe
10 Peter Baylis Anthony Blyth

Dodd and Nicholls both claim to be going steady as they come into service – separated by just a second and 35 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Disappointing start for Robert Swann with a strut problem in Longmoor.

4WD
First cars into Rushmoor for service and the Rushmoor Stage...

2WD unofficial Top Ten after SS3
1 David Harris Tim Babbage
2 Terry Brown Arwell Jenkins
3 Ernie Graham Andy Greenland
4 Ian Roberton Kenny Roberts
5 Jim Munden John Leigh
6 Julian Wilkes Will Rutherford
7 Geoff Bennett John Billett
8 Stephen Richards Ian Withecombe
9 Trev Baynam Anthony Bailey
10 Matt Thorne Les Harrogate
Very close at the front – times now online.
Harris three seconds ahead of Brown with Graham two seconds back.

4WD
Longmoor is up and running again - hope to bring you more news soon.

2WD Retirements
We have lost Clive Anstey - gearbox in the Vauxhall Nova has given up.
Dan Mayo has shed a cambelt and Paul Knapp has gone off in the Citroen C2 and David Segal was OTL at first service here at Pegasus.

2WD
Crowds are gathering at Rushmoor Arena. So far they have been treated to Tony Jardine rearranging the stage - knocking over a couple of oil drums - meanwhile Darren Pinchen is limping around the stage with problems on his Proton Satria.

2WD timing update
Unofficially after two stages
1 David HarrisTim Babbage
2 Terry BrownArwell Jenkins
3 Ernie GrahamAndy Greenland
4 Ian RobertonKenny Roberts
5 Jim MundenJohn Leigh
6 John WoodwardKevin Ikin
7 Stephen RichardsIan Withecombe
8 Geoff BennettJohn Billett
9 Julian WilkesWill Rutherford
10Matt ThorneLes Harrogate

Harris has a nine second cushion and two seconds separate Woodwood and Wilkes.

2WD
Tom Cary of the Daily Telegraph co-driving Tony Jardine and needing to finish for a signature to compete in the forthcoming Rally of Scotland has already got the co-driving bug. But says he's disappointed with his pacenote delivery on the first two stages though maybe it is Tony driving too fast for the notes!

2WD
Unofficial timing shows a blistering time for Julian Wilkes in the Nova VXR 190 on the first stage. In the top five - five seconds off leader Jim Munden.

News from the 2WD at Pegasus regroup...
No problems for the top three. David Harris reports slippy but OK. Stephen Richards says everything OK and he's here for a good day. Terry Brown claims to be taking it nice and easy.
Slight problem for Richard Sykes here at first service. Gear selection problems in the Peugeot 106 have hampered his first two stages but he's confident this won't affect the sale of the car next week.

First 2WD cars arriving back at Pegasus for first service. Currently in regroup.

Receiving reports from Longmoor of first 4WD retirement - Anthony Wilmington in the Evo 6. Off and out - crew OK - but slight delay on the stage at the moment.

With Jonathan Sargeant having to miss the Tempest Rally while recovering from the broken pelvis he sustained on the Cambrian, the Munden's Minibuses Association of South West Motor Clubs Loose Surface co-drivers championship could be won by Ian England (car 107), Pam Hilton (car 20) or James How (car 124).

89 starters lined up to contest the JLTRally.com Tempest Rallies. One non-starter from the official entry list. Car 43 was not ready in time.

Here in the sunshine at Rushmoor Arena and Pegasus Village - leading crews starting to queue at the first control now. Clear weather and good stage conditions at Longmoor for the 4WD and in Yateley for the 2WD.
Following an indiscretion in Wales recently Will Nicholls said his main plan is to keep the car on four wheels today. When told of challenger Dodd's suggestion that he was here for testing Nicholls said: "I take that with a pinch of salt. He's only here for one reason and that's to win. And so am I.''

Marcus Dodd is just back from Florida and hasn't been in the car since July and claims to be here just testing out engine modifications and not really expecting to be at the sharp end. We shall see...it't the taking part that counts.

Tremendous efforts from some to be on the start line this morning. Matthew Green in Car 122 was doubled up in pain after scrutineering and signing on last night. A trip to the hospital ensued and Matthew passed a kideny stone - ouch - before discharging himself to take part in the rally. He's apparently feeling much better now. Good luck..

Shelly Taunt grateful for organiser's efforts to clear the leaves....sorry if any have blown back...

A word from Wug Utting..."There might be a lot of cars out there but I've tunnel vision today. There's only one competitor I need to beat and that's son Max though he's younger and quicker so it might be a struggle.''
Utting Estates - a great supporter of this event. Wug has been competing on these stages for 30 years.

First of the early risers is Robert Swann. He hasn't been in the car since Barbados but has brought the weather with him. He's in a buoyant mood ahead of the day's rallying. "I'd love to win the rally but there's some WRC cars in the way. We are looking to win Group N and make the top three. But we shall see."

Bright and sunny morning here at rally headquarters in Pegaus Village. Service crews arriving and final preparations before things get underway.

Entrance to Rushmoor Arena is £5 per person and in the forests charitable donations of £10 per car will go towards local schools.

Shelly Taunt delighted to hear about the efforts to clear all tracks of leaves - unfortunately the wind and rain means the stages may not be quite clear come tomorrow morning.

A few issues with noise at scrutineering - busy time for a few rally teams involving a new rear box and a successful return visit to the noise man.

Scrutineering well underway and weather has turned - wet!

Up to date entry list now available to download.

Weather forecast today suggests sunshine for Saturday in the vicinity of the rally....great news.

Rally cars may be a couple of days away but plenty of activity on the stages. Always like to help competitors but not sure that Shelley Taunt's Facebook request to have all the leaves cleared before she runs through is possible...we'll try!

Sunny intervals forecast for Saturday - perfect marshalling conditions for the Tempest!
Contact marshals@tempestrally.com if you can help marshal on one of the stages.

Now online - click on the leading entries download to the right - cracking entry.

The world's No 1 rally ride programme, "Pirelli Pro Rally" will be back in Aldershot supporting the 2009 JLT Tempest Rally at Rushmoor Arena on Saturday November 7.

The is a unique opportunity to witness a thrilling display of high speed rally car control from the passenger seat. The all conquering MG ZR's deliver 200bhp and are perfectly balanced, meaning some amazing sideways action with breath taking precision. Lead driver Matt Stephens says, "We are delighted to be supporting the event again this year, it really is a unique opportunity for spectators to watch the action in the Rushmoor Arena stage and then get a front row seat with us on the test stage. We attract every type of budding co-driver and every age, currently from 4 years old to a 90 year old great grand mother."

The team will be running from 09.00 through to 15.00 with prices for the amazing experience starting from just £20.

New list of leading entries now available. Looking like a good entry and all systems go for a top event in the south.

The JLTrally.com Tempest Rally and sposnor Martin Head are dedicating the Warren Heath Stage to the memory of the late Pentti Airikkala.

Pentti contested the event in the 70's has been a member of Sutton & Cheam Motor Club since that time.

Latterly he was a regular spectator on the stage of 'his local event' and helped Jari Matti-Latvala to his 2002 Tempest Clubman and 2003 Tempest International wins.

Leading entries now online - gonna be a good one.