LAST weekend saw Gary Le Coadou and Paul Hollingham take third place overall at the Trinity Motors Rally of the Midlands in their Toyota Celica GT4.

The event started on Friday evening with a spectator stage in the centre of Hinkley around the Council Offices. It was then followed on Saturday and Sunday by a further 19 stages which proved to be very challenging, covering 92 stages and 169 road miles.

Friday started well for Gary and Paul, with the Toyota winning the Special Stage in front of a large crowd, and the Mayor of Nuneaton and Hinkley.

Day two was very testing on the car with three 16-mile stages at the Mira Proving Ground and four more stages at Mallory Park. The only problem that Gary and Paul had was on the second of the long Mira stages when two miles before the end, the power steering fluid boiled and overflowed onto the exhaust which caused a small fire on the sump guard. They then had to turn off the anti-lag but continued to the stage end at a reduced pace.

A service and a fluids change soon put an end to the crisis. Having been forced to slow down considerably for obvious reasons, they finished the second day in third place, one minute and six seconds behind the leading car, a Darrian T90, belonging to John Harland.

Day three brought the rain and more fun and games with slippery roads over the final 12 stages at Merevale and Arbury stately homes and Bramcote Barracks. The difficult conditions caught out several of the crews, so the pair treated the conditions with respect and brought the Toyota safely home and held onto third place. First place went to Andrew Barker in his 4WD Ford Focus and second place was the overnight leader John Harland.

The event concluded back at the Town Hall in the centre of Nuneaton with a Ceremonial Finish and awards being presented by the Mayor of Nuneaton. This result also puts Gary into sixth place in the 2007 British Rally Drivers Championship.

As always, Gary and Paul would like to thank their service crew pf Rob King, John Houghton and Bill Paynter for keeping the Toyota going over this very long and gruelling event, and their sponsors who enable them to take part in these events.