Another weekend, another rally. This time, Mark II made the long journey north to Binbrook, near Market Rasen, to compete in the Lightning Stages, an additional event in the Safety Devices National Championship, replacing the Mewla Rally that fell victim to foot and mouth.

However, it would be a case of Binbrook. Done that, never again.

The usual team members were on hand. Driver Mark Welch being co-driven for the second time this season by Bruce Taylor (normally on the spanners). The service crew would be Martin Bradley and Barry Guess, with Webmaster Sims never far away with digital camera in hand, and Brian Sims on video.

Barry and Bruce took the team's Escort Cosworth, affectionately known as "Yellow Peril" to scrutineering. Mark W and Martin turned up a few minutes later. Welch saw the standard of the venue and was somewhat bemused. "It'll be alright when its finished" was the comment.

In reality, the old RAF Lightning base was 50% demolished, with rough surfaces, broken concrete, heavy-duty wire, potholes and craters that would have done the US Air Force proud!

Mark II was seeded in fifteenth. The field had strength in depth with local hero Tony Janetta at P1 in his 6R4, Barry Renwick in another 6R4 in second, Wayne Railton in a Cosworth at third. Car 5 was championship leader Jon Mercer in another Metro and car 6 was David Kynaston in his super quick Audi A3 Quattro. With two Escort WRCs, a Group A Impreza and various other Cosworths and Mitsubishis in front of them, Mark II had their work cut out.

The anticipated rainstorms forecast for Sunday decided to give this corner of Lincolnshire a miss fortunately. So SS1 started bang on 9 o'clock. As Mark and Bruce lined up, the Metro of Janetta came round to start his second lap of the venue. Welch let him by and then followed at a safe distance, learning the route quickly.

The result was 8th fastest time and smiles all round. Quickest was Steve Scott in his Escort WRC closely followed by a pair of Metros.

SS2 however was a different story. Staying on intermediate tyres, Welch soon found them overheating with a dramatic loss of grip the result. Yellow Peril overshot a hairpin, causing the car to hit a bail. Welch reversed, the red mist descending.

Two miles later, another overshoot. This time the car stalled. Once going again, Mark apologised to Bruce and got to the end of the stage in quick time. But the excursion had been expensive. Twenty seconds at least lost and damage to the bumper and rear wing of Yellow Peril.

New boots for SS3 saw the team back in the groove. They were back in 12th, but at national level the time lost is almost impossible to regain.

Things weren't going Scott's way either - a jammed steering rack causing the driver near heart failure and over a minute lost. So two Escorts on a mission to get back up the leader board.

SS4 went without drama but it was clear that Mark and Bruce would have to do something special to get back into the top ten. Two Sapphire Cosworths and Kynaston's Audi were looming, but was there enough rally left to catch them?

Welch wrung the neck of the Cosworth over the final two tests. Despite a smashed screen (hit by stones when overtaking a slower car) and a few big moments, they overhauled the Audi to take a brilliant tenth overall. It was agonisingly close, as one second in front of Mark II was the 9th placed Sapphire with Scott in 8th, a further second ahead.

Without the drama of SS2, Mark II would have finished at least 7th - but that's rallying.

The next event is planned to be The Solent Stages at Bovington on 21st October. Watch this space.

Mark II Motorsport would like to thank:
Bluecol Brands, Get Zet Go, Springwood Aviation, RallyGallery, The Car Enthusiast, Courtney Motorsport Images and FUSE.

A huge thank you to Barry Guess, Bruce Taylor and Martin Bradley and of course, Webmaster and Daddy Sims.