ANDY Burton won the Wyedean Forest Rally for the third time in his career.
He and co-driver Rob Morgan guided their hybrid Peugeot Cosworth through the ten special stages to arrive back at the finish in Chepstow almost a minute ahead of the Ford Escort World Rally Car of last year's winner Mark Perrott.
Another former winner, Roger Duckworth, was third in his Subaru Impreza.
Local interest focused on Cheltenham driver Gary Midwinter who, with co-driver Martin Saunders (Tewkesbury), finished fourth in his Ford Escort WRC.
Pre-event favourite Nik Elsmore, from Coleford, was forced to retire from the rally after rolling his Mitsubishi Lancer during the morning.
The car was still driveable but the scrutineers, who check every vehicle on safety grounds, deemed it unfit to continue as the windscreen had been damaged in the accident.
The rally was the opening round of the Dunlop Gold Star Championship, incorporating the Dunlop Silver Star and Silkolene 1400 Championships.
The Silver Star, catering purely for two-wheeldrive cars, was won by Phil Squires whose Ford Escort RS finished five seconds ahead of the Opel Manta of defending champion Jon Ballinger. A further brace of Escorts in the hands of Jason Lepley, Adrian Struthers and Robert Archer followed close behind.
The 1400 Championship turned into a battle between the Vauxhall Nova of the Forest of Dean's Gary Standen and the Ford Puma of Shaun Woffinden. Standen emerged as victor by half a minute after 45 miles of special stages, timed to the second, while Woffinden had another Nova, driven by James Wozencroft, breathing down his neck by the end.
The rally attracted a capacity entry of 180 cars but, of those, over 50 failed to make the finish.
In addition to those already mentioned, Steve Winter's trip up from Somerset came to nought when his Escort WRC broke its steering and 2002 Gold Star Champion John Perrott departed the fray when his Mitsubishi suffered transmission failure.