THREE local crews had an extra spur for wanting to do well in the Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally on the weekend – they were raising money for the supportcharlie.org charity.

Among them was the grandmother of little Charlie Mitchell, Pauline Nash, who was on the notes for the first time pairing with Nigel Drew in the Calico Interiors/Kettle Civils/NPD Plant Subaru Impreza.

Charlie suffers from cerebral palsy and the appeal aims to raise the money needed to get a life-changing operation for the five-year-old.

After an early scare when they almost hit a log pile, Nigel and Pauline steadily climbed the leaderboard to finish 13th overall, second in class and taking the Margaret Willetts Memorial Trophy for the highest placed Gloucestershire crew.

Pauline also picked up two highest-placed lady co-driver awards.

"We had a fantastic day, I am over the moon, to finish top 15 on my home event is a nice feeling," said Nigel, who was driving in his first event for more than 18 months.

"We had a big moment on the first stage, but after that a trouble-free day, Pauline's been spot on with the notes and I have really enjoyed doing the event with her."

Rob Smith and Ross Weir, the son of event sponsor Rob, finished ninth overall, and second in class in the. HJ Weir Engineering Subaru Impreza S9 WRC despite losing time with a spin in Sallowvallets and a puncture on Speech House costing well over a minute.

They also won the best Forest of Dean Motor Club crew award.

Father and daughter crew of Martyn and Kirsty Walby, who raised more than £2,000 for Charlie, were 31st overall and the seventh historic car home.

The event was the former Welsh two-wheel drive champion's first for three years and Kirsty's first on notes. It was also the first event for the new Calico Interiors/ McBro backed Escort RS1800, built by Martyn and Wayne Walker from a bare shell.

The car hadn't turned a wheel on gravel before the first stage, and apart from a slight misfire performed very well, but Kirsty suffered from a bad stomach bug all day.

Martyyn said: "It took me a while to get going after three years out of the seat, but it gradually came back to me and I really enjoyed driving the car. There's nothing better than competing on your home event, especially because we were raising money for Charlie's charity.

"I felt very sorry for Kirsty, she's been ill all day but did a fantastic job keeping me on the straight and narrow, because it was so slippery out there, it was the first time I'd used D-Mack tyres and they worked really well."

The overall winners of the event, which attracted 135 cars, were Scottish duo David Bogie and Kevin Rae.