Ollie Mellors and Ian Windress were celebrating again in the forests of Cumbria after they clinched another victory.
Derbyshire-based Mellors and co-driver Windress were triumphant at the event in 2015 and, after not competing in it last year, they made a winning return to Grizedale in their Proton Iriz R5.
The duo held off the challenge from Irish pair Josh Moffett and Stephen Thornton, driving a Ford Fiesta, to take the win by 22 seconds after six stages.
But it was not such good news for Bird who retired from the event on stage three when his Ford Focus 07 WRC ended up in a ditch.
“We had a good run through the first couple of stages and I was trying my hardest in Grizedale knowing that’s where the rally would be won or lost,” said Bird.
“We were flying when I ran into a corner a little bit fast and knew I couldn’t make the next one, so I had no option but to put it in a ditch otherwise we’d have rolled.”
Elsewhere, last year’s winners Stephen Petch and Mike Wilkinson had to settle for third in their Fiesta RS WRC, having also finished in the final podium position two years ago when Mellors and Windress triumphed.
Early on, there was little to choose between Mellors and Moffett, but stage three saw the eventual winners establish the gap which would take them to victory.
In total, 77 competitors lined-up for the rally, which began with a ceremonial start at the Lakeland Motor Museum.
RESULTS
1 Ollie Mellors/Ian Windress 43:29; 2 Josh Moffett/Stephen Thornton 43:51; 3 Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson 44:18; 4 Russ Thompson/Andy Murphy 45:56; 5 Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont 46:15; 6 Michael Binnie/Claire Mole 46:15; 7 Peter M Stephenson/Patrick Walsh 46:27; 8 Stephen McCann/Tom Woodburn 46:54; 9 Stuart Egglestone/Brian Hodgson 47:48; 10 Niall Devine /Kieran Mcgrath 48:02; 11 Simon Hay/Calum Jaffray 48:14; 12 Mat Smith/Giles Dykes 48:25; 13 Alan Dickson/Martin Forrest 48:47; 14 Finlay Retson/Tom Hynd 49:45; 15 Mark Holmes/Craig Simkiss 50:08; 16 Mike Wolff/Mark Twiname 50:32; 17 Robin Glyn Williams/ Iwan Griffith 50:46; 18 Charlie Barlow/Emma Morrison 50:48; 19 Trevor McConnell/David Turkington 50:57; 20 Paul McCann/Chris Williams 51:03.
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