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letra is champion
Last weekend's National ach Rally at Blackpool racted only 24 entrants, all two of them from northern gland.
t was won by one of the thest-travelled vehicles, a ible-deck Setra Imperial ned by Harris of Armadale, ir Edinburgh, and painted in livery of Carlisle-based pact Holidays.
Ile runner-up was the sole ylatid Royal Tiger Doyen in event, newly-delivered to E T White and Sons of Calver, Sheffield.
Driver of the Year was rally veteran Peter Bibby of lngleton, driving a 1984 Plaxton-bodied Leyland Tiger.
Leyland chassis and Plaxton bodies predominated, with nine Leopards and Tigers in addition to the sole Royal Tiger, and 15 Plaxton-bodied vehicles being entered.
There were only four Bedfords, four Volvos and two Dafs. Only two coaches with Duple 300-Series bodies participated and both were on Tigers owned by public sector operators — Charterplan and Midland Red Coaches.
There were no coaches with Continental bodywork and only two imported integrals — the prize-winning Setra and a Neoplan Skyliner from Yelloway.
As if to underline the parlous state of British coaching, only eight of the vehicles — a third of the entrants — were Cregistered.
Support from the trade was weak — with no exhibits from Volvo, Plaxton or local manufacturer Leyland — but there was a strong presence from MAN-VW and Optare. jointly giving the stylish new CityPacer midibus its first public showing.
The two CityPacers on show were the star attractions of the weekend and overshadowed the Portuguese-built Elme midibus on a Dodge chassis, also making its first public appearance.