THE annual visit of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship to the region saw a bumper crowd witness some fantastic race action at Croft Circuit last weekend, when local drivers came away with some excellent results.

Sealing an eleventh hour deal to make his debut in the prestigious BTCC class at his local track, Scorton driver Max Coates was racing the Support Our Paras-sponsored Infiniti Q50 car and, despite sitting in the car for the first time on Saturday morning, the 21-year-old gave a good account of himself.

Qualifying saw him claim 28th slot on the grid for the opening 15-lap race, in which finished 21st. He followed that up with 27th after problems in race two, but again excelled in the day’s final race to achieve a superb top 20 placing. The North Yorkshireman also scored points in two of the races in the Independents Trophy and on all three occasions in the Jack Sears Trophy for BTCC rookies to round off a memorable weekend.

Coates was racing for the Mallory Park-based TENA Men-backed team, whose race cars are prepared by injured ex-servicemen from the Parachute Regiment, with all team profits donated to Support Our Paras, the official regiment charity.

Stokesley’s John McCullagh was in action in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the wheel of a Stockton-based Redline Racing car. Qualifying in 17th place, he was first of the pro-am drivers and, courtesy of a pair of 15th place finishes in both races, he won the class both times to take a slender one-point advantage into the next round at Snetterton.

Durham youngster Charlie Fagg claimed a pair of 16th places in the KickStart Energy Ginetta Junior Championship to score points on his debut in the series, while Bishop Auckland’s Paul Donkin was back in action in the Renault UK Clio Cup Championship and, after scoring a 14th and 12th place finish in the opening two races, he improved to 11th in the final outing.

In the Michelin Ginetta GT4 race, it was a battle of the locals in the amateur class as Bedale’s Chris Ingram got the better of Fraser Robertson, from Brompton on Swale, in the opening encounter as they finished second and third respectively. But Ingram suffered a problem in the next race which ruled him out of action and Robertson took advantage to finish second in both races. As a result, Robertson moved up to third in the standings, with Ingram dropping to fourth.

BRITISH Junior Rallycross Championship contender Drew Bellerby had a weekend of mixed fortunes when she made the trip to Mondello Park, in Ireland, to contest rounds four and five of the series.

Driving the Fuchs Titan Race and Sayers Road Tankers-backed Suzuki Swift, the 16-year-old from Northallerton was hoping to extend her lead. A clash with another competitor in Saturday’s race sent her crashing into a bank, but she recovered to end up second of the British competitors and fourth overall.

Sunday’s action started in similar fashion when another altercation saw Drew finish third in heat one before bouncing back to win heats two and three. In the all-important A final, she got a great start from the middle of the front row and took victory by a massive two seconds to maintain her championship lead.

Elder sister Paige was also in action in her Kev Franks-prepared and Fuchs Titan Race/Sayers Road Tankers-backed Lotus Exige, in which she is contesting the British SuperNational Championship.

After battling hard in difficult conditions throughout Saturday, the 19-year-old overcame a few minor issues with the 350bhp car to qualify for the C final, which she won to claim fourth place in the standings. Sunday saw Paige enjoy a good run through the heats, with a best result of second to place her on the grid for the B final. A second place in that race gained her a back row start in the A final, where she emerged as top British driver to win round five of the series.

Scorton’s Kevin Procter took his Procter’s Luxury Coaches Ford Fiesta to second and fourth place finishes in each day’s respective Supercar finals, while Stockton teenager Jennie Hawkes also scored a podium finish in the Suzuki Swift Juniors. Durham driver Lance Foster had a good run in his Retro-class Mini, while other locals to enjoy a successful weekend were Middlesbrough’s Ashley Hawkes (Suzuki Swift) and Durham driver David Bell (BMW Mini). Teessider Marty Hawkes made his debut in the BMW Mini class, but retired after day one due to a recurrence of a back injury.

NORTHALLERTON enduro rider Robbie Wallace competed at Great Ayton last week on board his Motoconnection Husqvarna 125 in round four of the North East Enduro XC Championship.

Wallace made a good start in the clubman class, coming out of the first corner in second place and putting in a blistering first lap.

Wallace was leading his class and was up to fourth overall after an hour. But he crashed heavily following a jump on a downhill section and suffered concussion, although he was eventually given the all-clear by the event’s medical staff.

He is next in action at Harwood, just north of Newcastle, next weekend for round four of the Northern Enduro Championship.

REDCAR Bears were at home to high-flying Edinburgh Monarchs last week, looking to make amends for the thrashing the Monarchs gave them two weeks previously.

They did so with a 47-43 victory, with Lasse Bjerre and Adam Roynon both scoring 10 and new boy Jonas B Andersen scoring a creditable seven.