THE long trip south to Thruxton in Hampshire yielded very little in the way of results for local riders in round two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship last weekend, but it could have been so very different had Middlesbrough rider Paul Veazey not crashed out within sight of the finish while leading the Superstock Cup race.

Following his front row start at Brands Hatch in the previous round, the teenager had qualified on pole position at the fast and bumpy airfield circuit aboard his 1000cc Astro Kawasaki and, despite a bad start, the 17-year-old gradually battled his way to the front.

But Veazey gave it too much throttle while exiting the final corner on the last lap and ended up crashing out to hand victory to rival Kenny Gilbertson. Veazey was unable to remount and dropped to eighth in the championship standings going into the next round at Mallory next weekend.

Guisborough superbike rider Dennis Hobbs struggled all weekend with the blustery conditions and lack of grip aboard his Team Nvidia Yamaha, but still managed to qualify on row five of the grid alongside defending champion John Reynolds and ex-GP racer Jeremy McWilliams.

In the opening race, Hobbs was running just outside the points, but eventually had to retire when the rear tyre gave up the ghost after 15 high speed laps. But the 22-year-old bounced back in race two to bring the machine home in 24th place, still suffering from tyre problems.

Knaresborough's Danny Linfoot was hoping for another good ride aboard his M4 Racing Honda after claiming seventh in the 125cc GP race at Brands Hatch over Easter, and it was looking good for the youngster when he qualified on row two.

But Linfoot retired on lap nine of the race, meaning all three riders headed home without a single point in the bag.

There was some cause for celebration for local firm Andrews Sykes. The Sedgefield-based pumping, heating and air conditioning hire specialists saw their sponsored riders finish fifth and sixth in the fourth race of the championship.

Riders Glen Richards and Dean Thomas, of the Andrews Sykes-sponsored Hawk Kawasaki team, began the day with eighth and ninth positions in the first race and then posted fifth and sixth respectively in the second.

l Catterick Village autograss racer Martyn Tinker travelled across the Pennines to Denby Dale for the qualifying round of the men's national championships and came away with a pair of wins.

Having rebuilt the space-framed Renault Clio over the winter and incorporated a new engine and gearbox for the 2005 season, Tinker took the car to the previous weekend's meeting at the Yorkshire Dales club for a shakedown, where a misfire was diagnosed.

However, the Millington engine was soon fettled, meaning no such problems last weekend, and he can now look forward to the NASA finals which take place at Thornborough near Bedale over the weekend of August 6 and 7.

* Suzuki driver Guy Wilks made his Rally of New Zealand debut last weekend and finished 27th overall, despite having lost ten minutes as a result of going off the road.

The Heighington driver won five stages in his class before going off on Saturday's SS14 - the longest of the rally - and damaging the suspension on his Ignis.

He was forced to miss the two spectator Superspecial stages at Manukau on Saturday night and consequently picked up the ten-minute penalty.

But he was allowed to re-join the rally for the final leg under the new re-start rules and went on to cross the finish ramp second in class.

The leader of the Junior World Rally Championship said: "It was a pity that we went off and did not finish higher up the order, but that was not really the point in coming here.

"Our mission was to gain experience and, as we only missed the two short stages, we achieved what we set out to do. I knew nothing about New Zealand until I came here, but now I have more information about the sort of pace that is required and the amount of grip to expect from the surfaces.

"It's a fantastic rally to drive and our Suzuki Ignis was great as well. It's been an extremely valuable learning process for all of us, and I've got a lot of benefit out of it for the future."

Rally New Zealand does not form part of the Junior World Rally Championship, which is Suzuki's main focus this year. However, the team is also contesting all the non-Junior rounds of the World Championship in order to gain experience for the future and give their drivers a taste of all the events.

Wilks and his Suzuki team are back in action in just under two weeks time for round three of the Junior World Rally Championship and the all-gravel Rally d'Italia-Sardinia, based in Olbia, which takes place from April 29-May 1.

l The cream of British motorcycle club racers head for Croft circuit this weekend when the North Yorkshire track plays host to round two of the MRO Powerbike Tour.

With many regular BSB stars set to get in some practice for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship meeting in June, the meeting is eagerly anticipated.

The opening round of the series took place at Brands Hatch last month and the action at Croft is set to be just as intense as a full 22-race programme is planned over the two days.

Practice starts at 9.15 tomorrow with the first of nine races scheduled to get under way at 1.30, while on Sunday the 13-race programme starts at 12.30. Adult admission costs £10 each day with children aged 15 and under admitted free. More details from Claire Jones at Croft on 01325 721815 or at www.croftcircuit.co.uk

* Hot on the heels of Welshman Tom Curtis winning the 2004 ProSpeed Motorsport Rally Scholarship and the £30,000 prize, the go-ahead North Yorkshire concern has already made plans for 2005 with the news that there will be two winners this year.

Recognising the need to separate complete novices from those with varying amounts of competition experience, ProSpeed managing director Olly Marshall has decided that there will be an expert class and a novice class this year.

Both scholarships are open to everyone and will start in June with the preliminary rounds. Those showing greatest prowess will then be invited back for a second round later in the year.

From the second selection procedure, six finalists will be chosen for the respective finals to be held in December.

All qualifying rounds and the finals will take place at the Rallydrive facility at Blyton Park, Lincolnshire and will include driving on tarmac and gravel as well as other skills such as car knowledge, media awareness and co-driving.

The winning driver of the novice class will be given the chance to contest a total of three national rallies in a ProSpeed Motorsport car, while the winner of the expert class will be given a works-sponsored drive with the team during 2006 to the value of £30,000.

The cost for the assessment round is £199 and those invited back pay another £199 for round two. There is nothing further to pay as the finalists are invited back free of charge.

All entrants must hold a full driving licence and experts must also be in possession of a national B licence. There are no age limits and further details are available by calling ProSpeed Motorsport on 01977 684795 or by visiting www.prospeed-motorsport.co.uk.