SCOTTON sidecar driver Greg Lambert overcame the disappointment of a race one retirement to claim a deserved rostrum spot in the second of the two sidecar TTs held on the Isle of Man last week.

Partnered by Manxman Daniel Sayle, Lambert suffered problems within the first mile of Saturday's A race which eventually led to retirement on the Ripon Engineering Services-backed Molyneux 600 outfit.

But the pair bounced back with a storming ride to claim third in Wednesday's three-lap race, held in deteriorating conditions around the 37.75-mile mountain course.

Despite a spin at Quarterbridge, Lambert upped the pace to hold sixth at the first timing point at Glen Helen before moving up to fifth at Ramsey on the opening lap.

Over the mountain and he moved up a further place as he battled with another competitor throughout the second lap as conditions worsened.

By Ballacaine for the final time, Lambert had shrugged off the challenge and had moved up to a safe third place. At the end of the 113.25-mile race, Lambert and Sayle had secured the final rostrum place to claim a prized silver replica.

Lambert, who had to be helped on to the rostrum after injuring his knee when he brushed the kerb at Cronk y Voddy, upheld international honour as the five other men on the rostrum were all Manxmen.

It was also a tale of two races for the region's other sidecar pairing when Thirsk's Tony Thirkell and passenger Roy King emulated Lambert in retiring from race one, which was held in perfect conditions, before seeing the chequered flag in the dismal race two.

Aboard their DMR 600cc Honda, the pair ended up in 17th place, but just missed out on a bronze replica by a matter of seconds after an hour and ten minutes of racing.

Sadly, the TT festival was marred by the death during practice of top rider David Jefferies, who crashed his Suzuki at over 160mph at Crosby village.

The Yorkshireman held the outright lap record on the course as well as winning nine races in the past four years and was a regular visitor to the NYRRSC chat shows held in Northallerton.

Ironically, Jefferies' last visit back in March was to take part in a fundraising night in memory of his good friend Ronnie Smith, who was killed in a road accident. Jefferies donated many personal items of memorabilia to be auctioned off on the evening and joked on stage with fellow TT star John McGuinness about who was going to win this year.

Jefferies' funeral takes place at noon today at St Peter's Church in Shipley.

* The Pirelli British Rally Championship circus now moves north to the town of Dumfries, with competitors pitting their skills against the challenges offered by the forests in the Dumfries and Galloway district.

Last year's event provided extremes of weather, with glorious sunshine causing dust problems on the opening day before fog and driving rain greeted the crews on Sunday morning, but local crews will be hoping for success whatever the conditions.

Castleton's Ryan Champion and co-driver Cliff Simmons will be looking to put the disappointment of their opening round retirement behind them when they go for glory in the Super 1600 class. The Ford Puma pairing went off in the fog on the Pirelli and will be aiming to put their misfortune behind them on the 600-mile event.

Also failing to see the finish ramp in Gateshead last time was Shildon ace Barry Johnson, who went out on day two with his Barrier-backed Subaru WRC. The defending Scottish champion has not enjoyed the best of starts to his title defence and will be looking to make amends along with co-driver Stewart Merry.

Reigning champion Jonny Milner from Driffield in his Toyota and BTCC champion James Thompson from York in a Mitsubishi will also be hoping to bring the title back to Yorkshire in the main class.

Darlington driver Paul Swift hopes to climb the leaderboard in the Peugeot 206 Cup in the Simon Bailes-backed car he shares with journalist Alyson Marlow, while Ryan's mother, Joyce Champion, will again partner his girlfriend Sophie Robinson in their VW Polo.

Northallerton's John Richardson will swap his usual seat in Steve Petch's Hyundai Accent WRC for the less dramatic surroundings of a group N Subaru driven by local ace Jock Armstrong.

The rally starts in Dumfries city centre tomorrow at 9am and returns for the overnight halt at 8pm. The remaining crews set out on Sunday at 6am before returning to the finish at 3.45 for the prize presentation.

* The second round of the North East Motor Cycle Racing Club championship takes place at Croft tomorrow with yet another top quality entry assembled on both two and three wheels.

The Ken Redfern Trophy race is the highlight of the meeting, with local ace Dennis Hobbs hot favourite to land the title for a record third consecutive time aboard his 1000cc Suzuki.

The 20-year-old Guisborough rider is contesting the British Superbike Privateers' Championship this season and is hoping to net some welcome prize money as well as the impressive piece of silverware which depicts a wild goose.

But Hobbs could come under pressure from a number of Scottish marauders, including current Laird of Croft Phil Stewart and his travelling companion Angus Mearns, as they battle it out over the 15-lap race.

The meeting will also include round four of the FSRA/Bike Sport News F350 Sidecar Championship, with Thirsk's Tony Thirkell and Roy King looking for victory at their local track after a pair of runner-up places in the past two rounds.

But they can expect stiff opposition from other local aces, including Scotton driver Greg Lambert and brothers Ian and Geoff Bell from Tyneside.

In addition to the two feature races, there is club championship action for both solos and sidecars with practice commencing at 9.30 and racing from 11am.

Adult admission costs £12, with accompanied children under 15 admitted free.

For further details contact Claire Jones at Croft circuit on 01325 721819