HUTTON Rudby rider Russ Hodgson recorded his first ever British Championship rostrum when he finished in a fine third place in round two of the 125cc series at Brands Hatch in Kent last weekend.

The 20-year-old qualified the Cameron's Castle Eden Honda in fifth place, but only after mechanic Jason Dobson had worked into the early hours of Saturday morning preparing the machine.

His efforts were well rewarded as Hodgson charged through the field during the 24-lap race around the 1.22-mile Indy circuit.

By half distance, Hodgson was on the back of the leading pack and starting to close on the leading bunch of three when one of the riders in front crashed out.

That left him in a safe third place, which he held on to until the chequered flag. But his charge led to him setting the fastest lap of the race.

But Middlesbrough teenager Paul Veazey ended up crashing out on lap 12 while comfortably lying in the points aboard his VK Honda.

The 15-year-old had also struggled with suspension problems during practice, which compounded a miserable weekend for the youngster.

There was better news for superbike racer Mark Burr, who managed two finishes aboard his 750cc Hawk Kawasaki but narrowly missed out on the points by posting a 16th and 17th place finish in both of the feature races.

The 21-year-old from Darlington was using qualifying tyres for the first time and struggled to find a decent level of grip while battling with suspension problems, which left him in 21st place on the grid.

Guisborough's Dennis Hobbs was another to just miss out on points after he brought his Honda home in 21st place in the Superstock race. The 19-year-old switched to Dunlop tyres and reported a major improvement to his machine, but ended up losing out in a six-rider scrap after finishing in 12th place in the qualification race.

* Scorton rally driver Steve Petch and his co-driver John Richardson from Northallerton came away with a superb second place in round two of the Kumho Tyres National Rally Championship held in North Wales last weekend.

Driving their Hyundai Accent WRC, the pair finished just under a minute down on the Toyota of Driffield's Jonny Milner after the nine competitive tests which comprised the Astra Stages around the forests near Denbigh.

Only sixth after the opening stage, Petch enjoyed an early scrap with Ripon's Charlie Payne in his Mitsubishi.

They were separated by only a single second until Payne and co-driver Craig Thorley suffered a problem on SS4 which relegated them to eighth overall.

Northallerton garage owner Anth Eaton and co-driver Ian Jackson from Eaglescliffe were running as high as 12th in their Autotest Escort Cosworth until a series of punctures forced them out after stage 5.

Meanwhile, Petch had clawed his way up to joint second by halfway, with Payne holding on to seventh, and that was the way they stayed until the finish.

l Round two of the New Era Championships proved to be unlucky for Darlington rider Richard Harrison when he crashed out of the action at Cadwell Park in the second Formula 600 race.

Having qualified towards the back of the grid, Harrison overcame a wet practice session and a machine that was jumping out of gear to claim 21st position in the opening F600 race.

But the gearbox gremlins were to prove terminal when it seized on the first lap of the second outing.

The resulting fall injured Harrison's shoulder and caused extensive damage to the machine to leave the team facing an uphill task to get the bike ready for the next round later in the month.

Meanwhile, brother Jonathan took a pair of third place finishes aboard the CB500 Honda at Cadwell.

l More than 2,000 fans turned up at Barford Raceway near Barnard Castle last weekend to see Formula One stock cars in action in the region for the first time in a decade.

World and European champion Rob Speak from Manchester made history by winning the first ever feature final at the circuit after facing stiff opposition from previous champions Frankie Wainman, John Lund and Andrew Smith.

Circuit owner and event promoter Cyril Whitfield from Darlington competed in the V8 stock car class and came away with a third place finish in the grand final