THE dismal Bank Holiday weather may have done its best to disrupt proceedings at round five of the Shannon Group British Rallycross Championship held at Lydden Hill in Kent on Monday but for a number of local competitors, it was a successful meeting.

Leading the way with one of the best performances of his career was Northallerton teenager Charlie Bean, who took victories in all three 2014 MSA Junior Swift Rallycross Championship heats in his Liberty Cleaning Services- backed Suzuki Swift.

Starting from pole position, the 17-year-old was never headed in the final and as a result, now leads the championship by six points going into the final round at Croft on October 17/18.

Chasing Bean all the way in the torrential rain was 16-year-old Drew Bellerby from Northallerton, who did her best to challenge Charlie throughout the meeting and posted some strong results in the heats.

In the final, the Sayers Road Tankers and Fuchs Titan Race-sponsored driver claimed second place to keep her championship hopes alive, going into Croft also.

It was very much a Bellerby family effort, with both elder sister Paige and dad Dave also competing in the Super- National class in their respective Lotus Exiges.

Dave, a five-time British Champion, sailed through the heats by winning two of them and ended up winning the A Final his first meeting of the year while Paige endured mixed fortunes. The 18-year-old marketing assistant suffered a broken throttle in heat one before claiming second place from the back row in the second heat.

What made it particularly satisfying was Paige beat her dad by a second on the very first time they had competed together in a race. Heat three saw Paige finish fifth, which qualified her for the B Final where she came home in fifth position.

There was success for Northallerton driver Guy Corner, who claimed fourth place in the SuperNational A Final in his Peugeot 206 but took maximum points in the championship for good measure.

Middlesbrough father and daughter team Martin and Jennie Hawkes were also in action, with Martin taking sixth in the Swift Sport Championship race and Jennie fourth in the Junior class.

In the BMW Mini class, Ripon brothers Kris and Keifer Hudson took first and second place with Ferryhill’s David Bell claiming third — but sadly for Durham driver Lance Foster, he retired the Austin Mini in the Ripla Retro Rallycross class in the final.

TYNESIDE British Supersport Championship racer Josh Corner emerged from the treacherous conditions by taking victory in the Evo class in Monday’s race held at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.

Riding the MJJ Motorsport and Alpha Paintsbacked Kawasaki, the South Shields rider followed up his third place in class and 15th overall in Sunday’s Sprint race with a career-best eighth overall in front of over 50,000 fans.

Hexham’s Graeme Gowland continued his title assault in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship with a pair of podiums on his Smiths Triumph.

Losing out in Sunday’s race by one thousandth of a second to teammate Billy McConnell, Gowland battled against the rain to claim third place in Monday’s race to hold second in the title race.

Newcastle rider Joe Burns continued his recent strong run of results in the Pirelli Superstock 1000 class on his JG Speedfit Kawasaki with a fine sixth-place finish.

Bishop Auckland BSB star Barry Burrell crashed out of the opening MCE British Superbike race on his WD-40 Kawasaki without injury but the bike was too badly damaged to contest race two.

MOTORSPORT fans in the region can take a high-speed trip down memory lane at Richmondshire Museum between now and the end of October, with a special exhibition and collection of absorbing memorabilia dedicated to the 50 years of Croft on display.

The popular North Yorkshire venue recently celebrated its half-century milestone at its increasingly popular Nostalgia Weekend.

Fittingly, it was exactly 50 years from the inaugural Daily Mirror Trophy Meeting held at what was then known as Croft Autodrome back in 1964.

Now operated by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC), Croft annually welcomes the hugely popular Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

It also hosts the retro-flavoured Nostalgia Weekend and British Rallycross Championship, amongst many other high-octane race and rally events, including thrilling track day experiences and even cycling.

To find out more about the exhibition, admission charges and opening times, see richmondshiremuseum.org.uk