SCORTON driver Max Coates was in action at his local Croft circuit last weekend where he was combining his GCSE exams with racing in the Ginetta Junior Championship as part of the British Touring Car Championship support series.

Friday testing went well, but the 16-year-old had to leave after the morning session to do a GCSE in science before returning to the track for the second session, arriving just five minutes before it was due to start, and ending up 14th on the timesheets at the end of the day.

Coates improved to 13th in qualifying on Saturday in the Coates Garage-sponsored car and during the first race of the weekend, he finished 11th despite tracing a handling problem to a loose trackrod end which was causing a lot of oversteer towards the end of the race.

Sunday's huge crowds brought massive support for the only privateer-run team and saw Max signing many autographs for his fans. The race in soaring temperatures was incident-packed from the first corner where Max just avoided two cars who clashed as he fought his way up to ninth and was heading for a strong top ten finish only to be knocked off the circuit by a rival, putting him in 18th and last position before valiantly battling back to 14th position at the flag.

"It was amazing driving in front of a local crowd and I thank all those who have supported myself and our team, a special thanks to all my sponsors and my father Rob and brother Greg who maintain the car and without all their help and support I wouldn't be able compete," said Max afterwards.

MEANWHILE, 14-year-old Dan Thompson, from Ingleton, continued the family tradition by taking part in his first rally last weekend when he contested the Kick Energy Junior Rally Championship which is open to 14 to 17 year-olds driving 1000cc cars and is aimed to develop young talent at the earliest age.

Before being able to compete, Dan, whose father Tony and brother Matt regularly compete, had to complete a series of driving tests to prove his ability to handle a car at speeds up to 100mph on mixed surfaces and, having only reached 14 at the end of April, it has been a very busy couple of months getting everything in place for his first event.

The event was based at Anglesey race circuit in north Wales and covered approximately 50 stage miles over 11 stages. There were nine juniors in the event including last year's joint champion Cameron Davies along with 40 adult crews driving a range of cars.

Pre-event nerves were evident with Dan as he prepared for his first ever stage, however experienced co-driver Mike Scrimgour, from Guisborough, soon calmed him down. A steady run through the first two stages saw him in fourth position in the juniors and lying 33rd overall. As the day progressed, Dan built up his confidence and and ended the day 26th overall. The next round is at RAF Brawdy in south Wales in September and Dan will be looking to improve on his impressive start.

SPENCER Scaife, from Pickhill, enjoyed his most successful kart meeting to date at Wombwell in South Yorkshire last weekend.

A seventh in the first heat was backed up with a 13th in the second heat and then a third in heat three in his Procter's Luxury Coaches, Malc Hudson Transport and Autogas 2000-backed kart.

As a result of his performances in the heats, Spencer qualified in fifth place for the final and just before the race, clouds appeared and the rain started to fall. Spencer had decided to run on slicks which turned out to be a wise choice as out of the 23 starters only six were on slicks. Spencer dropped to eighth in the early stages before working his way back to a very strong third place at the flag to claim a podium finish.

The Ford Escort MkII of Thirsk driver Tim Pearcey was back in action last weekend when he and Welsh co-driver Craig Drew contested the Mid Wales Stages Rally as part of the British Historic Rally Championship.

After the accident on the Pirelli Rally in April which severely damaged the Martin Jones-prepared car, Pearcey was looking for better fortune in order to rebuild his confidence and to build up some speed. The pair had a good run through SS1, until it was halted halfway through for an accident, and it was eventually red-flagged.

Stage Two was difficult with hanging dust and lots of loose stones but Pearcey had a reasonable run to fifth overall. On the following stage in Hafren, he spun a few corners from the end due to badly worn tyres and lost about 25 seconds turning round while blinded by his own dust.

The remaining stages were all completed without any major dramas, other than a problem with dust in the car and excessive tyre wear due to the hot and dry conditions and Tim was delighted to finish fourth overall, just missing out on third by ten seconds. Tim's next event will be the Trackrod Stages in September, when he hopes to improve on this result with the advantage of local knowledge.

JONATHAN Nell was in action at the Three Sisters circuit near Wigan last weekend aboard the Red Rooster Racing 350cc Honda.

Making his debut at the track, he endured some carburettor problems to post 16th place during qualifying but his team soon found and rectified the problem.

With sponsorship from Beadlam Tea Rooms in Helmsley, Nell battled to third place in the 350cc class before claiming a fine fifth place in the unlimited class after a race-long battle with a 500cc Suzuki. Nell will next be in action at his local Croft circuit over the weekend of July 24-25.